Beware when ordering from RARU...

airborne

airborne

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If you are planning on ordering from RARU be very careful, only order if it shows in stock, don't go ordering anything that has 5-7day delivery window(ie availability is depending on supplier stock) because if there is no stock or insufficient stock to fulfill your order and you need to get a refund you are up sht creek.

I ordered something on the 23th Feb, no stock and I have been waiting and waiting for my R7k+ refund since. I contacted them earlier today and the projected refund date as per where I am in their "refund queue" is the 27th of March. The guy did mention it's due to cash flow issues, ie they are withholding your funds so they have better cash flow, dodgy.

Is there not credit or banking rules that forbid them withholding a refund like this, maybe we can report them to Visa/Mastercard?

I have seen other people having a similar refund issues at RARU, mine is not an isolated case. I initially thought they were talking bs, it was unbelievable that a legit business could run like that, obviously that was before I learnt from personal experience..

What kind of business makes you wait 3 weeks+ for something as simple as a refund/credit reversal??
 
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Cannot say the same though. I order something which they later told me was not in stock. I asked for a refund which they acknowledged and said that I would receive it in 7-15 days. I was ok with that. Then I saw that that they had credited my account as opposed to my credit card. I then emailed with clear instructions that they needed to credit my CC and 7 days later my CC was credited for the full amount.
 
airborne said:
If you are planning on ordering from RARU be very careful, only order if it shows in stock, don't go ordering anything that has 5-7day delivery window(ie availability is depending on supplier stock) because if there is no stock or insufficient stock to fulfill your order and you need to get a refund you are up sht creek.

I ordered something on the 23th Feb, no stock and I have been waiting and waiting for my R7k+ refund since. I contacted them earlier today and the projected refund date as per where I am in their "refund queue" is the 27th of March. The guy did mention it's due to cash flow issues, ie they are withholding your funds so they have better cash flow, scaly operators.

Is there not credit or banking rules that forbid them withholding a refund like this, maybe we can report them to Visa/Mastercard?

I have seen other people having a similar refund issues at RARU, mine is not an isolated case. I just thought they were talking bs, it was unbelievable to me that a legit business could run like that, that was before I learnt from personal experience. What kind of business makes you wait 3 weeks+ for something as simple as a refund/credit reversal?
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Thanks for the warning.

I don't know all the rules but I think your issue would be civil only (not criminal)
Their TOS should state how long they have to process a refund... but either way your action is civil.

They should not want the reputational damage associated with this.
I for one will avoid raru based on this (unless they are the only ones with a stock item.

Post on their FB page. Or hellopeter

EDIT -> Just checked on Hellopeter and I see you are one of very many.
At a quick glance, it seems the refund hell started in Jan 2019. Previous complaints were not about refunds. Now most are.

Keep on them. I think time is short.

Just so you know you aren't the only fool.
Two years ago I ordered a headset from a company called Seasons Telecom.
Right after the money was deducted I got suspicious and checked hellopeter. Sure enough, their tactic was not not deliver. Emails not answered. Phones not answered. They werent even at the the address. I was scammed and I still feel like a fool.
Raru are at least legit. What an idiot I was.
 
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This worries me. Sounds like what happened to Sybaritic years ago. Slow refunds are generally how this sort of thing starts.

That said, they've never been particularly quick at processing credits, but I've never tried getting a refund from them.

So probably best to avoid them wherever possible, at least until things start to improve.
 
Biscuit1018 said:
Thanks for the warning.

I don't know all the rules but I think your issue would be civil only (not criminal)
Their TOS should state how long they have to process a refund... but either way your action is civil.

They should not want the reputational damage associated with this.
I for one will avoid raru based on this (unless they are the only ones with a stock item.

Post on their FB page. Or hellopeter

EDIT -> Just checked on Hellopeter and I see you are one of very many.
At a quick glance, it seems the refund hell started in Jan 2019. Previous complaints were not about refunds. Now most are.

Keep on them. I think time is short.

Just so you know you aren't the only fool.
Two years ago I ordered a headset from a company called Seasons Telecom.
Right after the money was deducted I got suspicious and checked hellopeter. Sure enough, their tactic was not not deliver. Emails not answered. Phones not answered. They werent even at the the address. I was scammed and I still feel like a fool.
Raru are at least legit. What an idiot I was.
Click to expand...
Its not civil when you money is essentially stolen? Depends how u see it i suppose
 
Must be honest, never had a problem with them and just this week received some items that weren't in stock.....
Not an expert in banking but credit card refunds can take about 7 working days based on many previous experiences.
Also, if a company is not willing to process a refund and it was done via card payment you are allowed to contact your bank and advise them to reverse the card transaction due to service not being rendered.
That being said, i would personally just give them a chance to process the refund as long as they acknowledge that this is what they are doing.
 
Magandroid said:
Cannot say the same though. I order something which they later told me was not in stock. I asked for a refund which they acknowledged and said that I would receive it in 7-15 days. I was ok with that. Then I saw that that they had credited my account as opposed to my credit card. I then emailed with clear instructions that they needed to credit my CC and 7 days later my CC was credited for the full amount.
Click to expand...

How are you ok with that timeline? You gave them money, it’s in their account, what the hell takes 7-15 days?
 
Masataka said:
How are you ok with that timeline? You gave them money, it’s in their account, what the hell takes 7-15 days?
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I don't know why it takes that long but I am a patient person. I would assume there are processes in place that staff in the accounts or finance departments have to follow when crediting or paying out money so as to prevent fraud. The same happened when I returned an item to Takealot. At least I got my money back.
 
Masataka said:
How are you ok with that timeline? You gave them money, it’s in their account, what the hell takes 7-15 days?
Click to expand...

To be fair, this day in age, most of us are just grateful to get our money back when refunds are due to us. I would be on their asses literally the morning of working day 16 though.
 
Just remember, no online shop to this day have been making any profit. Even Takealot is still running at a loss
 
Biscuit1018 said:
Thanks for the warning.

They should not want the reputational damage associated with this.
I for one will avoid raru based on this (unless they are the only ones with a stock item.

Post on their FB page. Or hellopeter

EDIT -> Just checked on Hellopeter and I see you are one of very many.
At a quick glance, it seems the refund hell started in Jan 2019. Previous complaints were not about refunds. Now most are.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that info, intersting that it's only started recently. It's a common thing for businesses in financial trouble to extend their repayment window to creditors to try keep afloat.

What they are doing is probably not illegal but it's bs, they know I can't open a chargeback case but they can sit on my money in the meantime.

Actually I'll phone the bank tomorrow and ask them, I'm fked if I'm going to wait another 2 weeks to get my money, I've already waited 3 weeks.

Their 15 days is business days, hence they are sitting with your money for min 3 weeks and in my case it will be almost 5 weeks and hopefully not longer.
 
Daruk said:
I just updated my post. Was an education, thanks! :cool:
I have to wonder if they aren't hiding income with "overheads" somewhere... if the online retail model lends itself to that sort of thing...
Maybe it's just keeping stock that's the big deal... Huge up front investments.
Click to expand...


There is no way for a company to not profit after 8 years.They are hiding something somewhere or have massive debt that we will never know about.
 
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