Game dont seem to care whether they loose or win, anymore!

My wife and I went into Game at the Fountains mall in Jeffreys Bay yesterday to but a travel bag and a water efficient washing machine. The total value of the purchase might have exceeded R8000.00.

Well we waited at the appliance section for over 20 minutes. Couldn't find anyone to attend to us and quite frankly I was doubtful from the beginning there would be anyone with sufficient product knowledge to guide us in this regard.

We called the only person we could see and that person let it be known in no uncertain terms that it was not their department but that they would try to find 'someone'. So we waited for another 10 minutes until it dawned on us that we had in essence been waiting for almost half an hour and were no closer to being assisted much less guided in our quest to do our bit to save water.

My wife eventually left me to wait there while she set out to find a suitcase for our upcoming trip to Durban and again there was no one to assist her her either. So she took the case she thought best met her needs without any objective opinion or guidance regarding warranty, durability or any of the 1000 questions one has when making such a purchase. Not to mention that suitcases are no cheap items, Her choice of suitcase coming in at just under a thousand rand. All the while I am still hovering around the appliance section.

Eventually we meet up at the checkout, me no wiser and Game no richer for over 45 minutes of wasted time and effort.

Once finally at the checkout and in desperation for some advise my wife asked the teller whether she thought the case she had chosen would suffice for a week long stay to which the teller rep**** that she didn’t think so. My wife went back to select a larger, more expensive model. This time topping almost fifteen hundred rand, only to return to the cashier’s till to discover that the item did not have a barcode. After waiting for another fifteen minutes while staff scrambled (ok, that’s a gross exaggeration) what few staff members there were loitering about, chewing gum a young chap arrived with a head full of pointy dreadlocks (how game expect their staff to retain any credibility when they look like they have just stepped out of a Rastafarian ganga party is beyond me) who’s sole contribution to what was fast becoming a comedy of errors and a lesson in non-management, was that, yes, there was no barcode to be found on the suitcase.

Needless to say that by this stage, the teller herself, feeling embarrassed at the level of incompetence felt compelled to leave her post presumably to see whether she could perhaps find a similar item or a barcode off the shelf. Well she did return with a barcode but for a black case which to her credit and according to her, would not do.

It was at this stage that I requested to see the manager, bearing in mind that by now we were well into an hour with no solution in sight.

When I requested to speak to the manage i was told that he was out on a delivery. Imagine my shock to find out that someone, who’s job it is to manage the shop was out on a ‘delivery’. It was then explained that he was out ‘fixing’ a delivery problem. Obviously a systemic problem.

Well long story short.

We ended up leaving two carpets, a suitcase and a washing machine (which I never even got a chance to buy) at the counter.

We voted with OUR FEET and WALKED OUT.

If this is what has become of Game then you don’t need me to read the writing on the wall for you.

We won’t be going back anytime soon, unless of course Game gives us a reason to.

From one very disappointed, disillusioned and frustrated former customer

Anthony Lange, Jeffreys Bay ***.