What has happened to customer service & goodwill?

I love Sorbet.... I have been a customer for many years. However, a recent interaction with them has left me feeling very disappointed in the brand.

I emailed them in June 2023 (no reply), and again in September. I explained that my daughter had received a R270 gift card from Sorbet for her 21st birthday at the end of 2019, a few months before the Pandemic & lockdown. In early 2021, she got covid severely, and her body shut down causing her to be bedridden for nearly 2 years! During this time her gift card expired, and I wrote to Sorbet head office explaining the situation and asking if they would consider extending her voucher for just a few months now that she was better and could make use of them. I got a reply from Karabo at Head Office saying that it was company policy not to extend vouchers that had expired. I rep**** saying that I understood their policy, but asked if in the light of customer goodwill, would they reconsider given the unprecedented circumstances that the pandemic & covid had caused. Karabo never bothered to reply to me again. Incidentally, I want to give Truworths, Exclusive Books & some other smaller beauty salons a shout out for being willing to extend their vouchers’ validity given our unusual circumstances, despite them also having expired.

How little effort would it have cost Sorbet to allow my daughter to be able to still use her voucher? It would have created so much goodwill. My grateful daughter would have booked for a facial or manicure costing far more than the value of the gift card, so Sorbet would have gained income, rather than losing a disappointed client. Customer service is so important, and extending a little grace in difficult circumstances would have cost Sorbet nothing.