Mall of the South employee complaint_Lucky and Simphiwe

This serves as a formal complaint laid against two male employees at the Clicks branch at Mall of the South. The issue pertains returning of a microwave oven. The oven was initially purchased in September 2019 and worked without issues up until end of March 2020. The problem with the device was that it stopped warming up food, it was working but the food did not get warm no matter how long you set it for. Due to the lockdown we were unable to return the electronic device. My mum eventually returned the device on the 22nd of May 2020 at the Clicks Westgate branch, where the device was initially bought. Upon her arrival she explained the issue to a female employee, the employee then checked if there is still stock of the device. She then continued to fetch another brand-new device, that was still sealed and the box had the plastic sealing. She did not test the device my mum brought in to check the fault, she simply wrote a note on the initial receipt stating that “excused for a new one”. My mum then took the brand-new device and brought it home. We did not have electricity that entire weekend as the 22nd was a Friday so we could not make use of the device, thus unable to ascertain if it had any faults. On Sunday the electricity issue was fixed and I had the pleasure of using the new device for the first time. I unwrapped it carefully and assembled it correctly as per the instructions. I then changed the settings making sure that it is set on high. I then proceeded to warm up soup that was room temp as we didn’t have electricity so it wasn’t in the fridge. I set the microwave oven to three minutes, to my surprise the soup was barely warm. It was still room temperature. My mum then decided that we should rather return the device again and this time request a refund and add more money to buy a better microwave. The nearest Clicks to us is Mall of the South so we headed there on Monday, 25th May. Upon arrival, my mum was at the bank so I went to Clicks to make the exchange. This is where my complaint stems from, the two male employees that I dealt with were utterly rude and did not make any effort to try and ease the situation and assist. The first person I spoke to was Simphiwe, he is a young black male, bold head with wide eyes. I re-told the entire story and he opted to test the device. We then proceeded to their kitchen to test the device, he claimed that the lunch box he was warming was from the fridge. He set the microwave for two minutes, the timer wasn’t even done and he stopped the device. The food had some steam but it wasn’t warm. It was still cold. Simphiwe had attitude while addressing me, he said the device is working and nothing is wrong with it. I said that I’ll go check with my mum and his response was “if you should return the device again, don’t bring it here, take it to another Clicks”. I found that very offensive and made it clear to him, he uttered some words which I couldn’t hear due to the mask as we left the kitchen. I then went to my mum to check with her if she is okay with the feedback. She was adamant that she wants her refund, her argument is that the device doesn’t work efficiently and might be troublesome at a later stage. I went back and found Simphiwe and told him that we aren’t satisfied with the device and as a customer I would like a refund to buy a better device. He reiterated his initial statement, this time with more attitude. I then requested to speak to his manager. The manager was a man named Lucky, he was average male height and was also bold. I again, explained the entire issue and now this time requesting a refund. He refuses on the basis that the device is working and that their T’s and C’s don’t allow returning of working devices. But the thing is the device doesn’t work as efficiently as the initial one while it was working, our fear as customers is that a few months down the line the device might stop working like the initial one and the issue now would be that the warranty is passed and we can’t return it. The manager continues to explain that Clicks Westgate made an error by not printing out a new receipt that stipulates a new warranty. I proceeded to thank him for the explanation but still he was not assisting me with the problem at hand. This microwave doesn’t function well and I am unhappy with it. The manager did not even attempt to contact Westgate and see what exceptions could be made to accommodate us as clients, loyal clients that participate in your rewards programmes. The manager expects us to be inconvenienced and make another trip to the West Rand to get this issue sorted. He kept explaining the issue over and again until we decided to leave, unassisted and furious to say the least. This is not the service I expect from Clicks, I shop at Clicks monthly and I have never experienced such bad service. This is uncalled for and I expect something to be done about those employees and this issue because I am sitting here with an inefficient device.