Foschini review: I bought a cellphone (sony xa1) and was given a cheaper one (sony l1) instead

On the 29 November 2019 I went to buy a new phone Sony Experia XA1 that was on sale from Foschini at Mimosa Mall in Bloemfontein together with my husband. I was assisted by Veronica and I paid by swiping for the phone which cost me R1799 and she indicated that the battery of the phone was too low and she would have to charge it in order to be able to activate it. So we agreed that we will give her time to charge it and we told her we would go to Checkers. It was around lunch time when we left and we came back at about 15:00.

When we came back she said she has been waiting for us and she gave us the phone and told us it was still low, as she was still busy with a client and i asked her i she activated it and she said yes. She continued to attend to her client. I felt that she could have told us to wait until she was done with the client so she could give us her attention and not just give us the phone with no explanations. I had previously told her that we were on our way back to Mafikeng.

We came back to Mafikeng and on our way I tried to use the phone and it was still off. When I got home my son charged it and he noticed that the phone was not Sony Experia XA1, instead it was Sony Experia L1 and he even checked the under Diagnostics that Its indeed L1. The L1 actually cost R799 and the XA1 was R1799.

In the morning (Saturday, 30 November 2019) I called the store to find out why that happened and I was told by Veronica to verify if its L1 and she insisted it cant be L1 because its thinner than XA1. I verified and told her its showing that its L1. She then said she would call me back after a few minutes. I waited and eventually after 20 minutes I called seeing that she was taking long and she told they found the phone and it was swapped somehow. She told me she spoke to her manager and she said I should take the phone (L1) to Foschini in Mafikeng on Monday, but I must first wait for her call and they will also courier the phone on Monday.

Monday came and she didnt call me and at around 10:00 I called and found Lizzy who said Veronica is off and not at work. Lizzy indicated that Veronica had asked her to assist with my query. Lizzy gave me an IMEI of the phone that was presumably mine in order to verify if they correspond and it didnt correspond and she told the phone she had was L2 and not XA1 as I was told and she said she would get back to me in a few minutes.

I waited until 11:15 and I called since Lizzy didnt call as promised. I was told Lizzy had gone to lunch and I asked for the manager. The manager indicated she is aware of the query and she will call me later once the matter is resolved. Lizzy told me they would go through all the slips of all purchases of that day and get back to me. I asked myself if they expect me to then use the second hand phone which the other client has used, because I stopped using the one had upon realizing it was to the one I paid for.

I feel like the Foschini Consultants are giving me the runaround and are trying to buy time waiting for the seven(7) days to lapse so they will tell me they cant assist me after 7 days as per their policy knowing fully well that there is no written complaint. Please assist me, if they cant assist me with providing me with what I paid for then they should rather pay me back.

Regards

Ms. Seleke
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