********** customer service (Paarl East Spar)

Spar, Paarl East. What a perfect location for a retail business. Secure parking, smaller renting shops and of cause, always great specials. What more could middle to low income residents of Paarl East ask for, right? Wrong!!!

It comes across that providing the community with this "luxury", not needing to spend money on public transport to go to town, or the great specials they always have, or the convenience of being able to walk to and from Spar, they can lack in the most common principle of the business. NO CUSTOMER SERVICE, EVER!!!!

Even though it's a common trend to get bad customer service in and around Paarl's retail industry (for the exception of Woolies and OK), Spar in Paarl East seems to take this to the next level. They can even teach Checkers staff a thing of three on bad customer service

After being in the hospitality industry for almost 17years now, I'm a ferm believer that the customer is NOT always right, right? Providing the employee remains calm and relatively in control of their emotions. Put your loyal customer at ease and call a "superior". Well, this Spar breaks all the rules of customer satisfaction, all of them

Firstly, there's never available staff on the floor to assist you in any way. Empty fridges with specials on all different 2ltr Cooldrinks. Something they do have in stock, just not reachable for the customer. Bear in mind that when you enter the store, you can see all staff sitting outside on tea breaks or smoke breaks or perhaps just resting. They do not have a private area for the staff, so they just sit right outside of the entrance for the whole world to see

It is quite a busy Spar, regardless of the time of day or month. So therefore they have at least 14 pay points. Which is quite interesting, coz they only use a maximum of 4 at a time. Even on the most busiest of days

Finally, you get to the front of the line. Now this is where things goes from bad to worse. PRIVATE STAFF CONVERSATIONS, while you wait to pay. No one ever greats, well maybe once a week, if you lucky enough. No matter what you ask them of tell them, they will go off on you. Fascinating. They don't ever feel the need to just admit and keep quiet, no never

I've seen someone in the shop a couple of times, whom I assume is the manager. Tall looking guy with a white shirt. Well, he has to be the manager, seeing that everyone else calls him "meneer". No matter what, the conversation with him always starts with the word "meneer" (maybe he was a school teacher in his previous life). He is also the only one that can ask or tell them anything, they will answer him with the at most respect. Even if he is slightly rude. Maybe they got trained only to have respect for him?

In today's world, with today's economy. The last thing any shopper wants to experience, is a bad one. It's enough that everything is expensive and unaffordable. So after spending your last hard earned money on essentials, you do not need to have it in these ********** circumstances. At least ease me out of my money. Make my money feel important to your business. Treat me with respect

Maybe I got this all wrong, and that excellent customer service is only for the rich and famous. Maybe these staff do not know any better. Maybe the gentleman in the white shirt is supposed be respected alone

All I asked for is to make my, our shopping experience a more pleasant and memorable experience

Kind Regards Charles Dowries