Vicky at Durban North Post Office

I would like to lodge a formal complaint against Customer Service Attendant and Durban North Post Office – her name is Vicky and the first part of her surname is I think Harbi….(her name tag was not clearly visible). I went to the post office on Saturday 7 March at 11:30. There were two windows open and 2 people behind me in the queue, and I was with my 12-year-old daughter. I had papers that needed to be stamped by a commissioner of oath and I asked that this is done. There were a total of 8 documents, with 3 copies each, which means a total of 24 documents. I started the conversation by apologising that this was so much, but I urgently needed these for applications. Vicky told me that she cannot do more than 5 at a time and that I will have to come back until each document is stamped. I asked why this was and she said that she needs to serve other customers. So suggested a few options, all of which were met with objection. It became very clear from my initial interaction, that Vicky did not feel that she needed to help me. 1) I asked what time they closed (which was one o’clock) and asked if it would help if I left the documents and came back later. She said no, that is not an option, as there are too many customers to serve. 2) I looked at the customer line, which by this time was empty, bar for one lady, who kindly told Vicky she must please proceed, as she cannot refuse me service. She kept saying it is too many papers. 3) At this point, she said to me she cannot do it. I was becoming agitated – understandably, but asked her if she could please stop arguing with me and proceed with the stamping, and we can keep an eye on the line. 4) She then told me I must stop being rude and take my stuff elsewhere – maybe to the police station, or come back another time. 5) I said that I came to this post office, to get service, and that I would please like her to stop arguing, at which point she threw my papers back to me and said “you can go somewhere else” 6) I then said, I am not going anywhere, and she must please start stamping, as I was not going to move. I also said that it is not a big job, and she can even do one at a time (instead of 3) so that I at least have the ones I need most urgently, but she still argued. 7) At this point, she became quite abusive, and my 12 year-old, having notices what was going on, showed me that she had been recording the conversation on the phone. I pointed out to Vicky that she must be careful what she says as she is being recorded, at which point she said “I don’t care – take your stuff elsewhere, maybe to the police station”. 8) Can you understand that I was at this point very agitated? I said the Vicky that I expect service and can she please stop arguing and start stamping, as I believe that the time that she spent arguing with me, could have been used to do the job, which I believed would not take more than 5 minutes if she could just make a start. She then told me “Oh, now you are trying to tell me how to do my job”. 9) I stood my ground, pointed out that I needed everything stamped and that I will wait until one o’clock if needed until it is done. 10) She then took the papers from me and proceeded to stamp – the whole job took 7 minutes, while the time it took me from walking into the post office to leaving, was 11 minutes – so 7 minutes work, 5 minutes arguing with a customer. 11) Upon leaving, I tried to explain to her that she could have just been a bit nicer, especially in view of the fact that we have 29 % official unemployment in this country and that many people would give their front teeth for jobs like hers (I am a specialist consultant in rural development, and deal with such people on a daily basis and to make matters worse, I teach customer service to youth in tourism and hospitality). Her response was “I don’t care what you say to me, and I don’t care about that information”. 12) As I exited, I noticed that there were only 2 people in the queue, so I don’t think we would have inconvenienced anyone if she could have just got the job done! It was very clear to me, that actually Vicky does not care about much and therefore cannot care to listen to her customers and find out how she (as a public servant) could actually help them. This was not a big job, it was a fairly routine procedure, but her attitude, the way she spoke to me and her utterance of the term “I don’t care” at least 3 times during the conversation, made it very clear to me that that is the problem. I think it is completely unacceptable, and I am very sure that I am not the only customer who have had to face her onslaught – I think she should not be in the job she is where she needs to serve people. I felt extremely agitated, offended and felt highly disrespected, especially in view of the fact that I tried to find solutions to the problem, which she clearly was not interested in resolving, but instead tried to turn me into the person with the problem but telling me I am rude. When I left I was extremely angry, and embarrassed that my 12 year old had to witness this outrageous attack on me (telling me I am rude when I am trying to help – and she was not helping). Please could I have a response to this matter, as I am very prepared to escalate this matter.