Somewhere Over the Rainbow

RANT ALERT!!! (I warned you)

So it’s that time of year where the studio kids need costumes for upcoming events. As a cost-conscious teacher, I found (so I thought) colourful shirts at Pick n Pay clothing, for R29. I had gone in last week, checked them out, price tags all good. Informed the parents and collected the R30 from each of them for their child’s shirt. Right.

I rock up at Pick n Pay Clothing Lonehill, to find the same board advertising the same tees for R29. I start looking for colours and sizes, only to realize none of the shirts are priced at R29. No no. They’re R45. I ask one of the nice gentlemen who work in the store if those are in fact these R30 shirts as advertised. To which he responds “Yes, you just have to search for the ones made from the right fabric.”

First of all, Miley Cyrus, if I wanted to go on a treasure hunt, I’d wait for a storm and look for a rainbow. Secondly, since there is a giant sign advertising R29 and the clothing under that sign (spread over three shelves) is mixed up with a majority of clothes that isn’t R29, surely your staff should have the work ethic to separate them? They’re all mixed in piles based on colour, not fabric. Very logical.

So off I go, back to the original Pick n Pay clothing I sourced these tees in the first place. (Perhaps Lonehill is too posh to have such low cost tees.) Arrive at Randridge Mall, only to discover, the very shirts I saw, also now mixed up with the other shirts of a different fabric. Only this time, they’re little advertising board has been removed. Right Pick n Pay Clothing, I’m on to you. Being in a bit of a time constraint (first competition is next week) I decide I have a few extra bucks on me. Let me just get these more expensive tees and be done with it. WRONG. I wasn’t done with it.

Having a large group of kids is great, and super awesome. BUT, as individuals are, not all of them are the same size, nor the same age. Unfortunately these tees only went up to a size 13 - 14. I needed one size up. I decide to check the woman’s department, in case they per chance have the same tees. As I walk through the very crowded set up of the store, there are the shelves, light beaming down upon them. (Queue angel chorale.... AAAAAHHHHH) They have the same shirts. Once again there is a board on these shelves. This time, advertising R59. Okay, so the kiddies shirts are now R50 instead of R30. So what’s another 10 bucks for that last shirt I need???

Get to the till, 11 shirts in hand, head swimming from calculating and planning and coordinating colours and sizes for each child and where they stand. Cashier starts ringing up the shirts. The last one, the ladies size Small for R59, right? WRONG! No, not R59..... R68.78!!! I asked the cashier and she showed me the tag.... the price had been conveniently removed, as it had been from all the other shirts on that set of shelves under the R59 board.

Well, all I can say is, when she offered me my 20c change from my now R567.80 bill (which should have been R300) I declined it. Clearly Pick n Pay needs to rob you with misleading advertising of every cent you have in there pursuit of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, which the staff clearly expect you to find every time you visit there store.

Anyway, off to teach class now, coz, you know, costume fittings and all that jazz.

#picknpay #clothing #sodone #rant #sorrynotsorry #hellopeter