Terrible customer service and deformation of character

Complaint against the store manager Lekhotla Maletanyana Edgards Matlosana Mall for deformation of character against Ms Dipuo daughter Katleho Radebe

On 7th of May 2020 at my daughter and I went to Edgars to purchase few winter items that were on sale, I had already selected few items the previous day but could not pay due to leaving my account card at home and I requested one of the staff to keep my items and I would collect them the following day. After my daughter hand-picked her items in a separate basket we proceeded to the tellers for payment and we were assisted buy a gentleman cashier by the name of Ezekiel Setha and the number of items purchased were 10 knitwear jerseys and 1 pair of lace sneakers which sums up to 11 items that were in our shopping bag. The cashier handed over the shopping bag we were on our way out to leave the store.

At the exit point the plastic bag rang and my daughter notified the gentleman at the door that her shopping bag was ringing, the gentleman asked my daughter whom by the way is highly pregnant to return and see if in fact her bag was the one that rang. She returned and yes the bag rang, the store manager took the plastic bag to check what it was and the 1st item that he took out of the bag had a screening tag. The store manager took the plastic bag started to count the items and he counted 12 as to how he got to that number I don’t know, he did not even bother to call one of the floor staff members to help him recount. He immediately took the jersey that had tag and interrogated my daughter asking her how did that specific item get into her shopping bag and where did she get it from because the receipt says 11 items and he counted 12. At no point did he even do a thorough count and match the items against the receipt witch was in his hand. My daughter mind you is expecting and to be embarrassed like that in front of other shoppers interrogating her like a ***** was absolutely unprofessional and out of line and as a card holder I could not understand why the store manager had to behave in that manager. After my daughter advising that she does not understand how that jersey had a tag, he took the jersey with the tag and the receipt and told us that he is going to check the ccv footage and he will call us. My daughter, asked for a chair by the door and sat there next to security guard with the plastic bag patiently waiting for the store manager to return.

The store manager decided to call us both and the staff member who was at the door to his office, we were shown CCTV footage we saw ourselves at the till point and the cashier counted the items that he scanned and removing the tags he saw, us paying and showing that my daughters trolley was empty and the cashier advising us to leave my trolley behind with the extra clothing we didn’t pay for. The store manager became rude and asked my me as to how he does not understand how this item landed in my bag and we should explain. We asked to see footage of us leaving the till point to the door and he advised us that he does not have that footage as there are no cameras, we asked him how was that possible that there is no footage show that he could see for himself if we wandered around in the store after paying and he blatantly refused. This man was so rude when talking to us, he didn’t want to hear anything we had to say and eventually told us that if we don’t tell the truth and threatened us that we should tell him where did we take that item?? because he fails to understand the number of items in the bag don’t match the number of items on the cameras, and this is regarded as theft and that its beyond his control and he is going to call the police.

The staff member escorted us to the back office asked him if she could do a recount in front of us and the store manager, when she counted, there were 11 items in total. The store manager refused to take responsibility for his behaviour still insisting that he counted 12 items and now he was telling my daughter that the 12th item had been removed out of my bag. The staff member argued telling the store manager that my daughter did not remove anything and she had been sitting next to the exit door chair since he left. We asked to see footage once again he refused and stated shouting at us with not even a sincere apology and we walked out.

I fail to understand that a man hired in that position would handle loyal customer in that manner

· at no point did he do a recount to double check the bag

· no cross check to match the description of item against the receipt

· no request to ask a staff member to do a recount with him

· checking our entire movement in the store

· customer handling, instead treating us like ********* causing a scene in front of other customers

Can Edcon please explain to me what kind of behavior is this? As a loyal and regular customer I feel the way we were handled was unjustified, totally unacceptable and therefore we would like to know what action Edcon is going to take for the humiliation and embarrassment we suffered by someone who does not know their job description or simple customer service for that matter TILL TODAY WE DO NOT HAVE A RESPONSE FROM EDGARS!!!! Kind regards

Dipuo Radebe