Ambiguous,inconsistent Company Policy and Terrible Customer Service

On Saturday morning I was at Edgars West Street ********** in Durban, I was with my family for early xmas shopping to avoid the late December rush as by that time you struggle to find sizes due to many people purchasing. I am a person who has recently found work in the countryside in remote areas away more than 250km from urban areas and I do not come into town often. I had lost my store card so I was looking to get a card replacement before I make purchases using my account and cash, the lady who was on Account on Saturday morning was Nompumelelo, I had my drivers license and my valid South African passport with me I asked for a card replacement I was refused this and told that I can only get a new card with my ID or temp ID only, but was instead offered a temporary purchase slip. My question was why would you offer me a temp purchase slip and not the card replacement because the same information that you are using to issue me a temp is the very same information that you would get from my ID, I was then told a story about dispute transactions, that its policy and stuff but i asked again then why offer a temp purchase slip in which I can max out the whole account without an ID in the first place and refuse to offer me a card, I asked what information would my ID give her that she would be able to find in my valid South African passport. I was then put through to verification department via telephone and a lady by Mpho spoke to me and told me the same thing about its company policy and so forth and I asked the very same question to as to what information would my ID or temp ID give them that you cannot find in a valid South African passport, she had no answer to this and kept telling that its company policy. I then asked who was the manager on duty at the verification dept and that could I please speak to them , I was told that Dianna Micheal is the Dept Manager on duty on this number ********** , Nompumelelo dialed this number more than 5 times in a space of me waiting more than 30 minutes and Dianna Micheal did not avail herself to speak to me, I was given a various excuses as to why she is not availing herself to talk to me, I asked who does Dianna report to since she is not willing to speak to me, I was given this number ********** this number again was dialed and dialed and no one picked up. So this means if one person is unavailable then the world supposes to stop at Edgars and they rather lose sales, why don't you guys up s**** more people who would be able to engage customers with such queries rather than have one person?

For a company that in recent months has closed down stores and is working on rebranding themselves and to win back customers , that a dept manager will not avail herself for over 30 minutes to speak to a customer, and I very disappointed in that for company this size that no one has thought this policy is ambiguous and inconsistent in its sense, this is a reflection that the company lacks thinkers,innovation and foresight that this is inconsistent, why grant someone access to an account via a temp purchase account using a drivers license or a passport but then say no I cannot give a card replacement because you do not have an ID or a temp ID in your possession again you are granting me access to use up all the money in that account? Remember that even with a temp ID you cannot use it forever it also has a limited period of use, The Dept of Home Affairs clearly states that a valid South African Passport satisfies the requirement to a persons identity and nationality, you can even use a passport across all South African banks for transacting and other retailers, so what makes you guys so special that you think a valid South African passport cannot satisfy information that you would get in an ID document/smart card, because a valid South African passport has my signature which a green barcoded ID does not have,

Because in essence you have to full satisfied yourself that I am the account holder and then you grant me access to my account via a temp purchase slip, what further checks are then required for you to give a card replacement? if you do not trust that this is me why grant me access to the account? that is where I question this ambiguous and inconsistent policy of yours, because when I asked Nompumelelo and Mpho what information that my ID will give them that my valid South African passport does not have they failed to answer my question and kept saying its company policy. For an example in the old South African regime there was legislation and policy that did not favor the people which is why that system had to collapse and a new one to be formed post 1994, So for Edgars why has a policy that does nothing but makes you guys sleep better that at least I did not give him/her a card but I only gave them complete access to the whole credit available for the store account via a temp purchase slip? what is that? even though the your staff agreed with me that this policy collapses on itself they still did not make a card replacement for even though they did all checks and full satisfied themselves that I am indeed the account holder and offered me a temp purchase slip,

Before of the poor customer service displayed by a manager not availing themselves to speak to me for over 30 minutes and also by this senseless policy of yours, I declined to use the temp purchase slip given to me and I took my business to a competitor of Edgars to spend the R4000 for xmas clothing for my family that I had hoped to spend at Edgars .

I would like a person who is objective and also capable of fully answering my questions as above as to what further verification can a temp ID/ ID can give them that a valid South African passport cannot give them and also when then offer access to the very same account with a temp purchase slip? and to also to be given an answer to why a dept manager cannot avail themselves to speak to a customer/ and the number give to me to escalate the issue just keeps ringing without it being answered.

This is a reflection of poor leadership in Edgars and a lack of innovation and thinkers across the board.