Long-standing customer made to feel like a **** over R100 machine issue

**Complaint against Hunters Wonderboom Suid**

I am posting this publicly because I would like the owner to see it.

To avoid any misunderstanding from the outset: I am not accusing anyone of theft or dishonesty. I am recording my direct experience as a long-standing customer and raising it because loyal customers should not be treated this way.

I have supported Hunters Wonderboom Suid for roughly 13 years. I have bought food here many times, visited on and off for years, and always paid what I owed. The staff know me. Some have known me for many years.

On Friday night, 15 May 2026, I came in quietly for one beer. I was not there to cause trouble, argue, or make an issue. Out of boredom, I put R100 into one of the gaming machines. The machine immediately went offline. When it came back online, the R100 was not reflected.

I raised this with the barman, who has known me for years. Instead of simply saying that the matter would be checked properly when the machine was cashed up, I was effectively told that the machine would have returned the money and that there was nothing to check.

In plain language, that made me feel as if I was being treated like I was lying over R100.

That is the issue.

This is not about R100. I do not want the money back. If the machine is cashed up properly and it shows that it is R100 over, give that money to somebody who needs food. Donate it. Give it away. I am not interested in collecting it.

The issue is the way the matter was handled.

This is also not the first time I have chosen to keep the peace at my own expense. On a previous occasion, when I later came in to order food, the bar lady told me that on an earlier occasion I had apparently ordered food, left before collecting it, and that she had to pay for it herself.

I still do not recall ever doing that. I cannot understand why I would go somewhere, order food, leave without taking it, and not pay. According to her version, I never even received the food. According to me, I do not remember ordering it at all.

But because she said she was out of pocket, I paid for it anyway.

I paid for food I did not receive, and for an incident I still do not recall, simply to keep the peace and make sure a staff member was not left out of pocket.

That is the kind of customer I have been.

So when I raise a simple issue about R100 disappearing from a machine after it went offline, I do not expect to be treated as if I am trying my luck.

A customer who has supported a place for more than a decade should not be made to feel like a **** over R100. The correct response should have been basic respect, proper handling, and a simple undertaking that the matter would be checked when the machine was cashed up.

This is not defamation. This is not an attack. This is a direct account of my experience as a consumer. South Africa has consumer complaint mechanisms for a reason, but this is not even meant as a formal complaint. It is feedback that should help strengthen customer relations.

Do not treat loyal customers this way.

The R100 is not the point.

Respect is.