Terrible service

<p>My wife and I visited the Mr Price Home store at Mall of Africa (MoA) on 03/06/17 with the view of purchasing a book shelf. There, we were assisted by a gentleman named Kagiso Mnguni. To say that he was disinterested would be an understatement as he was in actual fact also very rude!! My wife and I already had a specific book shelf in mind when we went to the store as we had seen it on line. We were able to find a similar one at the MoA branch. However, it was not in the colour that we wanted. We then approached Mr Kagiso Mnguni and asked him if the store had the same book shelf, but in a different colour. He responded in the affirmative but refused to show it to us opting instead, to show us a different piece of furniture which according to him, was “the same colour” as the bookshelf which we intended to purchase. I then asked him how he was expecting for us to make a decision without having seen the book shelf to which he responded “Baba, it’s the same colour as that stand! Black is black! You said you wanted a black one right?” while walking away. While still reeling from the shock, we tried to find a different employee to assist us but could not, as the few that were in sight were busy assisting other customers. We then left the store at my wife’s suggestion as she could see that I was getting a bit upset.</p> <p>On Sunday 04/06/17, we decided to give this another shot. We went back to the MoA branch and to our luck – or lack thereof - were assisted by the same gentleman. As soon as I started explaining to him that we had been at the store the previous day, he interjected and told me that he remembered me, and also that he if I still had the same request (to see the book shelf), he would not be able to assist me as the bookshelf that I wanted to see was kept in their store room and he was not willing to carry it all the way to the store just for me to see it! I then explained to him that I had driven more than 20km’s to make this purchase but would not purchase the shelf without first seeing it and ensuring that it was indeed the colour that I was looking for. He responded by raising his voice and very rudely informing me that if he opens its packaging and upon seeing it, I discovered that it was the wrong colour, I would be forced to buy it! I then asked if I could speak to the manager to confirm this “policy”, he responded by stating that he was the manager of the area where furniture such as bookshelves was kept and walked away.</p> <p>Having watched this drama unfold from afar, a lady who introduced herself as the assistant store manager approached us and asked if everything was ok. I then explained to her what the issue was and also how displeased I was with her colleague’s attitude. I explained to her how we had been treated the previous day by the very same colleague. She was very apologetic and offered to assist us further. While I was still speaking to this lady, Mr Kagiso Mnguni walked past and mumbled something while pointing in the direction of where he had placed the boxed bookshelf (we discovered this once the assistant manager had gone to inspect the package). She then opened the box, asked if we were happy with the colour and assisted us to the tills where we made payment for the book shelf.</p> <p>In all my years of being a loyal customer at Mr Price Home, this was the worst service that I have ever received!! What makes it even worse, is the fact that the rude employee looks old enough to be my father and I genuinely gave him the respect that one would be expected to give to an elder (or any other fellow human being for that matter). I really tried to be understanding when this happened for the first time, but when he was even more rude the second time, I realised that I would not take this lying down!!! </p> <p> </p>