BAD LAY AWAY PROCESSES AND SERVICE

I needed to pay my last installment on my lay away with you guys by 26 November 2019. My husband went into your store beginning November advised that we can fetch it Month end and the cashier confirmed it's fine, it wont affect the lay away. I went into your N1 City store on Saturday 30 November 2019 to fetch my kids lay away - and was informed by the cashier that there is no lay away. When I asked her what she meant, she immediately pulled the manager to look at her screen not speaking to me at all. The store manager abruptly said, you didn't pay so we gave your goods away, the system won't allow us to take it out and we cant do anything. I asked what that meant, she said "You cant get the stuff" I then said I would like my money back, she tapped her finger on the receipt as she was walking away from me mid conversation and said, "You can't get your money back because it's part of our terms and conditions on your slip" with the most horrible unapologetic, insincere, rude, loud accusatory tone that made me extremely angry especially because I am trying to stay calm and am sincere and this female could not care less. She then came back to the till, after she did whatever with a different customer and advised that they can put the money I have paid on a gift card to which I had to agree, purely because I had no other choice because there isn't any other choice.

I am extremely conflicted by the behavior of your store manager and the lack of empathy for a customer not to mention your lay away processes that are extremely flawed. How does a lay away disappear off your system? Did it grow feet? and why does the store manager treat the customer journey as a huge "suck on this, i'll show you" mentality when I am trying to get an answer and she couldn't answer respectfully but instead her first response was to jump on an attitude and embarrass, belittle me with 0 emotional intelligence and human decency to have handled the situation better.

I am extremely upset about this experience and look forward to your response.