Sue Papin Sears, Hout Bay
I am a tourist now but enjoyed 10 years in Cape Town until 2015.
Currently on a four-month visit, I went to the Hout Bay post office to mail some things home.
I had a box that weighed about 2kg and two small envelopes weighing almost nothing.
The employee working that day was an older man. He told us the box would cost R1 200 (which was way more than we paid for the trinkets inside the box!)
By the way, the credit card machine “wasn’t working” plus they wouldn’t take my American credit card.
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He sent us to get cash. We left but opted to not mail the package. We did mail the two small envelopes, for which he charged R50 each, cash only.
Both envelopes arrived at their destination, clearly marked “Amount Tendered: R36.40”
I went to the post office and spoke to a guy who was just helping out from the Constantia branch.
The man mentioned above wasn’t there. He said they had no way to refund the difference, and I said I wasn’t looking for a refund, but thought they might want to know this guy was obviously pocketing money.
There wasn’t much interest to take it further, so we left.
Very disappointing that as a tourist, this could be happening on who knows what scale.
SA Post Office spokeswoman, Martie Gilchrist responds:
The SA Post Office regrets hearing of Ms Sears’ experience at Hout Bay post office. Our investigator has been trying to contact the complainant, but only received a reply this morning.
The matter will be investigated and dealt with if any wrongdoing is discovered.
I will be given feedback on the investigation when completed. Your readers are advised to contact our Crime Buster Hotline on 0800 020 070 when they suspect any criminal activities and scams.
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