Terrible customer service at Choppies Van Dyk Park

Below is a complaint that I sent to the management of Choppies Van Dyk Park over a week ago. I am yet to hear from them, they only acknowledged receipt of my complaint. I am very unhappy about the incident that took place and the subsequent lack of any action from the management of the store.

Subject: Grievance To whom it may concern

Yesterday, 21 June 2020 I visited your store. Due to a business call that I was on, I decided to sit in the car and sent in my younger sister and my 9 year old son. Upon their return to the car, they informed me that they were rudely addressed by Ms. Virginia Mogano a cashier at the store. My sister took her to task about it and was immediately met by a chorus of cashiers who were saying that she must (tsamaya) leave the store in Sesotho and not come back if she is not happy with their service, this coupled with the fact that Ms. Anna Makoboshane had nudged my 9 year old son out of the way with a trolley. I decided to cut short my call and go into the store with the intent to investigate the root of might have caused all this careless unprofessionalism. I went to a lady who identified herself as a manager, I asked her about the incident that had just occurred between your staff members and my sister to which she said she was not witness to. As I was relaying to her the events that had just occurred, a lady came charging from the cashiers, shouting what she said was their side of the story. In the process removing her mask, a clear violation of the store as an employee. I was shocked at her attitude and requested her to let me finish explaining my reason for being at the store to which she couldn’t allow and continued to speak over me and the lady manager. Again , I continued to address the manager and asked that we listen to the version of events from my 9 year old and not from my sister whom they alleged has an attitude. My son confirmed the events that had occurred and had subsequently led to my presence. The fact that a screaming match occurred between a customer and member of your staff for several minutes right in front of a powerless manager is beyond distasteful. The manger was beyond helpless and kept on saying “ Ausi Anna ema” , translated she was basically begging sister Anna to stop!!! Well it goes without saying that Anna couldn’t stop as she is fully aware that the manager is powerless and she clearly thinks that she is the ring leader and will be damned to lose what she thinks is power amongst her younger colleagues. Mind you, all of this is happening with loud sneers and sarcastic laughs from some of the cashiers in the background. This behaviour is appalling and should be snipped at the butt for the goodness of your store reputation, future success and the Choppies brand. My family has lived in Van Dyk Park since 1999 and has shopped at that exact store ever since. We have seen it change management and store names but have never ever seen the type of behaviour meted out yesterday. I am not one to go complain on local newspapers , community WhatsApp groups or the likes of hello peter hence I am writing this email to you with the hope that you will find a way to remedy the situation and ensure that your store remains a local favourite for Van Dyk Park residents. The mob psychology displayed by some of your staff members led by Anna Makoboshane is such a turn off and very dangerous for your brand. I honestly cannot believe that an employee has an open pass to behave in this fashion especially during these harsh economic times. Its beyond baffling. The receipt in my possession indicates that the items that we purchased were paid for at 16:04. I trust that you will be able to retrieve and view footage of this unbecoming behaviour. My parting words to Anna and her followers was that I am not going to be chased away from my local grocer by their lack of customer service and clear disrespect of a business , reputation and profits prospects. These are words that I still repeat. I am looking forward to hearing from a manager with authority as the lady who was in charge yesterday is led and not in any shape or form leading the staff. She unfortunately still hasn’t realised that when you are tasked with managing people , age does not become a factor. Referring to subordinates as ausi Anna does nothing for protocol and reporting lines. Regards, Bongi Msiza