Pick 'n Pay plunges in service delivery

I redeemed my Smart Shopper points for a Ster Kinekor voucher on 20/3/21. I travelled half-an-hour to the mall on a public holiday (22/3/21). The voucher could not be redeemed at the cinema. Not only did I miss my movie, but my pleasant day off was also spoiled. I was assisted by the Pick 'n Pay store manager, Jaco, who kindly invited me to call from his office. After both he and I had been hung up on numerous times, we eventually got someone to answer the phone at Smart Shopper Customer Care. I endured an extremely aggravating hour endeavouring to resolve this. I spoke at length with Lihle who became impatient and unprofessional. I spoke with the call centre manager, Kyle, who felt saying "sorry" was an entirely sufficient remedy for all the inconvenience of the situation.

Pick 'n Pay offers a rewards programme to benefit its customers for their loyalty. It undertakes to enter into agreements with partners on its customers' behalf. When Pick 'n Pay has difficulty with one of its partners, such as receiving invalid voucher codes, that is a Pick 'n Pay problem to solve. It, alone, is accountable for the failure of the effective functioning of its rewards system. At what point did Pick 'n Pay become aware of this problem prior to my encounter with it? What remedies had it already undertaken to address it? How did it communicate with its customers to prevent any unnecessary inconvenience in the interim? How did it plan to remediate the failures of its dysfunctional rewards programme?

There is a fundamental philosophical disconnection when a Customer Care service representative, for a loyalty rewards programme, becomes impatient with an inconvenienced customer. Something profound has gone missing in the grasp of the task at hand. There is a fundamental philosophical misunderstanding when a Customer Care call centre manager, for a rewards programme, feels his accountability ends at the communication of the problems he is having and that this is where his responsibility to the customer he serves terminates. Finally, there is a fundamental and fatal failure – and an incredible irony – when a Customer Care service centre and a rewards programme somehow succeed in engendering more acrimony than goodwill.

A week has passed. What has happened since? As of yesterday, my points have still not been refunded. I have still not received a functional replacement voucher. Nothing. Has. Happened. I don’t want a phone call. I don’t want an apology. I don’t want to hear from a higher-up. Please don’t call me. Please don’t apologise. Please just get your act together and do your job. Be accountable. Have the common decency to let your customers know beforehand when there's a problem. Take responsibility for the failure of your partner to perform. Don’t make it my problem or expect my sympathy for your situation. And, for goodness' sake, do something to sort out your shoddy service.