Why SA Business's are loosing out on income - Poor customer service

Store: Forest Hill Truworths I wrote the below to there customer services via email on 19/04 and to date no response.

I visited the store about a month ago. I had spent a lot of time in the store with my husband and picked out about tshirts. When I got to the cashier I enquired about a gift card that had expired to see if they could assist me with the card that had expired due to the covid pandamic. After some time I was told to leave my details and they would get back to me as they have to enquire with Head Office and they could only do so the next working day which I accepted. I had left the tshirts with the contact details awaiting the storre to get back to me. I was told that it would take some time to be resolved and it would take a few days which I also accepted. A time of 3 weeks had passed when I eventually called the store back to enquire what was happening only to be told that they did contact head office but they were unable to do anything as they require the customer to be in store. Never the less I take time to go to the store again to try to get the matter resolved only then to be told that they had put back all the tshirts because it is store policy that they cannot hold items for so long.Had I been informed of this I would have gladly paid for the tshirts and purchased them. I was not contacted once nor was I advised of this but my items were returned to the shelves and I had to enquire about the status of the gift card which made me very angry and frsutrated. I still waited, tried to find some of the tshirts and could only find 2. The lady advised that if I could trust her and leave the card with her to avoid me waiting she would sort out the gift card issue which I did as I did not mind. I purchased 2 of the 2 tshirts that I could find as one had a tear on the side I notified her and she gave me a discount of R20 as I did not mind as I could stitch it being a small tear on the side. Only to realize that when I got home the tshirt had another tear on it on the back just below the neckline. I had informed the lady and told her that discount or not I am unable to keep the tshirt that is torn in suc a way as it is of no use to me and a waste of my money, had I seen the tear at the store I would not have taken it. Nobody would spend their money on a item that was so badly damaged and should not have been on the rack in the first place.

Today, A week later I arrive in store for my now sorted out gift card/credit note only to find that the staff cannot find the key to access the drawer to provide me with it. Then also, I am told that they cannot provide me with a credit for the tshirt that is torn because they gave me a R20 discount. After spending a good amount of time in the store I once again left with nothing accomplished. No credit note, no credit for the torn item. I even suggested that the credit be passed on the new tshirt I was going to purchase but to no avail. I again left what I was going to purchase and decided to leave. All the manager could say was he does not know what to do and I was leaving I advised that I would be informing Head Office then he said he would get in touch with the area manager to find out what can be done.

I am extremely frustrated, irritated and highly dissapointed. There is absolutely no proper customer service at this store. One needs to look at the store and the servie rendered. During this tough time businesses complain that business is bad yet this is the type of customer service that is being rendered and then you wonder why no sales are being made. The store is already in a mall that is collapsing, I would think that atleast the staff would try their damnest to provide better service to encourage sales to enable the store to stay open but clearly this is not the case.

Defective items should not be displayed and allowed to be sold to start off with.

I have never in my life experienced such bad service nor did I expect it from a reputable brand store.