Pick N Pay Canal Walk useless service with attitude.

I live close to Canal Walk and went to Pick n Pay on Friday, 16 October, to purchase some braai meat. I approached the meat counter to buy some chicken kebabs and there was no one to serve me. After shouting into the back section and waiting for about 10 minutes I asked the lady at the deli if she could help me. She said she would have to go find someone. After 5 minutes she came back and said the guy was in the canteen and would be out shortly. He ambled out about 10 minutes later and weighed my kebabs. He entered the code on the weigh machine and I noticed that he had put in beef kebabs not chicken kebabs. I made him aware of this and he seemed to be unable to correct it. He disappeared into the back fo the butchery for abbout 10 minutes and emerged with a flip file which he took over to the lady at the deli. He then returned and entered the code on another machine and brought me the kebabs a full 40 minutes after I first approached the counter. I was started to seethe at this point and looked at the sticker. The kebabs were on special for R89.99 and he had entered the code which showed that the kebabs were weighed at R99.99 a kg. At this point I told him not to correct the mistake as I could seriously not be bothered to wait another 40 minutes for him to find out how to do it.

This was not the end of my negative experience. I went to the quick check out as i only had a few things to purchase. When the teller rang up my goods she pressed print and the till roll was finished. She ambled off to get a replacement and returned after 10 minutes. Inserted the new roll and nothing happened. She called a manageress who tried three times with no success. She told me she would have to print my till slip in a back office and will i please wait. I almost lost it and left without my goods but as I had already paid for everything I was stuck. She ambled off in no hurry at all and came back 15 minutes later with my till slip telling me there was a voucher for R20 on the slip. As though this promotion which was running anyway would make up for the frustration and aggravation.

My overall experience was beyond bad and I left the store with about 5 items which it had taken me almost an hour to buy. Please Pick N Pay management train your staff better, ensure that they understand the meaning of custmer service, always have someone at the meat counter ready to assist or shut it down - if you offer a service make sure it is available and tell your staff to get their till rolls ready and train them to insert them correctly.

I doubt whether anyone will respond to this complaint but hopefully other people with similar experiences will also share their frustration so that we can form a force for positive change where people who provide a service to ordinary consumers realize we have alternatives a walk away and we will vote with our feet,