Items Sold After Manager Approved Extension

If I could give zero stars I would.

***I've emailed so many times, only received one generic response from customer service and still no solution to my query***

I am writing to formally complain about the way my loan and belongings were handled by Cash Crusaders Rondebosch, which resulted in my items being sold even though I had been given approval to extend the loan and pay on Monday morning.

My loan was taken out on 21 October, with the contract showing a final date of 19 November. I fully intended to extend the loan, but I ran into several issues which were not resolved.

First, I began receiving mixed information about the extension fees. My contract states one amount (R350.91), your pamphlet says something else (R319), and the payment link sent to me said R971 and there was another amount mentioned of R1011. This made it impossible for me to know what I was actually supposed to pay. I messaged the store on the 19th, and did not get clarity.

Then on the 19th, I received an email (which you can find on this thread) from Cash Crusaders saying I had until 21 November to extend or collect my items. This is later than the date on the contract, so naturally I followed the instructions in the email. If this email was wrong, that was the store’s mistake, not mine.

On Friday the 21st, I phoned the store at 12h29 since I still had no clarity about the extension amount. I explained the discrepancies and that I wasn’t able to get to Rondebosch that day. The person I spoke to put me on hold to ask the manager and then came back saying that the manager had approved that I could come in on Monday morning and no later than 9am to make payment. I even asked her to please make a note on the system to say that I would be coming on Monday to pay the extension, to which she confirmed.

Based on that agreement, I arranged my Monday accordingly.

However, on Saturday the 22nd, I received a call from someone named Zanele, who told me my items were “already out.” When I asked what she meant, she put me on a long hold, then returned to tell me that my rings had been sold. I was completely shocked, because I had been told by the store with manager approval that I could come on Monday to pay and have them explain what the actual extension fee is.

I explained this to her as well as sent a screenshot of the email with the offer to extend, and she insisted that the contract ended on the 19th. I told her that your store had emailed me saying I had until the 21st. She then tried to tell me that the email “did not mean that,” even though the date was clearly stated and went on to say that the store does not give grace telephonically and I had to be at the store by the 19th to extend. It felt like she was trying to rewrite what the email said after the fact, instead of acknowledging the mistake.

The fact is:

I tried to extend in time with no clarity to date

I was given different extension fees

My messages asking for clarity went unanswered

Your own email told me I had until the 21st

A manager approved me paying on Monday at 9am

And despite all of this, my items were still sold before I even had the chance to come in as agreed

This is not acceptable. I re**** on the information and instructions given to me by your staff and your written communication. I acted in good faith, and the store did not.

I am asking for a full explanation of how this was allowed to happen, and for compensation equal to the actual value of my items, since they were sold prematurely and against the arrangement that was made with me.