Complaint: Faulty online purchase & dismissive in-store handling (Menlyn Mall)

We purchased a Skoert Vlieg fly-away from Yuppiechef’s online store. It arrived around 23 December and was defective out of the box. Although the battery appeared to charge (red light turning green), the moment it was unplugged it reverted to red and the motor never worked. The product was unusable from day one.

While this was frustrating, defects do happen. What turned this into a poor overall experience was the after-sales support.

We followed Yuppiechef’s stated return options and chose to return the item in-store at the Menlyn Mall branch, with the intention of receiving a voucher so we could purchase something else instead, as we no longer wanted this product.

At the store, the staff member who assisted us (who confirmed she was the manager) was dismissive as soon as it was clear the item had been purchased online. We were told that nothing could be done in-store because they do not stock the item and that it had to be sent back to the supplier for evaluation.

Despite us being very clear that we did not want a repair, our return request was cancelled and logged as a repair anyway, with only a note added stating that we wanted our money back. When I expressed how unhappy and disappointed I was as a customer who received a faulty product, the response was simply that “this is the process” and there was nothing to be done. There was no empathy, no attempt to resolve the situation, and no ownership of the problem.

As a frequent Yuppiechef customer, this experience was extremely disappointing. The handling of online purchases at store level — and the apparent lack of concern for customer dissatisfaction — has made me reluctant to use their online offering again, and I would caution others accordingly.