****

On the 15th of August 2017, I was at the petrol station mentioned above at about 9:00. I was on my way to Hillcrest Hospital as my son was being discharged and I needed to speak to the specialist about the future treatment.

All I wanted to do was fill up the tank with diesel and pump the tyres. The pumping of the tyres was not of great importance to me, I did it as a matter of routine before a long journey. I have traveled with that car between Randburg and Hillcrest four times in the last month and there was no problem with the tyres. The tyres are new and only two months old. They cost R 1300 each. I know because I paid for them.

The petrol attendant was very friendly and chatted and found out about where I was going and I told him I was picking up my son and we were traveling to Randburg. I reminded him to put back the tyre caps as this is often ****** off by petrol attendants. Then he found a fault with the front left tyre, he said it was very low and hard to pump. I found it strange as I drove the car the night before and in the morning and there was no problem. He then said they could fix it at the garage and I thought the garage had a special tyre division to fix tyres and I agreed to that, since safety is always one's foremost concern. The attendant put soapy water on the tyre and it bubbled - he used that to convince me something was wrong with the tyre. In retrospect I should have realised at that point it was a ****, because soapy water would bubble. A man overheard the conversation and came to me and told me that every time he comes to that garage, there is something wrong with his tyres.

I expected the garage to show me to the special division where they would remove the tyre and put it in water to see where it bubbles and put it an inner tube.

To my complete astonishment another attendant came along with sharp objects in his cap and started to puncture the tyre. I tried to stop him, but he would not listen. He broke his tool and complained that the tyre was "tough" which is to be expected as the tyre is new. Then he went on ignoring my attempts to stop him. The other attendant joined him in pushing and puncturing the tyre, by pushing on his shoulder, I was very upset by then. He then plugged the tyre.

The petrol attendant then told me it is seventy rand and he wanted it in cash. I refused to pay in cash and it was added to my card. The attendant noticed that I was very upset and I told him that I would now have to replace the tyre, just because he and his friend wanted to make some money on the side.

I then went to the hospital and met with the doctor and while my son was preparing to be discharged, I went to a tyre place in Hillcrest, on the same road as the Spar shopping centre and the other centre with the Dischem.

I spoke to the man there and told him I do not have time to wait, but they were already very busy and could not help me . He looked at the plug and said they don't use plugs like that anymore. He said I might make it to Johannesburg with that tyre. I do have a spare tyre in the car and then went to pick up my son and started the journey home.

The car was difficult to manage on the road. I stopped near Mooi River and phoned Caltex customer care and spoke to Rhoda at customer care at Chevron. I was still very upset that I had been caught with a **** and the car's tyre damaged during such a crisis in my life. I believe it is ******** to damage someone's property just because you want to make some money out of them, without regarding the implication it has for their safety or their lives. In fact what had happened is malicious damage to property, which is a ******** offence. There was nothing wrong with that tyre and I did not agree to some DIY job by a petrol attendant. I did not agree to anyone puncturing the tyre of my son's car with a sharp object.

Soon after I spoke to Rhoda, at Chevron customer care, one of the owners phoned me and I could tell by listening to him that he was in on the ****. The other owner, Luis left a message for me to phone him and when I did, he tried to sweet talk and manipulate me, totally underestimating my intelligence. He said he would come back to me, but he didn't. The owners refused to accept any responsibility for what had happened.

I later stopped at an Engen garage and had the tyres checked. They were all wrongly pumped - in other words the petrol attendant did not offer me service as a client when I was at the garage, he was just looking for an easy victim to manipulate to make money out of.

I phoned Luis, the one owner, the next morning just to find out that they ( the owners and the petrol attendants) are now all lying together. He did also say they were not "fixing" tyres any more.

To make this right, I want the owners to replace the tyre that has been damaged and I believe that Caltex should have a disciplinary hearing of the owners and the petrol attendants.

My rights under the Consumer Protection Act have been totally violated.

Rhoda at customer care has not done anything constructive in my opinion to resolve the problem and she seems to be avoiding my calls now. All she did was to get the owner Luis to phone me back this morning. He phoned and said he is not replacing the tyre that his employees has damaged and he ended by saying "goodbye, my love" in a derogatory way and put the phone down. That is what his attempt to solve the problem amounted to.

I think that Chevron Head Office should be made aware of this incident. What happened is disgusting.