Disrespectful service at Shoprite Kwa-Guqa

"To whom it may concern,

I am writing this email in great disappointment and dissatisfaction.

On Friday 29th January 2021 My wife and I went shopping at your KG mall (Emalahleni, Mpumalanga) branch. Walking in we (My wife and I) had only two items in mind, but due to the marketing strategy of the Shoprite brand as well as the attractive layouts we were tempted to purchase more items and we succumbed to that temptation. Initially we didn’t take a basket because we only thought we would purchase three items, but that changed when we saw the store layout. I walked to one of the tills and came across a lady wearing Shoprite uniform and wiping the tills, with a mask on and no name tag. I assumed no customer would be wearing Shoprite uniform and cleaning tills. I politely greeted the lady who was rudely telling other customers that till was closed. I didn’t receive any response from the lady, and I asked her if I could leave my two items (a packet of Lays chips and Jumping Jack popcorns) on the next till, rush to grab a shopping basket and return to take my items. The reason I asked this is because to me it was logical that I was not allowed beyond the till point with unpaid for items, that would insinuate theft which would’ve caused more problems, secondly me seeing her clean a till point I thought it be respectful to notify her seeing that she was cleaning a till, that I am temporarily leaving these items and will return to pick them up. She just looked at me, laughed and walked away without saying anything. That hit me real hard because that laugh from her was a laugh that said to me, I am speaking nonsense and made me look and feel like a fool. That laugh was a spit to my face and to my efforts of showing respect and humanity. As someone who once worked at a Shoprite before I totally understand that customers can be frustrating, therefore, my polite greeting was not only simple respect and humanity, it was also a sign to the lady that I understand your frustrations and I come in peace, but all that was spit back into my face by that laugh. The laugh was not a ha ha ha I just heard a joke laugh, but the Hhha type of grin that one would use to humiliate and belittle. This incident really hit me so hard I just wanted to leave the store, but my wife calmed me down and we continued with our shopping. However, I couldn’t just ignore this type of disrespect and humiliation. So, when we concluded our shopping and were paying, I looked for the managers office to simply ask if it is the culture of the KG mall branch for employees to ridicule, humiliate and disrespect its customers. To me if this was the culture then I would stop purchasing at the KG branch and rather shop at another branch. I walked into the manager’s office, came across three ladies, I asked if any of them were managers and they confirmed. I asked if it is the culture of this branch for customers to be ridiculed, humiliated and disrespected, they answered no, and I related the incident as it happened. One of them (name slipped my mind) asked if I can point to the culprit, unfortunately I couldn’t because of the face mask, she (manager) then called a security official to check on the store’s footage who it was I dealt with and was told to wait. After a few minutes of waiting my wife reminded me of another commitment we had at home and I had to leave, I notified one of the managers that I had to leave and she took down my details, name and surname, contact number and email address and promised to contact me as soon as they have found the culprit.

Today is Monday 01 February 2021, four days after the incident, and like a fool, I have been on my phone and constantly checking my emails waiting for a response. NO email, NO phone call. Nothing at all. In light of all that happened was it difficult for the management just to type an email APOLOGISING for the behavior of their staff, was it difficult for the management to simply call or text to simply say “WE ARE SORRY”? Again my nature showed respect to the management even though really angry at what happened I still spoke with humanity and respect to the managers and much like the staff at that branch I receive disrespect, humiliation and I am ridiculed. This would then make me as a customer believe that the staff is behaving the way they do because they take it from their management. A mother crab cannot expect her children to walk differently from how she is walking.

It is really sad and disappointing that a customer must resort to such actions just for a simple APOLOGY, a mere “I AM SORRY.” Cause that’s all it took, especially when the complainant is so CALM, POLITE, and RESPECTFUL.."

I sent this complaint on their webpage on the 1st February 2021, it is interesting to see how the webpage has a "48-hour response" commitment, I am not so good with maths, what I know for a fact from Monday 01 February 2021 to 08 February 2021 is way more than 48 hours. Equally so on this site (HelloPeter) many reviews written by customers are not rep**** to by Shoprite, this then is evidence that the store really doesn't care about its customers.