Shocking and Terrifying Treatment

On the afternoon of 15 April 2020 I went to the PicknPay Hyper at Princess Crossing in Roodepoort. I arrived at the store at 5:52pm, a few minutes before the store closed, more than enough time as I only needed bread and dog food. Upon arrival I was met with very unfriendly faces with some of the staff members complaining that the store was closed and that they are already cashing up, making it very apparent that they were not willing to serve me, almost as if they expected me to walk straight out again even though I still had a few minutes before close and their doors were still open. Nonetheless I continued to walk in and shop for the essentials that I needed. 2 minutes in while walking down the aisles I was harassed about 3 times by PicknPay staff saying that the store was closed and demanding me to end my shopping, to which I responded by asking what time the store closes; their reply was 6pm to which I then indicated that It wasn't yet 6pm and I still had a few minutes to get what I needed before close. I then continued to look for what I needed and 3 minutes later an announcement was made that the store was now closed and then the lights were immediately switched off. PicknPay staff decided to switch off the lights knowing full well that there was still a customer in the store. I was then left in the dark to find my way to the front of the store as this act was a terrible and deliberate act by PicknPay of trying to get me to abandon my shopping as they were not interested in assisting me. While I was slowly making my way to the front, worried about my safety as I was now left to walk in the dark at risk of possible injury due to possible trip and fall; I was approached again by another staff member arrogantly telling me that he wanted to go home. When I got to the front at the tills, I was then made to wait as the cashiers all started leaving their tills as i was approaching as they had made it clear from when I entered the store that they did not want to serve me even though their doors were still open. A gentleman, who I believe may be the manager, called on one of them to assist. While at the till I tried to reason with them telling them that their treatment was terrible to say the least, especially the act of switching off the lights and putting my safety at risk. Their response was simply "We told you that the shop was closed!" making it very clear that the lights being turned off was a deliberate and malicious act.

I can not begin to describe how upset and disappointed I am of this appalling treatment by PicknPay, for them to even go as far as compromising my safety is a clear indication that they have zero consideration for customer care. Shocking behavior and treatment, especially by such a large cooperation.