Woolies V&A waterfront

I have been so happy with most woolworths stores as staff are inclined to exercise topnotch customer service. So what is going on at Woolworths V&A??? First incident: I called to enquire about a particular product. Only to be passed around from one incorrect dept to another (was a lingerie inquiry i.e. where I needed to be transferred to was pretty clear) and then cut off numerous times, had to keep calling back, spoke to four, maybe five different people. Finally got transferred to Country Road section who didn't know lingerie's extension, so consultant offered to run across and get the extension, only to cut me off again. Needless to say, I did not end up buying my item at this store, wasted lots of time and also phone bill.

Second incident: I had an armful of clothing items, and when in the queue, discovered I had left my bank card in the car when I swapped handbags. On reaching the paypoint, I asked the cashiers if they could hold the items for 10 minutes (giving me enough time to run to my car in the waterfront parking lot and retrieve card). They said no, because a couple of the items were on sale. Now I understand policies (they are not to hold sale items), but surely with Woolies' pride in customer service (and this is the paypoint i was at by the way) they would really recognise exceptional situations and opt to help out a customer rather than turn the customer and the prospective sale away? Again, I had no desire to go back and get the items after retrieving my card- and by the way, getting my card took 5 minutes.

I am a lifelong woolies customer and have stuck to the brand despite the price differences out there, but woolies v&a are giving this company a bad bad name.