Always is a Procter and Gamble brand, and neither the brand nor P&G publishes a South African telephone number for it. The Always South Africa site carries no number, and the P&G consumer support hub it routes to shows a call option that does not display a number for this country. So the practical answer is that Always is contacted in writing, not by phone.
How to reach Always in South Africa
- The Always South Africa site at always-africa.com, selecting South Africa in the country switcher
- The P&G consumer support hub, reached from that site contact page, which offers an FAQ, an email route and a call option filtered by country and brand
- The address printed on the pack itself, which is the most reliable route for a product complaint
Note the domain. Always South Africa sits on always-africa.com, which also serves Kenya, rather than on an always.co.za address. There is no always.co.za site, so a link claiming to be one is not the brand.
Read the pack before you complain
South African labelling rules require a manufacturer or importer address on consumer goods, and for a product complaint that address plus the batch code is worth more than any switchboard. Take a photograph of the pack showing the batch or lot code and the best-before date before you throw it away. Without the batch code, a manufacturer cannot trace which production run your pack came from, and a complaint without it usually ends in a goodwill voucher rather than an investigation.
If a product harmed you
This matters more with a product worn against the body than with most household goods. If a pad caused a burn, a severe rash or an infection, that is a safety complaint rather than a quality one. See a doctor and keep the record, keep the remaining product from the same pack, and say clearly in your first message that there was a physical reaction.
The Consumer Protection Act makes producers, importers, distributors and retailers jointly liable for harm caused by unsafe goods or by inadequate instructions and warnings, and you do not have to prove negligence to claim. The National Consumer Commission takes complaints about unsafe products, and the retailer that sold it to you is liable alongside the manufacturer, which is why the shop is a legitimate first stop.
Buying safely
Counterfeit sanitary products are a real problem in South Africa and are a genuine health risk, because they are made outside any hygiene control. Buy from established retailers rather than from informal online sellers offering unusually cheap bulk packs, and treat packaging that is misspelled, poorly printed or sealed differently from the usual pack as a warning.
If you get nowhere
Escalate to the retailer first, in writing, since they are liable too and are usually faster than a global consumer hub. An unresolved consumer complaint about goods can then go to the Consumer Goods and Services Ombud, which covers this sector free of charge, and from there to the National Consumer Commission.