Takealot refuses to swap out my faulty NVMe Drive

O

ObiTwoKenobi

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I am at my wits' end with this so I want to ask the community if what is happening here is fair. In December 2025 I bought a brand new Western Digital SN5000 2TB NVMe drive from Takealot. About two weeks ago this drive spontaneously died. It was then sent for return and I asked to have it swapped out for a new one if indeed found to be faulty.

Takealot came back confirming its faulty state but then said there is no stock of a replacement drive so they are crediting my account (R2,715.00).

I asked them I really wish to have it swapped out, even for a different model, instead of credit as I can't even buy a 1TB with that amount. They then said they are very sorry but the supplier has decided that is the outcome.

I then showed them a screenshot where the same exact drive is in fact, in stock with them. They then replied saying the original supplier is Pinnacle Micro which does not have stock, and the one I showed them is sold by a different seller on their platform (link below), albeit the exact same model.

Reverting back I told them I don't believe this is the customer's problem as I bought the drive from Takealot, I dont have any concern with the specific sellers and asked them to escalete the matter to a manager.

After a while they then came back offering me three choices of replacement drives, listed below:

1789481480230.png

Here are the links:

https://www.takealot.com/vtel-jet-pcie3-0-nvme-m-2-1tb-internal-solid-state-drive-ssd/PLID99813401
https://www.takealot.com/transcend-storejet-25a3-2tb-usb-3-1-external-hard-drive-black/PLID60570838
https://www.takealot.com/ultra-slim-4tb-portable-external-ssd-usb-3-1-high-speed/PLID100777353

For the curious, this is the WD drive currently on their site:

Now, what is a man supposed to do? I need my 2TB NVMe drive and cannot accept a lesser product, the ones they offered are quite laughable. Is this a matter where the suppliers are refusing to swap out a device under warranty due to the rise in memory/storage but simply dont want to say so?
 
You got your money back, they made good with you and there was no personal loss to you.

That the prices went up is outside of their control and it's ridiculous to expect them to take the knock...they would go bankrupt if they did this.

You got to rent an NVME for free for almost a year, win win.

Potentially you could go directly to WD...but since they have basically zero support in SA you are likely to have an even worse time there.
 
SauRoNZA said:
You got your money back, they made good with you and there was no personal loss to you.

That the prices went up is outside of their control and it's ridiculous to expect them to take the knock...they would go bankrupt if they did this.

You got to rent an NVME for free for almost a year, win win.

Potentially you could go directly to WD...but since they have basically zero support in SA you are likely to have an even worse time there.
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No sorry. It's not fair. No matter how you look at it.

However don't bother fighting it. Takealot is scum. Enjoy the good times, forget the bad times. Try shop somewhere else if possible. 3rd party sellers are also scum.
 
Thanks for the input so far. Would it be wise to accept the VTEL 1TB drive they offered? Seeing that it gets me about ~R300 more value than my total credit.
 
ObiTwoKenobi said:
Thanks for the input so far. Would it be wise to accept the VTEL 1TB drive they offered? Seeing that it gets me about ~R300 more value than my total credit.
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If you want to have this same fight with them a few months from now, probably.

Aliexpress junk.
 
RedViking said:
No sorry. It's not fair. No matter how you look at it.

However don't bother fighting it. Takealot is scum. Enjoy the good times, forget the bad times. Try shop somewhere else if possible. 3rd party sellers are also scum.
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Is this pre-school?

How is it possibly unfair if you got the money back that you laid down for it?

But like I said, he can take it up directly with Western Digital who actually holds the warranty, if he wants to push it further.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Is this pre-school?

How is it possibly unfair if you got the money back that you laid down for it?

But like I said, he can take it up directly with Western Digital who actually holds the warranty, if he wants to push it further.
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What's with the stupid response? Inflation. Then they must give the money back with interest in order to replace it. The fact that the prices go up is their problem. You bought a product and it needs to work. Giving a refund is just a cheap way of ridding yourself of any responsibility. It's pathetic.
 
RedViking said:
What's with the stupid response? Inflation. Then they must give the money back with interest in order to replace it. The fact that the prices go up is their problem. You bought a product and it needs to work. Giving a refund is just a cheap way of ridding yourself of any responsibility. It's pathetic.
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Not a single business on the entire planet does that for a refund.

Not a single one.

It’s simply not how this works.

And the problem lies at the supplier, not the vendor. Why is nobody shouting at Western Digital with non-existent local support.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Not a single business on the entire planet does that for a refund.

Not a single one.

It’s simply not how this works.

And the problem lies at the supplier, not the vendor. Why is nobody shouting at Western Digital with non-existent local support.
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Every single product I have bought has been replaced or fixed under warranty. Takealot is the only company who refunds and then say sorry no we won't replace. So from my own experience, you comment is completely false. Not gonna argue this further.

Takealot is pathetic. Used to be such a great company.
 
RedViking said:
Every single product I have bought has been replaced or fixed under warranty. Takealot is the only company who refunds and then say sorry no we won't replace. So from my own experience, you comment is completely false. Not gonna argue this further.

Takealot is pathetic. Used to be such a great company.
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They are not what they used to be
 
Consumer should be put back in the same boat after having spent his money with them, this is SHADY..... but good luck seen this behaviour from many suppliers cough esquire cough TVR. Best of luck to you....
 
SauRoNZA said:
You got your money back, they made good with you and there was no personal loss to you.

That the prices went up is outside of their control and it's ridiculous to expect them to take the knock...they would go bankrupt if they did this.

You got to rent an NVME for free for almost a year, win win.

Potentially you could go directly to WD...but since they have basically zero support in SA you are likely to have an even worse time there.
Click to expand...

You’ve got to be joking. He bought a 2TB PCI 4 nvme drive with a multi year warranty. If the supplier can't source the same drive, then replace it with a similarly specced 2TB nvme drive and take the facking knock.

Offering a 1TB PCI 3 drive, an external mechanical HDD or some generic 4TB portable SSD POS isn't honouring the spirit of that warranty. Those aren't equivalent products.

You can't advertise and sell products with warranties, take your markup on every sale, and then when one actually fails say - sorry, prices have gone up, here's what you paid a year ago. Warranty claims are part of the cost of doing business. Full stop.

And calling it renting for free for a year is ridiculous. He didn't rent anything. He bought a drive with a warranty and the drive failed.

ObiTwoKenobi said:
Snip
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Contact Pinnacle Micro directly with the serial no and see what they say.
 
RedViking said:
No sorry. It's not fair. No matter how you look at it.
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What if the reverse had happened? What if he had paid R 2,715 for it and there was no AI bubble, and the price was now down to R 1,700? Would a R 1,700 refund be fair? They put you exactly back where you were at the time of purchase.

I think I posted here recently about how this can work in the customer's favour as well, depending on market conditions.

  • Customer buys Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4-3200 for R 2,233
  • RAM fails last year - the distributor that sold it lost Corsair about two years ago, and the other distributor doesn't carry a fraction of the range. RAM gets credited, R 2,233 for the customer to spend
  • Customer uses the credit to buy Patriot Viper Steel RGB 2x16GB DDR4-3600 for R 1,951

That left him with R 282 credit remaining (which he used for a different purchase - basically a discount on something else he wanted), and got him the following upgrades:

16GB -> 32GB
DDR4-3200 -> DDR4-3600
Non-RGB -> RGB

Along with the discount on the monitor he ordered.

What you're proposing is a system which is always fair to the customer and always unfair to the retailer. What you're proposing would just push retailers to offer the 6 months the CPA requires, and send the customer (at their expense) to the vendor (manufacturer) for the 6 months to multiple years after that, as you're proposing a system where warranties - a cost not carried by retailers - becomes a guaranteed net loss.

RedViking said:
Every single product I have bought has been replaced or fixed under warranty. Takealot is the only company who refunds and then say sorry no we won't replace. So from my own experience, you comment is completely false. Not gonna argue this further.
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If there isn't stock, there isn't stock. What you're proposing is that Takealot accepts Pinnacle's credit (probably somewhere around R 2,400 at a guess - I can confirm that Pinnacle does not have stock as these drives are end of life) and then purchases a drive from a third party seller on their platform for more than double the price?

Picture this. You buy an air fryer from Checkers for R 999. It doesn't work so you take it back, but they don't have stock to replace it so they refund you. You find the same air fryer at Game for R 1,499 - do you insist Checkers buys it from Game to replace your faulty unit? Third party sellers' stock is not Takealot's stock, just like Game's stock is not Checkers' stock.
 
Adenoid Hynkel said:
If the supplier can't source the same drive, then replace it with a similarly specced 2TB nvme drive and take the facking knock.
Click to expand...

Besides, the supplier isn't necessarily taking the full knock anyway. They can send the failed drive back through WD's warranty/RMA process and get a replacement or credit from WD. That's literally what the warranty chain is there for.
 
Progenix Oj101 said:
What if the reverse had happened? What if he had paid R 2,715 for it and there was no AI bubble, and the price was now down to R 1,700? Would a R 1,700 refund be fair? They put you exactly back where you were at the time of purchase.

I think I posted here recently about how this can work in the customer's favour as well, depending on market conditions.

  • Customer buys Corsair Vengeance LPX 2x8GB DDR4-3200 for R 2,233
  • RAM fails last year - the distributor that sold it lost Corsair about two years ago, and the other distributor doesn't carry a fraction of the range. RAM gets credited, R 2,233 for the customer to spend
  • Customer uses the credit to buy Patriot Viper Steel RGB 2x16GB DDR4-3600 for R 1,951

That left him with R 282 credit remaining (which he used for a different purchase - basically a discount on something else he wanted), and got him the following upgrades:

16GB -> 32GB
DDR4-3200 -> DDR4-3600
Non-RGB -> RGB

Along with the discount on the monitor he ordered.

What you're proposing is a system which is always fair to the customer and always unfair to the retailer. What you're proposing would just push retailers to offer the 6 months the CPA requires, and send the customer (at their expense) to the vendor (manufacturer) for the 6 months to multiple years after that, as you're proposing a system where warranties - a cost not carried by retailers - becomes a guaranteed net loss.


If there isn't stock, there isn't stock. What you're proposing is that Takealot accepts Pinnacle's credit (probably somewhere around R 2,400 at a guess - I can confirm that Pinnacle does not have stock as these drives are end of life) and then purchases a drive from a third party seller on their platform for more than double the price?

Picture this. You buy an air fryer from Checkers for R 999. It doesn't work so you take it back, but they don't have stock to replace it so they refund you. You find the same air fryer at Game for R 1,499 - do you insist Checkers buys it from Game to replace your faulty unit? Third party sellers' stock is not Takealot's stock, just like Game's stock is not Checkers' stock.
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So much waffle.. You're conflating the value of the product with the product that was warranted.

OP didn't cause the AI bubble or the price increase. He bought a 2TB drive with a X warranty. How much it costs to honour that warranty years later isn't his problem.
 
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