Ron Delport, of Kenilworth, bought a Defy washing machine from Game in Knysna for his holiday home towards the end of last year because the manufacturer was offering a free midweek break for four people.
“Although I had the choice of an equally priced alternative make I was persuaded by the salesman to buy the Defy model because they were promoting the sale of their appliances by offering a free midweek break for four people at any of a number of holiday destinations,” Mr Delport said.
“I was given a scratch card with a unique code and complied with the conditions of entry. After a month, I tried three times to contact the campaign helpline but each time was kept on hold for several minutes before I gave up in frustration. I then resorted to email and received a response to say that I would be contacted again after December 2 (2016) when the holiday season bookings had been finalised. I was given a choice of venues and replied that I would like to stay at Mykonos in February or March this year.
“I sent more emails on December 19, January 12 and January 27 and eventually did get a reply saying they were in touch with their booking partners and would get back to me soon. It is now the middle of March, but I still do not have confirmation of a booking. I turn to you as a last resort,” Mr Delport said.
Denver Singaram, of TLC Marketing said they contacted Mr Delport and resolved his query.
The campaign was run nationally from July to December across many outlets.
“There were a few shortcomings with the call centre. So we added additional call agents, purchased additional inventory and allocated additional staff at both Defy and the agency promoting the campaign,” Mr Singaram said.
“A little over 800 mid-week breaks have been booked to date with an additional booking list of around 120 to go. The campaign was successful overall but it was not without some unforeseen issues that we are dedicated to fixing,” Mr Singaram said.
Mr Delport has his booking form and TLC was waiting for him to choose the dates and venue and he “will certainly have his holiday”.
Mr Delport said that two days after he contacted me he had a reply from the manager of TLC apologising for the delay.
“I completed a booking form which I returned the same day. The manager Lauren Norval was extremely pleasant and helpful and by the end of the week I received a booking at one of the chosen venues. I am most grateful to you for your intervention which achieved the desired result,” Mr Delport said.
Anthea Carolus, of Strandfontein Village, contracted Royal Cape Glass and Aluminium to replace their back door.
She paid the R3 000 deposit on February 10 and they promised to install it within two weeks.
“After more than 25 phone calls, they finally hung it on March 8 and we paid them the balance of R1 900. Two days later, the handle broke, and at night when the wind is blowing the door keeps banging. On Monday March 13, we told them about the back door being broken,” Ms Carolus said. “Please help.”
It took Royal Cape Glass and Aluminium until Friday March 24 to respond, according to Ms Carolus, who said that Earl, a friend of one of the employees, Shakier Abbas, saw her post on Facebook, which is why they came to fix it.
Ms Carolus chased them away as she wanted to take legal action and get her money back.
“The next day, I spoke to Mr Patel and told him to fetch the door and give me my money back. He offered me R1 500 but that wasn’t good enough, so I told him I was going to the Consumer Protector. The next day, he phoned to say he would fix the door and give me R1 900 so I agreed,” Ms Carolus said.
Mr Patel told me he was unaware that the “matter was not resolved”.
“I have tried to contact Ms Carolus and Mr Abbas went to replace her door handle but was told to leave the house. I’m not sure how we should get the door fixed without going to the site.
“Ms Carolus wants to keep the door. But she also wants a refund because of the runaround she received from Taariq and Shakier She agreed I can replace the door, but she wants me to give her back
R1 900 as well. I’m not sure where I stand but to make her happy I will refund the R1 900.
“When the initial fault was reported, I sent Shakier immediately to have it rectified. But neither Taariq or Shakier told me that Ms Carolus called again to say the handle was still loose. When Shakier went to the site, he was asked to leave before he had a chance to fix the handle.
“I have asked my staff to be more customer orientated especially where back-up service is needed. I too will take these lessons seriously as it’s extremely bad for business and embarrassing, not only for me but my family as well,” Mr Patel said.
