Tiger Wheel & Tyre (Mthatha Owen) has made it clear that some humans deserve no regard or kindness and I unfortunately was one :(

My first time ever experiencing a 3 hour alignment (for just the front tyres)

I arrived at the Tiger Wheel in Mthatha Owen Street at 1pm to do a wheel alignment for the front tyres. Upon arrival I went to the sales man "Chuma Ndlumbini" who was the only person in the front. I greeted him and annoyed he put his phone aside and greeted back. As I proceeded to explain what I was there for I could sense he was growing annoyed with me, which was confusing to me because I just arrived at the store and maintained manners and being polite in my interaction with him, even in disturbing him with playing on his phone, I had greeted in a tone and manner to just alert him I was there and he could finish what he was doing if needed. At some point as I was calling out my car registration number in his annoyance he left me and the kid I was traveling with mid sentence and went to the back. We stood there confused for a bit and when he came back he just mentioned the price, pointed to the cashier at the back and called for the next customer.

If you are a person who is not rude, you can understand how disarming and embarrassing being treated and spoke to like that for no reason can be. With now my head and mood down I went to the lovely lady at the back and mentioned to her I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do but I was pointed to her. As she was assisting me pay I mentioned it to her that I was really confused by the conduct of the salesman. I mentioned that I understand that customer service work can be tiring but I had not in any way been rude to him and his attitude to be quite honest was quite rude and switched the happy mood we were in to just sombre and embarrassment. She apologised and said she'd address it. Given what unfolded next, I wish she hadn't.

It became evident after the first hour at the mention of my kid that the cars leaving and and being assisted in the wheel alignment side had arrived as we were sitting there, we seemed to be getting pushed back in the line. After 2 luxury cars arrived and went straight to the guys to start work and leave as I was sitting there I had to accept that, I was being punished. At around 3:15pm I realised I was becoming dizzy and it hit me that as a diabetic and someone with ulcers I would faint in not so long. It also hit me that even past the 2 hour mark the car was in fact still in the parking lot yet to be considered and if I'd wait for it to even begin being worked on, by that time I'd need to go to the ER. My younger brother (11 years) noticed and suggested we walk to the KFC and luckily when we got there the staff and people in the line could see I wasn't okay and rushed to serve me my food. Still I kept quiet because I was worried they might temper with the car, and honestly I still am worried they did and I'll have that checked as I was prepping for a long distance drive by bringing this car in. Someone else ended up bringing the car to the front and dropped the key by reception and left, I'm not sure what they did, what is still okay and what was fixed as there was no post service chat and the sales guy was also not in my view.

This has made me think even further. This is a store that is servicing people in a town that is a hub to surrounding rural areas, where the population leans more to the elderly and the poor. If I can be mistreated to the point that it triggers effects of a chronic disease, how much more to someone who would have only budgeted for the alignment I came in for or someone with a body that would not hold up as well as mine. I do feel like we enable places and people like Chuma or Chumani Ndlumbini when we keep going to places that treat people like this. I really would not recommend this store, unless you come in armed to be rude and be equally as bad as them. But then what happens when you aren't there and someone else, a human just like you comes in to get such a service.

I keep thinking about the fact that I left home to go do a wheel alignment for my front tyres, perfect mood and health and I'm back feeling like absolute **** and all I did was just enter a store. Niyabaphatha kabuki abantu, I hope no one puts themselves or anyone they know through that man.