REPTILE CENTRE, STODELS, BELLVILLE

The Reptile Garden at Stodels, Bellville is indeed very beautiful with a large variety. But don’t try to buy anything from their little shop next door, because service is non-existent. With great difficulty, I have been buying mice from them for my pet snake for the past year and a half, but yesterday was definitely the last time. There is never anyone in the store to help you. You have to press a bell …. repeatedly. And if you’re lucky, someone shows up after a while. In the past, after a very long wait, I had to walk into the enclosure to look for someone. You really must have time and patience. Yesterday was another one of those days, but worse than before. After pressing the bell repeatedly, I started calling “hello!!!”, but nothing happened. I then walked, like many times before, through the enclosure while calling all the time… for a long time, but no one in sight. I then walked back to the shop, pressed the bell again a few times and called all the time. Yesterday I was in a hurry and my patience was running out. Could no longer stand like this and wait for nothing. Then I did something completely against my principles and decided to help myself. With the packet of mice in my hand, I stood around for another while, walked through the enclosure again and called, but still no one in sight. I then walked to Stodels’ checkout where I wanted to pay for other purchases. All the time my conscience was eating me up, but for how long do I have to wait for service? When I finished paying, a man walked in front of me (called Bjorn Unger) and asked if I was in their store just now. Immediately I said “yes”, took the mice out of my bag and told him that I am very sorry that I just took it, but there was no one to help me and that I’ll pay for it right away. In an aggressive way he grabbed it from my hand and started shouting at me in front of all the people, even though I tried to explain everything I did to get attention. He just went on and on!! I have never been so humiliated in my life before. Needless to say, I didn’t go back to buy the mice. If he had handled the situation differently, it could have been so much different. Good customer service would be, “sorry ma’am no one was there to help you, but please come with me for payment”. This man definitely lacks training in human relations and how to provide a service to the public. I’m just wondering if I’m the only one experiencing such poor service there.