SARS Pretoria CBD - Gene Gololo
Today, 26th March 2020, I walked into a SARS Pretoria CBD branch seeking to update my company name change and file returns for my company. I was attended to by a Mr Gene Gololo who seemed a bit off and impatient from the beginning. I told him what I had come to do: 1. Update my company name to a new name and 2. File returns for the company. For the first issue he asked me for my CK and ID documents which I handed to him. He looked at his monitor for a few seconds and told me that the company name had changed as it changes automatically as soon as I change it at CIPC (this was in fact a lie as every change you make to your SARS profile needs to be verified with supporting documents that you must physically take to SARS). I told him that I had checked my company’s efiling profile prior to coming to SARS and I knew for a fact that it hadn’t been changed. That is when he changed tune and proceeded to do the name change.

After having done that he started the process of filling my returns. This process took about 15 minutes and during this time I was sitting there waiting for him and electronically signing whichever documents he needed me to sign. From past experience, SARS usually gives you a few copies of your TCC and the certificate with your Tax pin. The man told me that he was going to email me the documents and asked me if I can print them myself. I told him that he should give me a few seconds to check if I’ve received the email on my phone. To this he responded by saying that he was done and I needed to leave his workstation as I was wasting his time. I asked him why he was being rude to me and he responded by saying that I had been sitting at his station for too long and I needed to leave as I was wasting his time and he needed to assist other customers (mind you, there were no other customers behind me as this is a day before the 21 days of quarantine - it was myself and about 3 more people who were being assisted by other SARS employees in there). I was shocked at his response and I chuckled in disbelief. I asked him what if I walked out of SARS and realized that I hadn’t gotten the email that he said he had sent to me. He responded by saying that that wasn’t his problem and it can never be his problem. 

This is when I felt myself getting aggravated and I asked him for his name and surname so I could report him. He refused to give them to me and he said I could personally tell his manager who was in the vicinity. The manager came over to his station and I explained to him everything that had happened. He shook his head in disbelief and told me to follow him to his station where he gave me his mail address and told me to write a formal complaint, which I did. As I write here now, I received an email of apology from the operations manager, with the branch manager cc’d in tow. In the email, the manager says that the matter will be dealt with accordingly. I am hoping that this will be the case as we are going into quarantine. 

This is a note to whoever has experienced or is yet to experience such bad customer service from Mr Gene Gololo that you are not alone. Don’t be afraid to report him and follow up. I have gone to the SARS PTA CBD branch a couple of times before today and I have received good customer service, specifically from a lady whose name I cannot remember (unfortunately). Today’s experience was just too disheartening for me and I am still in disbelief. I will post an update once I have one.  
