NEW LAPTOP BOUGHT ON TAKEALOT TURNS OUT TO BE STOLEN

When Axel Scholle purchased a laptop advertised on Takealot as “brand-new”, he had no idea that it would land him in hot water.

Scholle bought the laptop in 2019 and paid R14,000 for it. It was delivered and he started to use it.

Two years later the laptop was locked and Scholle received a message that said it could only be unlocked if permission was given by the original owner.

The original owner turned out to be the Department of Agriculture.

Scholle’s wife emailed Takealot and received a reply that said the matter has been escalated.

EWN reports that the e-commerce platform initially responded by saying that Scholle’s complaint would be escalated to their seller compliance team since it was sold on Takealot via a third party. Takealot then offered a refund and said that the seller’s account had been suspended in August 2022.

Since then, Scholle’s wife received an email that confirmed the marketplace seller, Nanotec Digital, was found guilty of selling stolen goods and was suspended from trading on Takealot in August 2022 after a full investigation.

To this day, Takealot still hasn’t given Scholle his refund as they said his return of the laptop was declined due to tampering “as the unit shows signs of being opened.”

Image credit: Takealot