Info wanted. What would you do?

by Lady Lee 26 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Lady Lee

  I have a bit of a dilemma and would like some opinions

  As many of you know I use a wheelchair to get around. And going grocery shopping is becoming a real pain. At the beginning of the month I like to go out and get all the basics I will need for the month. That way I only need to pop over to the local store to pick up a few smaller things when I need them throughout the month.

  When I do the big shopping I get it delivered (way better than trying to bring it home myself).

  I have two stores that are fairly close and would deliver. In one the checkout aisles are so narrow I can't get through the checkout, the selection of goods is not great and I wind up paying more for what I get (I'm on a really strict budget right now). The other store is small and has a smaller selection but I can get through the aisles.

  There is a third store - huge, roomy aisles, roomy checkouts and great selection at great prices. Here is my dilemma and they deliver..

  First, using a wheelchair and pushing a cart just doesn't work. Items on the top shelf are impossible to reach so I either have to sit there and wait .

  The first time I went to the store I asked the staff if they could find an employee to go through the store with me. They said it would take a few minutes to find someone and that wasn't a problem. They also said the next time to call first (and gave me the number) so they could make arrangements ahead of time. Not a problem. She repeated this calling ahead at least 6 times as if I was a child who had a defective brain instead of someone who couldn't walk.

  The next month I called ahead of time, and made arrangements for an assistant to go with me through the store and over the phone they said no problem. I went to the service desk as I was told to do and let them know I was there. Hmmm they couldn't find anyone. A supervisor (no I don't have her name but I sure wish I did) came down and wanted to know why I thought they should provide a staff person to take me around the store. I told her I had called ahead and made the arrangements (Now this is why it is important to take names). She wanted to know who it was that told me I should call ahead and they would have someone there. They had no business telling me this was an available service. She told me that in the future they would not do this for me and I should be working on getting an aide on my own to help me shop. On and on she went about me getting my own assistant.

  Now I could be wrong but I think this was the very same person that gave me the phone number to call ahead. I can't be sure but I think it is.

  OK I have been trying to get an aide to help me with my shopping. Seems I need a form filled out by my doctor to get an aide. My doctor is great and getting the form filled is not the issue.

  I am so ready to call the store and complain about this supervisor - but again I have no name. duh you'd think I'd learn.

  This is the first time I have been treated like a bad child because I am in a wheelchair. All of my interactions with other people have been wonderful, courteous, kind, helpful and considerate.

  Do I go to the store again.? Do I find out who she is and report her? There are no other stores nearby that will deliver. And making 10 trips to the grocery store and carting things back on the wheelchair is insane but do-able.

  So what would you do?
• 

  candidlynuts

  always go above their head.. if its a krogers or other main chain check online and find an email address and complain to corporate..

  if its privately owned, write the owner a letter.. dont waste your time complaining to the one that offended you.

  i hope you get your aide... my honey is wheelchair bound and he always had to transfer to a store wheelchair with a basket before i came along.. now he doesnt go to the store at all.. ( he's male.. cant drag his butt out of the house for nothin!)

  also, you can call your local catholic church, they sometimes will have volunteers who will assist you. my honey used them before i came along. very nice people.
• 

  Brigid

  Yes, I would let the superviser know. I know that here in the United States, we have the Americans with Disabilities Act. Businesses have to make their goods and services available to anyone within reasonable accommodations. Hey, your money is good. A manager will know this makes good business cents sense.

  Good luck!

  ~Brigid
• 

  Chia

  
  You should DEFINITELY complain. How dare anyone talk to you like that! First of all, even if you were given incorrect information, there was no reason for her to speak to you the way she did. All she had to say was, "I'm sorry, but normally this is a service that we do not provide. In the future, we can no longer provide this service. Whoever gave you that information gave it to you in error." And then after you left, find whoever gave you that information and educate them on whatever the proper procedure was. But to make you feel humiliated, that is just wrong. The management should definitely know about an ignorant person like that.

  Find out who it is, and I'll give 'em a piece of my mind!

  **Edited to say: I noticed Brigid's post above, and I had to agree. It's the law here that accomodations have to be made for wheelchair access! That's what I thought anyway.**
• 

  daystar

  I'm with everyone else. Call and ask for the name and phone number of the district manager as well as for the store manager there, and any and all the other managers' names. It doesn't matter what other manager you spoke with. That is their problem. Also their problem is the fact that that manger simply thought you were lying. That is likely why she kept kept going on so.
• 

  misanthropic

  Lady Lee, I can't believe the nerve of some people! It probably was the same person who told you in the first place to call ahead, this wouldn't surprise me. Well I think it's just awful that someone would treat you like that. If I were you, there is no doubt I would go right back down there and get that womans name and report her. That is just wrong, what is the matter with people? What ever happened to customer service anyway?
• 

  luna2

  Add me to the list of those that think you should communicate with someone in management at that store. Very poor behavior on the part of that supervisor.

  My other thought is to explore online grocery shopping. Is it available in your area? You could possibly avoid having to go out at all to do the bulk of your shopping. ??? Probably is more expensive so that might nix that idea.
• 

  tall penguin

  From my retail experience, I know that stuff put in writing gets more action. Corporations don't like a paper trail. Write a letter detailing your experience and what you'd like to see happen as a resolution.
  Love, tall penguin
• 

  acsot

  Write a letter to the editor of the Ottawa Citizen and copy the manager of the store and the head office, c/o the president, if it's a chain of stores. The store may be more willing to do something about the problem if it affects their corporate image and possibly their bottom line.

  I'd also write and/or copy any handicapped associations in the area.

  Letter writing works. I once had to go all the way to the provincial ombudsman about a major screw-up once, but man - did they ever get on the ball! It was solved in no time flat.
• 

  Big Tex

  Do I go to the store again.? Do I find out who she is and report her? There are no other stores nearby that will deliver. And making 10 trips to the grocery store and carting things back on the wheelchair is insane but do-able.

  So what would you do?

  Things like this really piss me off. I always vote with my checkbook. I refuse to beg a business to take my money. If they refuse to treat me as a customer they get to see my backside on the way out and I won't darken their door again. There's a butcher shop near us that sells fantastic hamburger patties but I haven't been there after being treated badly one time. Not only that I tell anyone I can not to go there (BTW don't fly on American Airlines; dirty trays and seats, rude flight attendants, crappy attitudes everywhere).

  Okay what I'd do first is find out the store number and the manager's name. Then write to the main office describing what happened exactly as you've done here. Copy all media outlets (newspaper, television and even certain radio stations). Which governmental agency covers discrimination for the handicapped in Canada? Find them, get their address and copy them as well. Put this woman's name up front, and reference her throughout the letter.

  The gist of the letter, if it were me, would be my objection that this store offered this service and then took it back. I would complain that I did not demand they offer something only that they live up to their promise.

  I guarantee that if you approach this from a disability standpoint, make a lot of noise you will get their attention and this woman will regret humiliating you.

  Chris