How can such a terrible business last so long?

Why can't I simply call the branch directly? If I want to buy online I will - and Builders will certainly not be in the top 10 sites I choose from. So if I try to call up front to enquire about something I want to buy at a specific store, I get your inefficient call center, and they typically want to refer me to your online presence. It has always been a total waste of my time, your call center has NEVER assisted me in any way.

Besides, I don't know why you have this half-hearted effort at going online - you should be ashamed about the level of effort you put in to populate the information associated with the items you sell online, which appears to be limited to just getting the item description and the price to show. But then again, this perfectly matches your stores. Why have a 10/10 online presence if it shows up the quality of your brick and mortar stores, that can hardly ever sc**** in at a 3/10 - so I guess you want everything you do to be equally bad, is that the strategy?

How did you manage to demotivate all of your workforce? When there was a "go slow" some years ago I would not have noticed, except for the Builders employees in the parking lot, who - for once - seemed to be at least partially engaged and interested in what they were doing. Inside, the same ****py service and lack of interest, the only difference with the "go-slow" was that there were fewer clusters of employees having their own private conversations. The level of customer service did not budge from the normal "mediocre".

I honestly believe that Builders ranks among the very top of the most terrible retailers in South Africa. The only reason I would go to one of your stores would be if I need something quickly, and it would have to be something where the quality is generic, and after-sales service is not a factor. Seeing that I took the trouble to type all of this in response to your survey feedback request, I will copy it and post it publicly as well.