Consumer Column: Post-purchase services prove challenging for some retailers

27 June 2016 - 09:56 By Wendy Knowler

Customer service is the key differentiator in shopping, whether online or in the high street.Providing a great choice of products at competitive prices is the relatively easy part - making the consumer want to choose to spend with you again and again is where the real challenge lies.Getting the right product to the customer in time is a basic expectation and the retailer must do more to make customers feel valued and appreciated to win their hearts and wallets.But one online retailer appears to be struggling even with the basics.A mybroadband.co.za survey of online shopping sites early last year rated Boardmans the worst in South Africa, saying: "There are no words to describe our horrific experience."Responding at the time, Edcon told me that although it was pleased with the commercial success of its sites "we acknowledge challenges relating to our post-purchase services... with the recently launched Boardmans online offerings. We are addressing these to improve our customer experience."I had reason to wonder how successful they'd been with that on hearing from Mahlatse Lesese, of Pretoria.She began: "I am desperate for assistance in resolving this matter I have been pursuing with Boardmans online store since November 2015 to no avail."Please see below the trail of communication between myself and its inefficient customer service division ."In short, Lesese had placed an order for around R5,500 but an item was out of stock so she was refunded for that and the rest of her order was delivered as promised.Happy with that experience, Lesese placed a second order for bedding and bathroom items for about R15,500.Then came a call to tell her that the duvet inners she'd paid for were out of stock and she was refunded for those. But when the rest of her order arrived, seven items were missing.Lesese immediately alerted Boardmans, giving precise details of what had been delivered and what had not.The promised response didn't come and Lesese had to repeatedly call back, often being put on hold, once for more than 10 minutes, chewing up her airtime.Suffice it to say that, when Lesese contacted me, she'd been owed a R1400 refund for seven long months.I took up her case with Edcon, pointing out that interest should be added to the amount Lesese was owed because had she owed Edcon that sum for seven months, she would no doubt have been handed over to debt collectors, and would now be liable for interest and costs on top of the capital amount.Responding, a Boardmans online spokesman said Lesese's experience was "simply unacceptable". She should have been refunded immediately, he said."As a matter of urgency we have re-engineered our processes to ensure a quicker turnaround to our customers."We ask our customers to be a little bit more patient with us as we iron out some systems issues and work towards a much-improved online shopping experience."No comment on my suggestion that interest be added to the sum she has been owed for seven months.Lesese was contacted by an Edcon representative last Monday, who apologised to her and said she'd be refunded by the end of that day.But that didn't happen and still hasn't - Lesese can only expect her refund sometime this week; something about Edcon's banker initially being given a wrong card number for her.On Thursday, Edcon gave Lesese a R1000 online voucher "to show how sorry we are for the delay".No thanks, she said, "I've honestly lost all confidence in your online system for obvious reasons. I'd prefer to do all my purchases in store, so would prefer the voucher to be in that format."Edcon obliged with a gift card.CONTACT WENDY:E-mail: consumer@knowler.co.zaTwitter: @wendyknowler..

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