Ridiculous Store Policy

I’ve been a customer of the SPAR-Group for many years; therefore it pains me to lodge this complaint. I recently sent a colleague to buy a cold drink at the Silverton SuperSpar in Pretoria, during their lunch break. However when they got back to the office I saw that we didn’t require that brand and flavour. I informed him that he had bought the wrong product. We then subsequently didn’t open and/or use the product.

I decided to return the product on my next visit to the area for a refund, which was the next day. Upon my arrival at the store, with my sales slip in hand, I met up with the Supervisor, who had a problem refunding my purchase.

Apparently it was the “Store Policy – No Cash Refunds”. According to him, the minute the product leaves the store, the store has no more obligations to honour nothing relating to that product. I expressed my dismay in no uncertain terms, because that was a ludicrous “Store Policy”. He told me that I cannot have refund and that I should rather take something else of the same value in store. I told the Supervisor that it was totally unacceptable and that I want nothing from the store at all and in any event I didn’t have time to pace the isles to look for “Something of Equal Value”. I consider that to be totally ridiculous as you are not required to do that in other retail stores. It’s a small amount by normal standards, but nevertheless, I consider it a matter of principle. With all due respect and with no malice intended, but the “Store Policy” smacks of sheer prejudice.

Basically, taking into accounts the above and in the greater scheme of things, I beg the question;

• Am I being facetious in assuming that good customer is reserved only for a select few or a certain sector of the community for that matter?” • How does the SPAR-Group operate a business when they don’t offer proper customer service? • What message do they communicate to their middle to lower income target markets? • Whether they are profit driven or service driven?

I feel I have no other alternative to bring this unsatisfactory conduct to the senior management’s attention. Under normal circumstances I would have let it slide, but it’s just that I'm very irate and disgruntled as I felt very humiliated in the store for such a mundane thing. It is not my intention to put people in trouble, but why is it that no other retailers have any problem in refunding your purchase, but only this SPAR.

I believe that SPAR-Group can ill afford such conduct by its management, not when it strives to position itself as the preferred FMCG Retailer in South Africa.

It‘s unfortunate that I had to proverbially; “Rock the Boat” in order to air my grievance. After conferring with my fellow colleagues, also in the retail field, they all concurred that it goes totally against the grain of what “Good Customer Service” is all about and that this behavior by Silverton SuperSpar in Pretoria leaves much to be desired. If this matter does not get resolved amicably I will have no choice but to escalate the matter for resolution. I have never experienced such bad customer service before, not even from your less sophisticated competition. I sincerely hope that not one more SPAR-Group customer has to endure this treatment. I would therefore like the Managing Director of the SPAR-Group to explain to me what the refund policy of the SPAR-Group is and to whom it applies.