Bad Service at Ster Kinekor Parow Centre

<div>To whom it may concern:</div> <div> </div> <div>On Friday the 21st of October i went to the Parow Ster Kinekor to watch the new movie Jack Reacher and had a very bad experience at the cinema. </div> <div> </div> <div>When i got there i used the self help section but got stuck and asked one of the female Ster kinekor employees to assist me. She too did not know what do as they had a system upgrade earlier the week. She then asked me to please pay cash for my ticket at the front counter which i did. Then when i went to the counter to redeem my liberty reward voucher not one of the cashiers, knew how to assist me. The one cashier asked the other cashier so they went to ask the Manager Ruan. Already feeling a bit embarrassed for holding up the queue with my voucher i could see Ruan debating with the cashier about this voucher. I went over to Ruan whom was on the salesfloor and asked him what the issue was. He said that they had a system upgrade and he does not know why the third parties was not informed but he wont be able to redeem my voucher due to the system upgrade. He had a huge problem as to the fact that it was a printed voucher and demanded an original copy. The more i tried to explain to him that when this voucher gets processed its a digital voucher which i need to print off, the more he demanded an original voucher. Clearly he must probably be new or does not know the detail of the processes of business otherwise he would of understood how this voucher works and that there is no such thing as an original voucher. He then told me on the salesfloor infront of his employee and Mandy " that how does he not know that i made copies of this voucher". If as a manager, he had the best interest at heart of the company to prevent losses, surely this is something that he should investigate privately but not accuse a customer of without having all the facts. Ruan then told me that "i unfornately need to pay cash for my popcorn and cooldrink" but i should leave the voucher with him as he would investigate and have an answer for me within 15min. So i did just that, not happy about it, as a pay a monthly fee to belong to the liberty rewards program but now i need to pay cash. I then went into the movie, first thing a did was go onto to emails to check if i missed any communication regarding that this voucher that was not to be used anymore, but found nothing. Kept checking my watch to see when are these people going to come call me as 15min has long gone and was also quite curious to see how this matter was going to be resolved. Movie finished and no manager in site, i am not usually someone to complain but thought i cannot leave without getting feedback, as the manager that assist me and the experience i had, really spoilt my day. I requested that one of the employees please call Ruan, the employee told me that Ruan had left but Mandy is here. I then asked for her to then called Mandy(not sure if she was the junior manager). When Mandy arrived i asked her why they never called me, why they never even bothered to take my details as to how was they going to contact me.She then said she knew i was going to come call her???, she apologized for the experience i had and wanted to know how she could make it up to her. I gave the receipt of the popcorn and the cooldrink but she said she could not refund me. What she would do is allow me to use the voucher on my next visit, all i need to do is call her. i told her i get a voucher every week and i was not at all happy with the service i received. I am a regular customer of Ster kinekor, i love going to the movies, i visit the cinema at least three to four times a month. Too date i still cant get over the fact how bad the service and experience from the Manager Ruan down to the untrained staff. As a manager when you deal with a customer complaint or query or is it process to "pass the buck" As Ruan did with Mandy? </div> <div> </div> <div>Mandy asked me if i enjoyed the movie i said yes, which i did as it was a good movie, but my experience i had while watching the movie was not good. At the end of the conversation with Mandy she said that they did figured out how to use the voucher, with the new system the is a promo tab ,which if they go into , the option of using the liberty rewards voucher is there. All this could of been prevented if Ruan knew how to deal with customers correctly and the staff was properly trained on system upgrade</div> <div> </div> <div>Left the Cinema feeling tense, upset and disappointed. Its sad, as going to the cinema is one of my favourite things to do.</div> <div> </div>