The Gadget Shop shuts down

The Gadget Shop has closed its doors, the owner of the franchise, Hannes van der Walt, has told MyBroadband.

MyBroadband enquired about the status of The Gadget Shop after a reader told us how they struggled to get a refund after their order for a power bank was cancelled.

The customer ordered a power bank from The Gadget Shop on 18 May, after which they received an e-mail stating that there had been an error on the website and that the item was actually out of stock.

The Gadget Shop then requested the customer’s banking details to refund the order. While the customer found the request for their banking details curious, as they had paid by credit card, they complied with the request.

The customer received a credit memo from The Gadget Shop, but by mid-June had still not received the refund.

Sometime after 10 June, The Gadget Shop’s website was shuttered, only displaying the message: “We’re sorry, but we are closed for now.”

Attempts to contact The Gadget Shop by phone were unsuccessful as the phone numbers for all of its stores had been disconnected.

Repeated e-mails were sent to its support e-mail address and finally, Van der Walt himself responded that the customer’s refund was being processed, with an apology from The Gadget Shop for the delay.

Three days later, Van der Walt responded to MyBroadband’s questions with the news that The Gadget Shop is no more.

“Unfortunately, the business fell on hard times and had to be closed down,” Van der Walt stated.

“I will out my own pocket be refunding the client – I regret that it was not done previously.”

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the economy

The Gadget Shop joins a growing list of companies, big and small, that have shut down or entered business rescue as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and South Africa’s lockdown regulations for the national state of disaster.

The following table provides a summary of the companies that have been affected.

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