Pain and Frustration

On June 29,2019 (late afternoon, I entered the Pick n pay store in Atlantis around about 16H20)

I went in to grab a few things to be on my way again. Starting at the meat section making my way through to the cooldrinks, chips isle, from there to the queue to pay, back onto the floor to the isle for chocolates and back into the queue again, moved away to the noodle bay as it was right next to the queue where I stood. Back in the queue, I discovered my wallet was missing? I no longer had it on me… I turned out of the queue not to hold them up so that I can do a search in my trolley while standing on one side, I discovered that I had really lost all I had on me!!!! I could not pay for a thing, my day was just turned up side down going into a panic about the R 1000 cash and cards that was in the grey additions wallet I have just lost!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not knowing what to do at the time, I decided to go back and track my trail… no luck! I then asked an employee what I do in this situation, explained to him what happened to me and the elderly male then showed me to the front where I approached a coloured lady behind the front counter facing the store. I explained to her what has just happened to me and that I want to view footage to see what and where I could have possibly lost my fiance’s wallet. The lady told me that the responsible person on duty for that has just stepped away to the toilet, I just have to hold a second…. I waited patiently, then deciding to go back again to ask some employees as I go along If they have not picked up the grey additions wallet (and already I felt so hopeless) no luck! I walked back through the chips, to the cooldrink and to the meats walking back into the chocolates and even went searching through the noodle bay and my trolley again.. nothing!

Getting to the front, the coloured lady was standing there waiting for me because the one who views the footage had just come back, I then met the African lady whom I explained the situation to and already the look on her face was unpleasant. She looked at me, me standing there thinking the situation has already been explained to her, which it was, she looks at myself and the coloured lady and called the coloured lady out on her name asking, what now? Are you going to look? The coloured lady in the first instance said she does not know how to operate the camera room etc as the African lady knew this but felt irritated due to the fact that this was going to be a whole process and asked her whether she was going to check.. I begged her that she please help me, that she please try and see if anything shows on the footage, pleading that she at least just check where I have it in my hand and to the last point where I stand in the queue.. It all seemed impossible to her, she explained to me that the whole process would take 2 DAYS!! Being as desperate and in this predicament that was in, I stood facing to the coloured lady to please have her explain to the African lady to at least go through the effort to try and assist me, but her arrogant attitude was just the worst! She eventually said I cannot take footage out of the store without authorization.. and I told her that we have not even started looking yet, you telling me this? Let’s first see what we find and then take it from there, then you call for authorization and procedure you have to follow there after. It was just her way not wanting to check the cameras and prolonging the process already being 17h00 and no move towards the cameras. I was standing in tears pleading, and eventually she said okay, I will check the entrance as you entered and the meat section where you went to first to see if you had it on you as a start, I said yes please just anything would help me right now!

I stood there waiting for them to let me know where from there, the African lady then has already gone and the coloured lady escorted me to the room to meet up with her as I got told there was no Manager on duty and that the African lady was second in charge the only one who could assist with the footage.

I got to the camera room, she says to me, ”ok, as you can see there is no footage at the entrance” ??????? my thinking, how the …. Are you telling me this now, I wondered how she did not know this before we went there? Before she told me we were going to check this when she worked in there since the morning to only discover this late afternoon nearly closing time? I did not trust that. I felt as though I was being **** to, as though something could have shown on there and due to the fact that it was nearly closing time, this all seemed to much as there would have been a whole process put into place if I saw anything, police being called etc… I saw that as an easy way out for her. I asked her to check the meats as agreed, she then clicks on it to show it shows only black, meaning there is no footage… ? I asked what does that mean? That was even more frustrating and I just cried!!! To please me and then feeling sorry seeing me in tears and probably eventually trying to understand how I felt, she went to the chips isle camera that I was in, fast forwarded the footage to speed up the process, looked at it once or twice as I requested but I could not see myself once on there, I did not see myself once on any footage shown to me, how is that possible? While playing the footage for a 2nd or 3rd time, she got onto a personal call speaking in her language, I had to eventually stop her to show her that there was nothing showing, not once have I seen myself and I told her then it’s pointless going over this same clip for a 4th time. The camera that shows the cash desks (tills) only shows as far as the cashier and this made it impossible to see me even standing there (at this stage I see that nothing was going to come from me asking help from management that day) helpless, helplessly I asked her to ask all the employees whether anything was handed in etc.. I asked her is there anything else she could do to help me, and she said no! cause she knows in situations where people loose things in the store, they seldomly get anything back. she left the room and I did not see her again that when I went back into the store to see again if nothing was laying around and asking employees if still not anything found but nothing. I have never felt so helpless, never felt so sorry for myself as I felt that afternoon. As a customer in desperate need of help, I really did not want to hear that. I did not want to hear about other people, I did not want to hear her excuses, I expected management to assist in the best possible way, showing effort in trying to assist but not her, not that Saturday. How do you even assist a customer with a mindset as such? How do you not sympathies and imagine yourself in that situation? The lady who was willing to help had her hand tied because she did not know how to operate the camera room and before I left the store, I went back to the coloured lady to ask her if still not anything and she said no, I asked if I could leave my details so if anything, she can call me and she took my details but still nothing. As for management on duty that afternoon, she was very cold, left and I never saw her again, she did not even step up to ask whether she could take my details which to me was quite pathetic coming from Pick n pay.

What do you have surveillance for?