Woolworths service nightmare

Item: Woolworths Retail South Africa
Rating: 1

So this has been my experience with Woolworths SA the last couple of weeks: Went into the Centurion Mall Woolies with the required documentation for my daughter’s account application. This after her online application had been provisionally accepted. We stood in a queue for more than an hour at the Client services side of the store, just to experience unfriendly, barely-there service. A lot of the staff at this branch seems to resent their jobs/simply dislike helping customers or think they are doing you a tremendous favor by bothering to assist you at all in a appallingly unfriendly manner. It is also quite astonishing that it seems par for the course that customers have no option but having to wait unbelievably long to be helped as all the positions at the counters are never fully staffed. Well at least not the times I’ve had to endure a Client services engagement. When eventually assisted, we were informed the scanning and sending would take quite a while so we had to leave the documentation with a person and go for coffee/or stand around and wait for an indeterminate period of time. Another hour later I had to jump the never-ending queue to be able to inquire if the docs had been sent and beg for the hard-copy statements back. A week later still no word from Woolworths. So back to the store. Stand in the queue again. After a very lengthy wait and the lady being served before me insisting at least 3 times that the store-clerk assist me while she accesses the internet via her mobile to get required info, I’m treated to the clerk instead chatting unhurriedly and unconcerned to a colleague while staring at the women busy on her phone. Needless to say that was the last straw. I lost my temper, made it clear that I was not impressed and stormed off in a huff. So, phoned Woolworths head office today on behalf of my daughter to try and find out if they at least received the documents. Whereupon I was informed that they are not allowed to tell me a simple YES or NO to the question if they received it. She had to do it herself. I simply cannot fathom how a yes or no cannot be given to this enquiry. I have all the confidential info she shared with them, so there is no risk of any confidential breach whatsoever. I’m not asking them to share any info with me other than to find out if they received the documentation and application. She is incredibly busy at the office and don’t take calls or make calls of a personal nature during work. The consultant and her supervisor on the phone had me fuming yet again. The sum of it all is that I’m bitterly disappointed in what I’ve experienced at Woolworths – a store I have always held in high regard. Seems that even this great brand has deteriorated into a company that treat customers like faceless, *************, potential *********, where people can't be discerning and adjust to a situation to ensure a positive outcome for both client and company, but can only follow a rigid procedure. The cherry on top is the issue of the non-follow up of an online application. I'm dumbfounded. It is a disgrace.

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