We find grandmother threatened over ‘broken’ chocolate at Pick n Pay

25 April 2016 - 13:40 By Karen Gwee

A diabetic grandmother who was filmed sobbing on the floor with her grandson as staff at a Pick n Pay store in Cape Town berated them over a broken chocolate bar‚ has spoken out about her ordeal. Fury was directed at the supermarket chain online on Sunday after a video of the incident went viral.Iris Beukes and her grandson Tylo‚ were at the store in Mitchells Plain on Saturday when a security guard confronted them over a Dairy Milk bar that the child allegedly broke inside its packaging.Supermarket chain apologises for making granny and boy cry over broken chocolateBeukes‚ 59‚ said a floor manager then intervened and allegedly threatened to have her taken to jail.She said that she had not seen Tylo‚ 5‚ damage the chocolate.After she told them she did not have the money to pay for the bar‚ they allegedly threatened to call a social worker to take away Tylo."The security guard pulled out his cuffs and tried to cuff me‚" she said. Then a floor manager said‚ "If you do not have the money to pay for the chocolate bar‚ what are you doing here?"Beukes‚ who is diabetic‚ said that she started to panic. She could not recall how she and Tylo ended up on the floor crying.Someone from a crowd of onlookers called the ambulance to take them to hospital‚ but she refused as she did not want to leave her 13-year-old daughter Kaylin alone at home.Traumatised by the incident‚ she and Tylo stayed at home on Sunday. Beukes‚ the sole breadwinner in her family‚ returned to work on Monday."Is this how you treat your customers‚" asked Graham Lupke on the store's Facebook page. "#PicknPayMustFall this is an outrage‚" wrote Gary Moodley."There a baby in complete distress‚ you should be ashamed‚ god knows how long this family was on the floor on display like zoo animals for people to see. This is totally traumatic‚ you should do more than contact the family."Take a pic of the manager of the store and put it up let's have a look at this brave man. We would certainly like an update on this matter."Jacques Meyer said‚ "This is absolutely shocking! That for a broken chocolate? Pick n Pay you owe that family a free shopping voucher and national apology."Pick n Pay quickly issued an apology on the page and has subsequently contacted the family to apologise."This incident was unacceptable‚ and we are very sorry for any distress caused‚" said the supermarket chain."We are urgently investigating the incident with our franchisee who runs this store‚ to understand the circumstances and take the necessary steps to ensure it never happens again."- TMG Digital/The Times..

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