Black Friday update and open lines for the latest Consumerwatch episode
On the last episode of Consumerwatch, we gave the latest update on the Black Friday stats and opened the lines to hear what issues you wanted addressed.
Listen to the latest below, or read the details under the podcast:
The positives - no online sites fell over from the pressure, although Takealot had some payment issues at one stage - the site wasn’t accepting card payments.
SA’s biggest retailer did R87-million worth of sales on BF last year, and surpassed that by 8.30 AM last Friday.
They just fell short of the R200-million mark within those 24 hours - R196-million.
Their bestsellers were a mixed bag - Tommy Hilfiger For Her perfume, the DStv Explora decoder, and Pampers nappies.
Four out of five of the highest value items sold were smart TVs and gaming consoles.
READ: How to make Black Friday work for you
There have been the usual complaints about manipulated specials - discounts not being as big as claimed - and a lot of “oversold” cases, as happens globally. That’s when the site doesn’t keep up with sales, and keeps selling after the product has been sold out.
I’m investigating a complaint about an online retailer saying "sorry, we’ll refund you in seven to 14 days." Not good enough!
Remember, if you buy online you have a seven-day cooling off period in which to return it - at your cost - for a full refund.