The Sweet Service Award goes to Ian of Exclusive Books in Sea Point, who kept the store open on a Sunday afternoon so that I could pop down quickly from Fresnaye to buy the ‘New Concise Larousse Gastronomique”, it being the only branch in Cape Town to stock the book.

The Sour Service Award goes to Woolworths, for misleading consumers through a promotion which is downright dishonest.  I am a regular purchaser of its 240 gram cheddar and gouda cheeseblocks, and noticed a “save R6” flash in the top left corner of the pack.  I asked Lance, the duty manager of the Piazza Da Luz branch, what the exact price is, as the shelf price showed R25,95. He seemed out of his depth in answering my question, as I showed him a slip of two weeks earlier, when the same purchase had also cost R25,95 without the promotion.   He went to the till to scan the products (one pack with, and another pack without the R6 flash), and on scanning them, both showed the price to be R 25,95.   Lance took no interest in how long I had to wait for him at the cheese shelf, and took other calls while I waited for him.  He made no attempt to call Head Office, saying the offices were closed on a Saturday afternoon, and refused to call his store manager and the Customer Care department.  He took my details, and I only heard from Nazeem of the Woolworths’ Customer Care department five days later.  He was full of excuses about his delay in making contact, had not been briefed by the store, and I still have not been called by the Promotions department of Woolworths, even though my complaint was picked up by the Woolworths Twitterer, and I was promised contact on Monday.  After almost a week, I am still mad about this dishonesty, and at Woolworths for not caring about its customers!

The WhaleTales Sweet & Sour Service Awards are presented every Friday on the WhaleTales blog.  Nominations for the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be sent to Chris von Ulmenstein at info@whalecottage.com. Past winners of the Sweet and Sour Service Awards can be read on the Friday posts of this blog, and in the WhaleTales newsletters on the www.whalecottage.com website.