PP employee intimidates children

On 24 October 2021, I visited your PnP Clothing store in Sunningdale, West Coast Village, Cape Town. Apon us (myself & my toddler) entering, a lady said I (not us) should sanitize. I said to her that we just did before entering the store with our own product. In we went & she did not say anything else, or attempt to stop us or reprimand us.

As I began to browse another employee (black female with longish frizzy hair, didn’t catch her name) stormed over & said that we should sanitize before entering the store. I explained to her we already did so before entering the store using our own product that’s more skin friendly because of my child’s eczema, I parked right in front of the store & she is welcome to view the footage. Visually I could see her immediately getting irritated & with an attitude said we either sanitize of leave the store. Taken aback I asked her to please show me the policy that states a customer are not allowed in the store without using sanitizer or the policy that sates a customer are not allowed in the store without using “their” sanitizer. Don’t come with the “right of admission” nonsense, if you demand we leave you have to be factual about it.

I also said that I did not see the lady that entered milliseconds before us using the sanitizer, yet here she is, shopping without anyone bothering her. Why? How?

Whilst this employee is talking to me, her mask wasn’t even covering her nose & mouth, her nose was exposed & she was standing within an arm’s length from us (No social distancing) bordering our personal space. Imagine the hypocrisy! She stormed off & moments later she approached us again accompanied by one of the shopping mall security guards & she brought the sanitizer bottle with her & demanded we sanitize or leave the store, being more aggressive in her tone of voice & more visibly irritated, so much that my toddler pulled closer to me & wanted to start crying. Who in their right mind thinks its appropriate to try & intimidate a child? Again, both of them within an arm’s length from us & with both their masks not covering their mouth & nose as required leaving their noses exposed. I explained to her again that we did sanitize before entering & she said that we should go out the store & get our product from our car & show her.( Probably to get us out of the store & have the mall security block us from entering again) I asked her again to please show me the policy that states a customer are not allowed in the store without using sanitizer or the policy that sates a customer are not allowed in the store without using “their” sanitizer & whilst she brought a mall security guard with her to intimidate me & a toddler to please show me the policy that states a mall security guard/non PnP employee/security have the right to remove a customer from a store.

She then again demanded we leave & said she will not sell to us. I asked her if she demanded the security guard to sanitize when he entered as I did not see him do so & if she can sanitize him now, she did not answer & the security guard then immediately after demanded we leave. I explained to her that whilst she was standing there with the sanitizer bottle arguing over something utterly useless everyone entering the store cannot sanitize, will she go around to all customers & demand the same as she is from us? She stormed off again, said something to the security guard in their native language & demanded us to leave & started following us around the store & said he was going to call more people & proceed to do so over his radio (more guards to back him up I assume) I told him that he has no right to demand customers leaving the store.

Realizing that I will have to expose my toddler & I myself to more aggression, ************ tactics & humiliation the longer the situation drags on & especially at the till if we wanted to purchase something after being told “she will not sell to us” I decided that the product is not worth the emotional strain & made our way out of the shop. As we were about to exit the mall security guard murmured something in his native language, one can only assume but regardless it obviously wasn’t meant to be heard or understood so it could not have been friendly.

Since when does a store employee decide who can enter/not enter a store & on what terms?

More importantly since when does a store employee decide who that store will & will not sell to?

Since when does a store allow mall security & not their own security to demand customers to leave a store?

I’m very tempted to post of my experience to social media & hear others’ opinions. Thinking back, I wonder if this wasn’t racially motivated or did I perhaps experience ***ism? Perhaps a “Karen” or just an employee having a bad day or one that didn’t know how to handle a situation?

The torture & emotional stress of this shopping experience at PnP is understated. I don’t think I will ever support any PnP outlet again. Being treated like a ********, followed around & have your toddler intimidated & being told you will not be sold to, on what basis? The fact that I did not use “your” sanitizer. Ludacris.

I've raised this issue twice before with PnP in the last 5 weeks & no one has bothered to respond which means PnP condones this kind of disgusting behavior from staff towards customers & children.

Today 2/28/22 & still nothing from Pick n Pay after Ive been told its been handed to their GM & are manager.

Tried to mail customer care again but to my surprise Ive been blocked. :) what a pathetic excuse of wasted space of a person they are.