Bad customer service? - Takealot

S

shadow_man

Executive Member
Joined
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Location
Cape Town
Scenario:

I tried to order a product, website crashed repeatedly. I then tried to the phone and order product - nobody answers phone system. Struggle for an hour, then find all stock is sold out. Yet I couldn't purchase via online or phone as their system's simply don't seem to work.

I then contacted Takealot support to complain and I basically got told oh well, we don't care.

Is this acceptable from a company or not? I'm not looking for freebies - I already sourced the product, but I would like them to take ownership and somehow try and rectify it - instead of fobbing it off behind closed doors, hence I've posted here.

Any thoughts?

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Email 1: Me > Takealot
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Hi,

I today repeatedly tried to order your Apple TV on special.

I had to deal with numerous website 'crashes' on your side and I simply couldn't check out or over 30 mins as a result.

Once I could checkout the product was simply no longer available. I even tried to phone and reserve one, but nobody picked up.

Both your website and your phone systems don't work.

I now know why I shop at Kalahari.

Takealot has bad service and simply doesn't work.

A disgruntled customer.

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Email 2: Takealot > Me
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Hi,

Thank you for your email and bringing this to our attention.

We are so sorry for your experience.

Please can you confirm which time you tried placing your order and which Browser you are using?

Can you also provide the contact number from which you called from as we call back all the abandoned calls to see if the customers were assisted.

Thank you and enjoy your day further

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Email 3: Me > Takealot
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Hi,

I tried both Firefox and Chrome. This isn't a browser issue its simply
a case of your host / server being overloaded with traffic.

I tried to purchase on the day of the special 25-09-2013. I'm unsure of
time but probably around 11:30 - 12:30.

I called from my cell (074 xxx xxxx) on 25/09/2013 at 12:06 after
struggling for ages to order and attempting to switch browsers / ISP's
my side to confirm no issues.

All in all not a very pleasant customer experience and as a result I
doubt I will purchase from you again in the future (even though I have
in the past).

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Email 4: Takealot > Me
------------------------------------------------

Hi,

Thank you for your feedback and so sorry for the delayed response.

We've checked our phone records and unfortunately could not pick up your cell number from the abandoned calls. Please confirm if you called our Customer service line : 0861 222 989 ,

We so sorry for your experience our Product Buyer secured two months of stock from our supplier and the units were sold out much quicker than we thought.

We are truly so sorry to hear that you will not be making use of our services again. We really hoped this would not cause a divide between us, but we respect your decision and if we can assist we will gladly do so but unfortunately we cannot secure more stock at that price.We hope you will reconsider in the future . We appreciate your support .

Have a great day further and once again our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused to you,

Thank you
 
Apart from issues with the website, I think they handled it correctly? What more do you want them to do except apologise?

jsheed_sa said:
Please confirm if you called our Customer service line : 0861 222 989 ,
Click to expand...

Did you call that number?
 
I agree. TakeAlot apologized sincerely and that's that. Their system failed and I'm sure they will rectify for future purchases.
 
|tera| said:
I agree. TakeAlot apologized sincerely and that's that. Their system failed and I'm sure they will rectify for future purchases. If you want to shoot yourself in the foot to stick with Kalahari purchases only, then please do, more turnaround time and less customer complaints for TakeAlot to handle, so they can focus on real clients then :)
Click to expand...

I vote with my feet and wallet. Accepting sub par service in South Africa has become the norm, it doesn't need to be.
 
jsheed_sa said:
I vote with my feet and wallet. Accepting sub par service in South Africa has become the norm, it doesn't need to be.
Click to expand...

I was too harsh with my initial post and for the flippen life of me I couldn't delete it, the button wasn't there.

So my bad. Any way. I think you are too harsh on TakeAlot. They always go the extra mile for me and I give them lots of lip as well at times, but not to the point of never buying there again, because they genuinely rectify the situation. They did fix it. They apologized sincerely to you, you can not expect more realistically.
 
Only ever bought a set of headphones from them before, and have to admit that for a local company, I was pleasantly surprised (I've bought loads from overseas sites before). I placed my order at 04:00, paid via EFT (a nice change!), and received it at 13:00. They even phoned me to confirm whether or not I'd received my order.

@OP: I think you were just on the wrong end of a system error.
 
Must admit, have also had problems in the past with takealot. But they have rectified those problems to an acceptable level. I only buy my PC stuff from them. Despite them being more expensive than other online stores.
 
Just sounds like you're butthurt cause you didn't get in on the special. Doesn't really have anything to do with the actual service they provide, which is still great.
 
AlmightyBender said:
Just sounds like you're butthurt cause you didn't get in on the special. Doesn't really have anything to do with the actual service they provide, which is still great.
Click to expand...

Website falling over, not answering the phone and taking days to address a customer complaint. Apart from that GREAT service.

Also perhaps you missed the fact that I managed to source elsewhere?

If you were in the queue for Pick N Pay and the till point broke down and someone else bought your shopping - you would happily accept that and praise good service? Be realistic.
 
AlmightyBender said:
Just sounds like you're butthurt cause you didn't get in on the special. Doesn't really have anything to do with the actual service they provide, which is still great.
Click to expand...

Stupid comment to say the least. How you deal with orders is part of te service.

If I went throught that effort to buy something on a website only to be told my calls werent even picked up, I would be annoyed too. Takealot service standards have dropped quite a bit. Try mailing them for an item that is out of stock, or not on their list. Took them around 4days to reply. I used t be their biggest fan cause their customer service was the best. It isn't anymore.

Kalahari on the other hand, has yet to disappoint.
 
Are you 100% sure that the problems were from their side and not to do with your computer or your Internet service?

Anyway, looks like they handled it correctly.
Massive demand for heavily discounted products is to be expected.
I will be using them still in the future.
 
Garyvdh said:
Are you 100% sure that the problems were from their side and not to do with your computer or your Internet service?

Anyway, looks like they handled it correctly.
Massive demand for heavily discounted products is to be expected.
I will be using them still in the future.
Click to expand...

Could possibbly be an internet problem on his side, but what i find worrying is that they couldn't pick out his number from the abandoned calls.

Op, I don't think you should stop using their service though.
 
jsheed_sa said:
I vote with my feet and wallet. Accepting sub par service in South Africa has become the norm, it doesn't need to be.
Click to expand...

Vote with whatever you want, they most certainly did not have an attitude of "we don't care" as per their mails. What exactly is it you wanted them to do?

I've only had excellent service from them, and if you check hellopeter then I'm definitely not the only one: http://hellopeter.com/take2takealot/compliments-and-complaints

820 compliments vs. 138 complaints is quite rare.
 
Garyvdh said:
Are you 100% sure that the problems were from their side and not to do with your computer or your Internet service?

Anyway, looks like they handled it correctly.
Massive demand for heavily discounted products is to be expected.
I will be using them still in the future.
Click to expand...

Tried different ISP's and multiple browsers. I know for a fact that there were no issues on our network at the time.

Received the standard Takealot error screen over and over. If you can't provide the capacity then don't offer the service. It's akin to a hotel double booking a room, annoying and in this case it cost them a purchase and a repeat customer.
 
jsheed_sa said:
Tried different ISP's and multiple browsers. I know for a fact that there were no issues on our network at the time.

Received the standard Takealot error screen over and over. If you can't provide the capacity then don't offer the service. It's akin to a hotel double booking a room, annoying and in this case it cost them a purchase and a repeat customer.
Click to expand...

I think by your attitude they might not be losing out on much here.
 
OP is overly sensitive. Looking at responses, Takealot handled it perfectly.

How does the OP know the problem wasn't on his end? was there other complaints? why didn't you try the website later in the day considering lunch time is quite busy for online shopping.

you know, websites falling over due to high demand is not common to south Africa. would love for you to try this complaint in a first country. you would be told to get stuffed and get a clue...sometimes these techy things break.
 
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