Temu order problems in South Africa
Dozens of South Africans have complained about delayed or failed deliveries of Temu orders in the last two months, with one particular courier appearing to be a significant problem.
Users who have turned to the consumer sentiment measurement website Hellopeter have given the store a 1.59 out of 5 rating across 456 reviews during the past year.
The proportion of 1-star ratings remained above 60% of the total for 11 of the last 12 months. Dissatisfaction peaked in December 2025, when 90.3% of reviewers gave the store a 1-star rating.
In that same month, only 2.8% of users gave the store a 5-star rating, while none gave it four or three stars.
While a handful of users have complained about the quality of products received, the majority of disgruntled customers were frustrated by poor or misleading courier updates.
“Their courier company, GFS Express, has not provided me with any information on my package, except that the date for delivery was 22 December 2025, which has long passed,” one user posted on 31 December.
“It’s been over a month, and I still have not received my package from GFS Express,” a second user said. “Even if I do receive my parcel, I will never order from them again.”
Another user who had previously had no issue with Temu orders had also experienced problems with GFS Express.
“I called these guys nine times, and it just goes on voicemail,” they said. “Three working days have passed, and I haven’t received any update about my parcel.”
Another customer alleged that GFS Express was making false claims in its order delivery updates. “The parcel arrived in Durban on 21 December 2025 and was handed over to GFS for final delivery,” they said.
“From that date, the tracking has repeatedly shown ‘out for delivery’ followed by ‘delivery failed’, yet no delivery attempt has ever been made.”
“No courier arrived at my address, no phone calls were received, and no notices were left. This has happened multiple times and is clearly misleading.”
Dozens more complaints on Facebook
The customer also said that GFS Express never answered their phone on the provided number and complained that Temu was refusing refunds based on the courier’s false claims of attempted delivery.
A post on the Consumer Complaints South Africa Facebook page contained dozens of similar complaints.
Some customers claimed to have ordered items in late November 2025 so that they would be delivered before Christmas, but had still not received their orders by January 2026.
Several users have also experienced issues with CN Express, including a MyBroadband reader who ordered two duffel bags from Temu on 17 December 2025.
The products were shown to be available on Temu’s recently launched “Local warehouse” category, suggesting they would arrive quicker than items shipped from China.
The initial delivery time frame was 19 to 24 December 2025, but they assumed the products were unlikely to be delivered on time due to the busy Christmas shopping period.
However, the reader was surprised not to receive any updates from the courier regarding the order after it shipped on 18 December.
The reader had previously used Temu to order items from its Chinese facilities and never experienced more than three business days without an update.
No updates in 15 days
On 4 January 2025, they requested a full refund or reshipment of the order from Temu. That option is free after 15 days without shipping updates.
Temu did not provide any details about whether the shipment had gone missing or what went wrong, but confirmed the customer’s refund had been approved on 7 January.
Several South African Reddit users complained about similar issues with Temu orders fulfilled by CN Express since November 2025. None had confirmed they received their products.
The National Consumer Commission recently said it was monitoring Temu’s launch of a local warehouse support despite not having its own domestic facility.
Temu previously told MyBroadband that the label was used for orders available on a type of fulfilment offering for products stored in domestic logistics partners’ warehouses.
MyBroadband asked Temu and GFS Express for feedback about the complaints. Temu said that delivery time may fluctuate during peak shopping periods due to increased parcel volumes.
“During peak shopping periods, delivery times may fluctuate due to increased parcel volumes,” it said. “We are working with our logistics partners to ensure they maintain high service standards for our users.”
GFS Express acknowledged that it had “hiccups” during the festive season, which it was “sweating” to fix for the future.
“We value the customers’ grievances and implemented strategies to boost customer satisfaction,” a representative said.
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