First Macbook - Now disillusioned :(

Hi

I purchased a MacBook Air 13 inch (my first MacBook purchase) online from iStore (South Africa) and it was delivered to me on the afternoon of the 28-04-2025, Monday.

On Friday the 02-05-2025 I was in store with the unit at Pavilion shopping center as the mic refused to work during my online meetings despite me turning all settings and permissions on. The technician tried and failed to sort this issue out and also tried and failed to download Chrome as the MacBook kept showing an error. I waited for the head technician (Lungani) and the same result for both the mic and the Chrome download. He asked me to book it in overnight so he can run a clean/ update etc.

The next day, Saturday 03-05-2025 I received a call from the head technician who needed my Apple ID to proceed with his process however I was unsure of the password and he agreed we would call me after 10 minutes as I would just receive the call centers if I tried to call back .

I received no call back and that afternoon returned to the store with my husband where the technician assured me that he did not have to call me back as he managed to complete the process without my id and password.

The unit was returned to us and upon testing the mic was still not working. He then said this is an out of box fault and the unit needs to be sent in for confirmation of fault before I can be replaced with a new one, probably around the following Wednesday 07-05-2025. He said we need to hand in the as well box so we went back home and immediately and returned within the half hour with the box and charger.

I received no news from anyone and Wednesday after supper returned to the store to find that they are closed for stock take and no one wanted to come to the door to assist us. Eventually a trainee was sent and promised that someone would call me.

That night I messaged and emailed on social platforms asking for help and the next day I received a call from the same technician asking me to remove my device from the Find My app so that he can sort my problem out as soon as possible.

Saturday morning I messaged iStore asking for a call back and the manager of the Pavilion Store, Muhammad called me to say the unit is at the support center and is undergoing testing and cannot be replaced until he gets the go ahead from them and the minute he does he will replace me with a new unit and will even keep aside stock in my color choice and option and deliver it to me as he lives in the same area and he will personally be overseeing my case and Monday will be calling me.

Today is Monday and I received a call from a lady from Pavilion store telling me that tests were run and there is nothing wrong with my unit and it will be returned to me within 5-7 working days.

To be honest I am just in tears now. I am soon due for my second payment installment on Float for a MacBook I do not possesses and am working with an old laptop that keeps freezing but I own a MacBook.

The unit is not going to be working when I return to collect it. Of this I am sure as I am seeing many reviews online of this same problem being experienced by many people.

What are my options?

What do I do?