VOUCHER

Yesterday morning, I went through to Table Bay Mall to buy a gift voucher for a colleague’s Birthday. She has been eagerly showing me what she wants to do with her bedroom, and I thought that instead of getting her something she doesn’t need, this would assist her in designing the room she’s been dreaming of.

I was 2nd in the queue, the tills reduced to 1 teller, but I was next, so I didn’t mind. I then asked for the gift-voucher and proceeded to bring the store to a stop. The supervisor was called twice, to no avail, because apparently a teller is not capable or responsible enough to manage the process themselves. After waiting a good few minutes, I could feel the stares and when I turned around, there were at least 6 other people in the queue who couldn’t do anything because I was now holding everyone up. I asked the teller to cancel the transaction and I left.

Because the bedding that my colleague has shown me is from Mr P, I really wanted to get her a voucher so on my way back down the mall, I stopped in at Mr P Sports. Thankfully, the supervisor here was more active on the floor. I had to type my name, my email address (the screen has wonky and wouldn’t take the 1st type), give contact numbers, etc. and the poor lady next to me, cashing in a voucher had to supply her ID number too. I don’t believe that this isn’t the case anywhere else.

Vouchers are nothing new. They’re available everywhere, from Woolies to Checkers – just at the counter, as though you’re buying a loaf of bread; an in-&-out the store transaction. Surely at cash-up, everything should tally-up? If you’re going to need a supervisor to sign off on either the purchase of a voucher or when cashing it in, then that manager needs to be permanently available, or someone needs to double-hat in their absence. And why the need to supply your whole pedigree for R300?