Arrogant, Aggressive, Vulgar Staff, Pathetic Customer Service

West Ham Bakery, Newlands West, Durban — Customer Review

I had a very unpleasant experience at West Ham Bakery in Newlands West, Durban. I spent around R160 at the store and picked up a 2-litre cool drink. The shelf clearly showed the price, but when I got to the till, they charged me more. I pointed this out to the cashier, but he said, “No, I can’t do anything.” I asked him to come and check the shelf since there were many price tags with same price.

There were two men at the counter, both rude and arrogant. The one I spoke to became aggressive and started raising his voice. When I told him that’s not how you speak to customers, he told me to get lost using slang. When I called him out for being rude, he said to me, “f*** off,” right there in front of everyone. I was shocked at his behaviour and asked if this was their idea of customer service. He just stood there with an aggressive tone and body language.

I then asked the other attendant to please write down the name of the man who spoke that way. He refused. I asked, “You don’t even have a pen in your store?” He said, “No, we don’t have one,” clearly avoiding the question. He refused to identify the man or write anything down. It was obvious they didn’t care and just wanted me to leave.

I expected better from West Ham Bakery because it’s a larger, more established business with multiple branches. But the same attitude continues—untrained, arrogant staff with no supervision and no sense of accountability. There seems to be no management present, no customer service training, and no professionalism at all. Because it was around 10:30 p.m., there was no manager on duty, and the staff acted like they owned the place, speaking however they wanted with zero respect for customers.

West Ham Bakery needs to take this seriously. The behaviour I experienced was unacceptable, unprofessional, and completely disrespectful. No customer should ever be told to “f*** off” for questioning a price difference.

Honestly, I don’t expect any real action from this business. Based on how the staff behaved, it seems management either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about how their employees treat customers. Unless serious changes are made, this bakery will continue to deliver a poor and disrespectful customer experience.