Parking Ticket Prisoner at Mall of Africa

I was stuck inside Mall of the South for 40 minutes with a truly *********** lot, unable to help me with an unreadable parking ticket (of all things!), and an 80 year old whom I needed to get home to take her medication.

- I went to pay for my parking, the machine said my ticket was unreadable. - I pushed the help button, a lady responded by saying she was going to tell her supervisor to come help me. (A different approach to the same issue I had at ****arney where within seconds, my ticket was stamped as paid, in the machine, by a helpful lady behind the help button and I was on my way home.) - 10 minutes later, no-one had arrived. - I called again and apparently the supervisor was on her way. - Another 10 minutes and I managed to find the office to speak to her myself. - Joyce was a trainee who had been left on her own by her supervisor Susan, frazzled, with not a clue of what to do in such a situation. I suggested she give me a new ticket, she refused. I suggested she stamp the one I had, she refused. I told her my situation and that it was urgent for me to leave, I just needed something that would open the boom to let me out. She had a lightbulb moment and said she would open the boom for me once I got there. - At the boom she didn't answer the call. We tried for 7 minutes. - Security guards sitting in the booth didn't even come out to see what the problem was. - Eventually, after reversing and driving up to them, having them try the card and explaining the whole situation to them, including how urgent it was becoming for me to get my grandmother home, Bianca (one of the guards) started laughing. She said she couldn't do anything to help us. - After the 40 minute mark, I was getting desperate and told her I was going to tailgate my way out and she would need to explain it to her boss. - As I started backing up, she pulled out a key from her pocket and with the most infuriating slow walk to the boom, unlocked it and it opened to let us out.

I can't even believe something like this happened. For a R10 ticket. It was like being a victim of a bad Schuster prank.

Your staff are ***********, apathetic and unprofessional. I'll be hard pressed to go to that mall again.