MS
Michael S
1 reviews | Active since Apr 2013
27 Oct 2020, 13:40
PMB SPCA Useless
The SPCA in Pietermaritzburg is not somewhere I would recommend to go and adopt animals, I know it is harsh, because the animals all need homes, but when the staff there do not do their jobs properly, the place becomes very unsavory. My wife and I went in to go look at a little black spaniel on Saturday 10/10/2020 and filled in the forms to adopt her. Not knowing that we had to take in proof of residence, we were issued with their email address, and I emailed it through early Monday morning. On Wednesday the 14th October, I phoned up to find out when the property inspection was going to be done, only to be told that the dog had already been adopted, by people who went in mid morning on Monday, when I complained that we had seen her first, the reply was, "We do not book the animals, its first come, first served|", to which I rep****, We were there first and I emailed the proof of residence through on Monday morning. A while later, I received a call from Roland Fivaz, who did not actually know the complete story, as he had not looked into anything before he phoned, his answer was, yet again, "Its a first come first served basis". When I told him that I had emailed the proof of residence at 08h07 on the Monday morning, he had no clue about it and said that he would look into it and come back to me after he had done some investigations, I am still waiting. One thing that struck me as pure and utter disrespect for his staff, was when I confronted him about why there was just a trainee working on the Saturday and no supervisor and she did not know what she was supposed to do, his reply to me was, " You must understand that we are dealing with people who ONLY have a matric. This is the highest disrespect for his staff and should be brought to book about this, also, to this day, we are still waiting for him to call us to tell us what his "investigations" were able to uncover. As far as I am concerned, there two possibilities here, one, the person who is supposed to go through the emails did not do her job properly, or our email was disregarded because someone at the SPCA had a friend who wanted the dog and was given to that family.
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Replies (3)
SPCA's replyOfficial
27 Oct 2020, 14:18We at the National Council of SPCAs will forward your complaint to the Pietermaritzburg SPCA asking for a response. Their response shall be posted within 7 days. Kind regards Society Liaison Unit National Council of SPCAs
Best regards,
SPCA's reply27 Oct 2020, 14:18
Official
We at the National Council of SPCAs will forward your complaint to the Pietermaritzburg SPCA asking for a response. Their response shall be posted within 7 days. Kind regards Society Liaison Unit National Council of SPCAs
Best regards,
SPCA's replyOfficial
29 Oct 2020, 16:09Hotmail addresses are notorious for ending up in spam boxes, as did Mr Selby's email containing his proof of address. As such, it was not noticed immediately. His other paperwork was sent to Inspectorate for the pre-home inspection but was sent back to Adoptions because the proof of residence was not attached. Meanwhile, another person had successfully app**** for the dog. Our new Adoptions assistant is still learning the ropes: she did not know the email went to spam and was mortified about missing it. She was in tears, but we assured her it's not the end of the world. She is trying very hard. Her superior was booked off sick. Senior Inspector Fivaz left early Friday morning, 16 October to drive to Johannesburg for the NSPCA AGM. He tried to telephone Mr Selby on Thursday afternoon (15 October). The voicemail said: "subscriber unavailable". He also tried to phone Mrs Selby at work, but she had left already. Senior Inspector Fivaz's comment about matric qualifications was, he admits, in poor taste, but we all know our staff are far from ***********: on the contrary, they are passionate about the animals in their care and they work very hard and try their best. Some more popular dogs get a lot of applications, whilst other lovely dogs scarcely get a second glance from the public. I apologize unreservedly to Mr Selby and hope he will not hold this unintended oversight against our staff and our SPCA.
Best regards,
SPCA's reply29 Oct 2020, 16:09
Official
Hotmail addresses are notorious for ending up in spam boxes, as did Mr Selby's email containing his proof of address. As such, it was not noticed immediately. His other paperwork was sent to Inspectorate for the pre-home inspection but was sent back to Adoptions because the proof of residence was not attached. Meanwhile, another person had successfully app**** for the dog. Our new Adoptions assistant is still learning the ropes: she did not know the email went to spam and was mortified about missing it. She was in tears, but we assured her it's not the end of the world. She is trying very hard. Her superior was booked off sick. Senior Inspector Fivaz left early Friday morning, 16 October to drive to Johannesburg for the NSPCA AGM. He tried to telephone Mr Selby on Thursday afternoon (15 October). The voicemail said: "subscriber unavailable". He also tried to phone Mrs Selby at work, but she had left already. Senior Inspector Fivaz's comment about matric qualifications was, he admits, in poor taste, but we all know our staff are far from ***********: on the contrary, they are passionate about the animals in their care and they work very hard and try their best. Some more popular dogs get a lot of applications, whilst other lovely dogs scarcely get a second glance from the public. I apologize unreservedly to Mr Selby and hope he will not hold this unintended oversight against our staff and our SPCA.
Best regards,
MS
Michael S's updateReviewer Update
29 Oct 2020, 16:20The only reason my email was noticed, was because I brought it up when I called to find out what was going on with the property inspection. As far as I am concerned, I will go elsewhere, as I fear that this will not be a once off thing. Your trainees and your permanent staff should be more vigilant in their duties. This is what comes from a serious lack of taking ultimate responsibility on Fivas' part, as it sounds like excuses for not doing their jobs correctly.
MS
Michael S's update29 Oct 2020, 16:20
Reviewer Update
The only reason my email was noticed, was because I brought it up when I called to find out what was going on with the property inspection. As far as I am concerned, I will go elsewhere, as I fear that this will not be a once off thing. Your trainees and your permanent staff should be more vigilant in their duties. This is what comes from a serious lack of taking ultimate responsibility on Fivas' part, as it sounds like excuses for not doing their jobs correctly.