Pick 'n Pay has dropped dramatically in standard in relation to customer service, pricing and general management

Something is strangely wrong at Pick 'n Pay stores and I think top management need to be aware of this. I have been shopping weekly spending a few thousand a month at Pick 'n Pay Canal walk and N1 city as I reside in Edgemead. I am totally dumb struck by the unprofessional demeanour of the staff in particularly at the N1 City branch.

Today, Friday, 04 March I shopped at N1 Pick 'n Pay. What a horrible experience, and this appears to be every Friday. It has reached a point where I no longer want to shop there after all the years, in fact I dread going to Pick 'n Pay... Today clearly was the cherry on the cake as they say. These are the reasons: 1. I was threaten by a customer at the till today, The reason: social distancing is non-existent in Pick 'n Pay N1 city. The customer behind me stood so close to me that I could almost smell her breath. On top of this she placed all her groceries almost on top of mine. In the past I found items that is not mine in my bag, if I am slightly distracted at the till. I merely glanced at the customer and she asked me why am I looking at her, as to intentionally aggravating the situation. I then said to her that I do not want to pay her stuff and that her goods are on top of mine. She immediately threaten to smack me, I was so shocked...I reciprocated by telling her if she did so I will respond to it as well in a physical way. This was really beyond what I have ever experience by a stranger. The problem is a Pick 'n Pay staff member walked passed and aggravated the situation by commenting to my attacker in a provoking way. I have never seen something like this before...with her Pick 'n Pay uniform on. On top of it, I saw management/supervisor literally walking past without intervening in the matter, as my attacker was continuing with the threats non-stop while packer was busy with my goods. I was physically threaten about 5 times with no intervention what so ever. The following I have experienced in the weeks gone by mostly at Pick 'n Pay N1 City...I even resorted to going to Canal walk, where to my dismay I experienced a very rude Cashier,Nozuko Ndabambi however the supervisor did apologise on her behalf. In this instance I continually asked the above mentioned cashier for the subtotal after the discount whilst I was unpacking my goods, as the final total after the discounts does not reflect, only at the end at times She stared at me and rolled her eyes, and said, I quote:" I don't have time for this". The supervisor, I presumed, standing nearby immediately apologised. The following problems as a regular weekly customer, I experienced and observed as a pattern, and not necessarily a once off situation: 1. The erratic changes of the prices of every day items such as margarine and bread, e.g. a R10-R20 difference in price, excluding promotions. I have noticed that some items such as tomatoes are a serious problem, they constantly out of stock, whereas this is not the case at the other retailers. The price thus of tomatoes remains expensive at Pick 'n Pay, compared to other shops. 2. Items that are advertised as a special, or that is on promotion are often out of stock. To my frustration and that of other customers that I have spoken to, I have questioned this with management from time to time, their response is that their is a delay with the truck (and I am not speaking about recent times...this is ongoing for over a year). 3. Expired products are often seen near the vegetable section at N1 City. Today I saw 'dips' that expired two days ago, which leads me to the next problem. 4. the price advertised on the shelf is many a times not the price that you pay for, which is false advertising. I have experienced stressful situations with customers behind me and irritating cashiers, being very observer able with this situation. This is not a once off experience, this is almost every week. 5 The management seem irritable and annoyed when dealing with customer complaints...this is especially the case at N1 City. I presume the lack of training and customer service skills could be addressed. This in turn leads to the rude cashiers that I have encountered. It does not take much to realise with the help of some research and the feedback from the lower level staff that the problem may lay with management and those in charge of the lower level workers. 6. Then there is the constant stacking up of trolleys and unpacked goods on the floors at N1 City, this is big problem in order to move effectively through the food isles. If you do ask the packers to please shift, you cannot imagine the different irritating stares that I have experienced. Today we literally had to stand in a line in one isles to get to our desired products , because of all the packers and their trolleys full of goods. I used to shop mainly at Spar and Woolworths before, but then I got a Smart shopper card and decided to stick to Pick 'n Pay. I with all my dismay after today's experienced got a Spar points card and are planning to rather shop else where. Today was very traumatic for me. I will not recommend or advise anyone of my friends or close ones to shop at Pick 'n Pay. This is really sad as I met Mr. Raymond Ackermann some years ago at his office in Kenilworth, and he sponsored me directly with my studies. What a generous friendly humble person, I am saddened to say that this was my main reason for shopping at Pick 'n Pay...I feel saddened by how things have changed from the Pick 'n Pay in years gone by.