Unable to give refund after multiple attempts

<p>Ster kinekor has not been able to effect my refund of R128 after multiple attempts and empty promises from them to do so. This is disgraceful, unprofessional, the workings of bad service and staff who cannot get things done. The management of ster kinekor need to relook at their customer service strategy and the people they have in place and fire the *********** individuals and get those who can do the job on board. For an organisation as large and sophisticated as this, you'd expect efficient and effectiveness from the people they employ. If the customer service personnel don't understand the importance of their roles, right now, they lose me as a customer and the goodwill, which means the next person I tell chooses to not go to them anymore and the next, and the next. That means they lose this revenue stream. And that's not counting the other people who read this post and others who then decide to not patron their cinemas, given the reach of such a public platform. In a time where digital TV is quickly gaining pace, such mishaps cannot be tolerated. I judge you as a business based on how you solve my problems when they arise.</p> <p> </p> <p>I made a booking online on 26 November for two tickets to watch Dr Strange at the Northgate cinema with my wife. However, the website returned an error and that my booking was unsuccessful but my account was still debited. Either way, i proceeded to the cinema in the hope that maybe, the booking may have just gone through and they would be able to pick it up from their side. </p> <p> </p> <p>Upon reaching the cinema, I informed the manager on duty of what had happened and she asked me for the booking code. I told her I didn't have it as the booking did not complete online and again checked my email but didn't find it. I asked if she would be able to pick up my email address at least as that was what I used to make the booking. She informed me that was impossible. Afterwards, the manager then told me the amount that was debited would be reversed automatically but if it didn't and showed on my bank statement after 2 days, I should just take my statement and go with it to the cinema where I would be given a cash refund. I was happy with the proposed action and proceeded to then buy another two tickets to watch the movie.</p> <p> </p> <p>2 days passed and the amount finally came off my account and reflected on my bank statement. I proceeded to the cinema as I had been informed. Once there, I met the manager in charge for that evening and narrated my story. I was thinking this would be a quick process but to my surprise, it became a tedious back and forth between himself and I. This guy told me cash refund would not be possible because his manager was not in who he couldn't get a hold of. Furthermore, that the e-ticketing department couldn't effect an eft of the amount back into my account because of a "system change/upgrade" they had done. I found this response strange and pressed him some more. Afterwards, we then proceeded to the office to make a call to the ticketing department. What was rather odd was that they informed me the refund would be done and paid back into my account quickly with no problem, all they needed was a copy of my statement, ID and card I used for the payment which I willingly app****. </p> <p> </p> <p>Its now been over a month and i have not received the refund. Everytime i call the ticketing department, I receive an apology that there's backlog in the accounts/refund department and that my matter has been escalated for quick action. At this point, the value of that R128 to me has dropped as I've incurred further expenses on phone calls and data costs to send emails and the like which they will not be paying for. There's more to the story that serves as examples of how this entire department from their cinemas to the ticketing/customer service department is lacking and SK needs to look at their value chain if they are to survive.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p>