Let me start by stating that I am at a higher risk for severe illness from Covid-19 due to my age and an underlying medical condition. This made me decide to play it safe and stay at home. I slowly started stocking up on basics late in January when I saw that we’ll eventually have to face the virus. The following companies, in my opinion, couldn’t care less about their customers’ health concerns during the pandemic.
When lockdown was announced I decided to give the shops a miss and order online. I was fortunate enough to be able to work remotely so online purchasing of the basics should, according to me, keep me quite safe as that would mean I’ll be able to stay at home. I had enough food to get me through April. As I decided that anything that enters my house will serve a 14 day quarantine period after being sprayed with sanitiser I had to start planning for May. Now my bad experiences with online shopping.
Makro
On the 6 April I placed an order with Makro and paid for it. I spent virtually my entire grocery budget on one big order and sat back satisfied. Food until the end of May sorted, or so I thought.
Makro specify 2 – 5 days for delivery and I assumed that there will be no problems as people have just stocked up for lockdown so business should be normal or slower. On 14 April I checked my order status on Makro’s website. It was still at step 1, order received. I sent the following message to support on twitter: “Hi, I’m very disappointed with the service I’ve received. I ordered online as I’m a high risk person (Covid-19) and the shops are just too busy. My order was confirmed on 07/04 and that’s as far as it’s gone. I’ve tried phoning the helpline this morning, needless to say, nothing happened. Will this delivery still happen? If so, when? Is anybody actually fulfilling orders? Where’s the truth in 2-5 day delivery when you haven’t even started processing it after a week? I’ve had some bad online buying experiences but this is the worst by miles.” After confirming my order number I received this reply on 17 April: “Hi *****, Please note that we have requested urgent feedback from the store and we will revert once feedback has been provided.” So 3 days later we haven’t manage to achieve anything and my order was still at step 1.
I asked daily and got the standard reply, ‘we’ve escalated it’ but nothing further happened. Then on 23 April I got this email from Makro’s Fayaz: “Thank you for the screenshot.I am busy trying to get the order released to the store and as soon as I have confirmation I will let you know.I will try my level best to get this order sorted and delivered by tomorrow.” On 24 April he then send this email: “The order is still not reflecting at the store but I am hounding our IT guys to have it sorted.I will let you know when this happens”. Needless to say I never heard from him again. All further inquiries to him remain unanswered to this day.
Any efforts after that to try and find out what’s going only received the standard ‘escalated’ message. Finally, on 15 May I received an email that my order was dispatched. 40 days after it was confirmed. Still took 4 days before finally delivered, 44 days in total. To add insult to injury Makro had the audacity to remove from my order all items which have gone up in price since my order was placed.
Never in my life will I shop with Makro again. From 14 April Makro was fully aware of the fact that they had all my grocery money for May in their possession and that high was a high risk covid-19 case. This was pointed out to them several times on Twitter and Facebook after my first message. At some stage I also asked that they rather refund the money so that I can buy some food. That request wasn’t even acknowledged. None of that could bother Makro in the least. I also made it clear that I expect a decent apology. At least someone phoning to apologise in person, that didn’t happen either. The only consolation is that I saw, on Twitter and Facebook, many people who had the same problem with Makro. One person I know was waiting for more than 100 days for delivery and requests for a refund was also ignored. Makro, if you have a cash flow problem, speak to your bank. Your customers are not obliged to make interest free loans to you. If somebody only bothered to phone me and explain what was going on I might have understood but totally ignoring the customer’s problem is pure arrogance.
Pick n Pay
At least the Pick n Pay story isn’t as bad as the Makro one but it still shows a total disregard for the health and age of their customers. Due to the Makro debacle I had to order some groceries from elsewhere and I chose Pick n Pay. This is all about plastic bags. I know, not good for the environment but carrying groceries one or two items at a time, from the gate to my flat, is not ideal. Keep in mind that, to protect myself, I’m trying to touch as few items as possible.
First order placed on 27 April. Fortunately not a very large one. At checkout I opted for plastic. Order arrives, no plastic. I accepted it and assumed I made a mistake at checkout.
Second order placed on 16 May. Same thing, no plastic. Before I could stop them some neighbours starting picking up my purchases and assists me in carrying it home. Instead of reducing the danger to myself it has just increased with even more people touching my groceries and entering my residence. I call Pick n Pay’s customer care and they assure me that it must have been a mistake as they will honour the plastic option if selected. I’m now starting to doubt my own sanity. Did I really not click the option even though I thought I did?
Third order placed on 20 May. Once again Pick n Pay delivery arrives without the goods being in carrier bags. Now I know it’s not me. I even took a screenshot when I placed the order so that I can refer to it. I then send this message to Pick n Pay on Twitter: “I would like to know why my ordered goods aren’t in plastic bags as specified in the checkout options. 3 orders now and 3 times the instruction was ignored. If the option for plastic isn’t available then please remove it from the options. I am trying to protect myself in these times and having to touch every item before I put it in my quarantine room defeats the object of the exercise.” I the received the following reply from Pick n Pay: “Hi *****, our online team sincerely apologies for this and they are busy investigating this. They have offered you a free delivery with your next order. Please use promo code when checking out your order.”
I was in two minds about ordering from them again as I consider the same ‘mistake’ happening on 3 separate occasions as a deliberate action. Against my better judgement I ordered for a fourth time on 04 June. This was a very large order as it was meant to be my entire July food requirements plus cleaning materials etc which was starting to run out. When the ordered arrived it was literally 127 loose items, not a plastic in sight. I told the delivery lady I’m sorry but I’m not accepting it and returned it to Pick n Pay for a full refund. Suppose it was naive of me to expect them to be bothered about such a big order, by my reckoning, being returned. Not so. At least the refund happened quickly.
I contacted Pick n Pay and asked that someone should please call me as I’ve been a customer for more than forty years and would like to discuss a possible solution to the problem. No luck. I’ve received promises from Pick n Pay customer care that I will be called but that didn’t happen. It’s sad that Pick n Pay care so little about their customers but there it is and I’ll never be a client again.
Birchgate Doggy Parlour
I live in close proximity to Birchgate Doggy Parlour in Kwartel Road and I wouldn’t entrust my fur baby to them. The noises that I hear coming from the premises makes me wonder what the heck is going on there? Whatever it is, it doesn’t sound good.
Then there’s also the matter of City of Ekurhuleni’s bylaws that pertain to businesses. In this instance specifically those relating to animals, noise, and creating a nuisance. None of these bylaws are adhered to. I cannot believe that the owner is completely ignorant of bylaws that apply to his business.
If the owner of Birchgate Doggy Parlour is ignorant of the bylaws then there is also this. How entitled must you be to think that this amount of noise in a residential area is acceptable? Surely plain simple good manners should be enough to make you realise that you have to consider the impact your behaviour is having on those around you? People working night shift and that have to sleep during the day? People who are trying to earn a living and are trying to concentrate? Not of these matter to the owner. That’s before mentioning that people with mental health problems will find the incessant noise unbearable.
I’ve never been able to understand how people can be so selfish. Show some consideration. Yes, you are entitled to earn a living, but so are those that have to suffer because of you. No consideration for people. No respect for the bylaws. Not the kind of person I would like to leave my dogs with. If you have no respect for people why would you have any for animals? So no Birchgate Doggy Parlour for me, thank you very much.