Tesco staff tell blind woman to 'get dog out'

SkyBlueClouds

BBC News

A blind woman was left "horrified" and "distressed" when staff at Tesco in north London shouted at her to get her guide dog out.

Maya Makri, 39, was in the Swiss Cottage shop 10 days after moving to the capital when she was told "never come back".

She said three cashiers shouted "no pets allowed" and to leave the shop.

Tesco said: "This clearly should never have happened and we will contact Ms Makri directly to apologise."

'Very upsetting'
During the incident on Monday, Ms Makri said her guide dog of six years, Jemma, was wearing a high-visibility jacket and harness which is labelled "guide dog".

"I got to the till and could sense there was an uncomfortable atmosphere then the man behind the till started shouting 'no pets allowed'," she said.

"I said it's a guide dog and I'm registered blind, but his two other cashiers joined in the shouting match. It was very upsetting in terms of the language and the tone.

"Everyone in the queue kept saying 'she's allowed to have a dog' but they (cashiers) were just completely adamant that dogs were not allowed in the store."

Ms Makri, who is studying for a Masters degree at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, said she had specifically chosen the store because she could access it without having to cross the road.

Guide dogs 'allowed'
She said: "I feel so outraged because I really thought London would be streets ahead and would maybe be a place where there would be room to be treated equally.

"Tesco specifically, have the funds to provide training, and this is unacceptable."

Ms Makri said while she had been contacted by customer services and offered a £20 voucher, no one from the Swiss Cottage store had contacted her and she was still awaiting a response from the company's equality department.

Tesco added: "We do allow guide dogs in stores and have reminded colleagues of that. We also offer customers with guide dogs help with their shopping, if they would like assistance."

Not my favorite supermarket of choice, however, this is appalling. All supermarket staff should be trained in assisting customers who are visually impaired, disabled, special needs etc.

The One Doctor

Tesco in bad customer service shocker.

or

Should've gone to SpecSavers.

kingtiger

wow a €20 voucher

syklops

All supermarket staff should be trained in assisting customers who are visually impaired, disabled, special needs etc.

Former supermarket staff speaking here. Supermarket(not just supermarkets either) training is a race to the bottom as to how little training can be given. Half of them arent even trained on tills and weighing machines. That said, if you need training for dealing with blind people, you should not have a customer facing job.

I can't help wondering if there is more to this story though.

cml387

In fairness to Tesco, they seem to make a point of hiring a proportion of people who are disabled. This sounds like a local issue.

plys

Intelligence level = lowest common denominator

Drakares

Damn that €20 voucher is tempting...

jamo2oo9

€20 voucher for all that trouble?

Shame on them pack of w@nkers :mad:

The Moldy Gowl

There is definetely more to this story.


Sure how does she know the dog had a guide dog sign on if she was blind?

*runs away*

A_Sober_Paddy

I don't understand how this mistake was made, we often get people trying to bring dogs into my place of work, but once you see the high vis bibs on them you should know, even if the dog is only in training

SkyBlueClouds

A_Sober_Paddy wrote: »

I don't understand how this mistake was made, we often get people trying to bring dogs into my place of work, but once you see the high vis bibs on them you should know, even if the dog is only in training

Indeed. And not only should common sense prevail (i.e recognizing the woman in question was blind with a guide dog) - the customers in the Q behind her pointed it out several times to the staff behind the counter when they kicked up ****e about it, yet still persisted to dig a hole for themselves.

The Backwards Man

This isn't Swiss Cottage in Tipperary is it?

In other news, an elephant destroyed a child's swing in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

BrokenHero

I was working in M&S a few years back and a guy came in and starting swinging a dog around above his head.

I asked him what he was doing and he said he was just having a look around.

animaal

The Backwards Man wrote: »

This isn't Swiss Cottage in Tipperary is it?

In other news, an elephant destroyed a child's swing in the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Well if the elephant was from Duffy's circus, it could be of interest.
Tesco has a large presence in Ireland. How it responds to complaints in the UK is relevant.

Or should I just stop feeding the troll?

The Backwards Man

animaal wrote: »

Well if the elephant was from Duffy's circus, it could be of interest.
Tesco has a large presence in Ireland. How it responds to complaints in the UK is relevant.

Or should I just stop feeding the troll?

It's not an international Tesco policy to refuse assistance dogs, it's not the policy of the Micky Mouse store where this happened, just a couple of workers who had neither training, initiative, or good old common sense.

oldyouth

My wife had a shop and I used to love when Guide Dogs came in with their owners. True heroes and remarkable creatures. Took all my will power not to give them a treat, but you can't do that when they are working.

Would never allow other animals in though

animaal

The Backwards Man wrote: »

It's not an international Tesco policy to refuse assistance dogs, it's not the policy of the Micky Mouse store where this happened, just a couple of workers who had neither training, initiative, or good old common sense.

Very likely true.

I mentioned that it's the company's response that's of interest, but somebody else mentioned the possible lack of training, and that's probably relevant in this country too.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

I really don't think you need training to make a common sense judgement that a customer with a guide dog is okay.

TheFullDuck

oldyouth wrote: »

My wife had a shop and I used to love when Guide Dogs came in with their owners. True heroes and remarkable creatures. Took all my will power not to give them a treat, but you can't do that when they are working.

Would never allow other animals in though

I really admire the work the guide dogs do, will go out of my way to donate to them if I see them collecting somewhere. one of the few charities I regularly give to

anncoates

Maybe I'll get flak for this but it sounds weird that they would publicly yell at a blind woman with a guide dog for no reason.

Surely they know they'd probably lose their jobs.

Is there more to this story I wonder.

SkyBlueClouds

More details on this covered in The Guardian:

Guardian Online

A blind student was reduced to tears when she was refused service in a Tesco store for taking in her guide dog. Maya Makri, 39, was “horrified” on Monday when a cashier at a Tesco store in Swiss Cottage, London, told her that “pets are not allowed”.

Makri says staff refused to acknowledge that her black Labrador Jemma was not a pet, despite the fact she was wearing a fluorescent high-viz jacket and harness labelled “guide dog”.

Makri told the Evening Standard: “I pointed out that this was no pet, but a guide dog. This should have been immediately obvious from the dog’s high-viz harness and fluorescent guide dog label on the lead.

“I repeatedly said that I was registered blind and that this was a trained assistance dog, to no avail. Various customers tried to back me up, but we were shouted down. I burst into tears outside the store in sheer frustration.”

Makri says that initially she was contacted by customer services at Tesco and offered a £20 voucher.

A spokesperson for Tesco has said: “We do allow guide dogs in stores and have reminded colleagues of that. We also offer customers with guide dogs help with their shopping, if they would like assistance.”

The news comes after hundreds of protesters staged a mass kiss-in in the aisles of a Sainsbury’s store in Brighton on Wednesday. Two gay women had been threatened with ejection and told that a customer found them “disgusting” when they shared a brief kiss.

Annabelle Paige, 22, an English literature student at the University of Sussex has said she was “deeply hurt and upset” when a security guard asked her and her female partner to stop kissing or leave the supermarket.

Sainsbury’s apologised for the incident, by saying “it is clear that Miss Paige and her partner were not behaving inappropriately and we are very sorry that they were treated in this way.”

Last month Sports Direct was also criticised, when a security guard allegedly barred a group of 11-year-old Jewish schoolboys from entering the store by saying “no Jews, no Jews”. The security guard at the store in Borehamwood in Hertfordshire has been sacked and will be the subject of an investigation.

bear1

kingtiger wrote: »

wow a €20 voucher

Ah now, it's a 20 pound voucher so roughly 25e.
Cheap bastards.

A_Sober_Paddy

bear1 wrote: »

Ah now, it's a 20 pound voucher so roughly 25e.
Cheap bastards.

Every Little helps...tho:D

Terrlock

Who on the planet doesn't know that guide dogs are acceptable.

This can't be as simple as a training problem.

I'd ask the question where the cashier's in the shop of a Faith that view dogs as unclean animals and can't tolerate being in their presence.

They seems to get quite angry at the customer with all their shouting.

Seems a bit bizarre really

iguana

I have read suggestions that the staff acted as they did not through lack of training but due to a religious stance. If so it's not the first time that something similar has happened in the UK.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1295749/Muslim-bus-drivers-refuse-let-guide-dogs-board.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-408912/Unclean-guide-dog-banned-Muslim-cab-driver.html

Terrlock

iguana wrote: »

I have read suggestions that the staff acted as they did not through lack of training but due to a religious stance. If so it's not the first time that something similar has happened in the UK.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1295749/Muslim-bus-drivers-refuse-let-guide-dogs-board.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-408912/Unclean-guide-dog-banned-Muslim-cab-driver.html

If this is indeed another case of employees discriminating against people based on their faith.

Should people that will discriminated against other people be allowed into employment in public facing jobs.

This of course in turn breaks another law of equal working rights that it's illegal as employers too discriminate between potential employees based on their faiths.

Seem's like a bit of a viscous circle.

Greyjoy

iguana wrote: »

I have read suggestions that the staff acted as they did not through lack of training but due to a religious stance. If so it's not the first time that something similar has happened in the UK.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1295749/Muslim-bus-drivers-refuse-let-guide-dogs-board.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-408912/Unclean-guide-dog-banned-Muslim-cab-driver.html

I can understand the discrimination happening in those stories as the drivers are solitary workers but in this case other cashiers joined in to berate the blind woman. The woman herself has reported that she's endured similar incidents of being barred from gyms/restaurants because of her guide dog - were they all staffed by muslim workers as well?

Lapin

I know that branch of Tesco.

There is a sign on the door saying 'NO PETS ALLOWED'

She obviously didn't see it.

Terrlock

Lapin wrote: »

I know that branch of Tesco.

There is a sign on the door saying 'NO PETS ALLOWED'

She obviously didn't see it.

It's a guide dog....I think that over rules the NO PETS ALLOWED policy

0byme75341jo28

I very rarely get angry at stories I read online, but what a shower of absolute ****. Should be sacked for their sheer idiocy.

Dial Hard

Terrlock wrote: »

It's a guide dog....I think that over rules the NO PETS ALLOWED policy

Whoosh!

The_Valeyard

The LGBT community did a kiss-in at another store there recently because two lesbians were asked to leave,

A large group of people with blind dogs should take their dogs for a walk through Tesco, just avoid the butcher counter in case they end up in the burgers.

sconhome

Obviously not the brightest staff, seeing a blind person and assuming that she was deaf as well. :rolleyes:

Clearlier

My wife has a guide dog and I would say that it's a regular enough occurrence that she will be told that dogs aren't allowed. Maybe 1 in 20 times of the 'new' places that she goes into when I'm with her. Usually it's a security guard at the entrance and most of the time it's clear that English isn't their first language.

It's worth noting that many countries don't have laws to allow guide dogs entrance to most areas so it's not entirely surprising that somebody who may not be long in the country is unaware of their special status. 70% of the time when explained there is a quick apology, 20% grudging acquiesence, 5% of the time a manager has to be got and occasionally there will be an outright refusal. I've never come across somebody shouting though.

Leaving aside anything else it's bizarre behaviour to be shouting at any customer.

Yamanoto

iguana wrote: »

I have read suggestions that the staff acted as they did not through lack of training but due to a religious stance.

That's what immediately came to mind for me, especially so given the vociferous nature of the staffs protestations.

Egginacup

kingtiger wrote: »

wow a €20 voucher

It's actually a £20 voucher. That makes all the difference.

Seridisand

Clearlier wrote: »

700% of the time .....

This is painful on many levels

Clearlier

Seridisand wrote: »

This is painful on many levels

:eek: Corrected it.

Murt10

SkyBlueClouds wrote: »

The news comes after hundreds of protesters staged a mass kiss-in in the aisles of a Sainsbury’s store in Brighton on Wednesday. Two gay women had been threatened with ejection and told that a customer found them “disgusting” when they shared a brief kiss.

Annabelle Paige, 22, an English literature student at the University of Sussex has said she was “deeply hurt and upset” when a security guard asked her and her female partner to stop kissing or leave the supermarket.

Sainsbury’s apologised for the incident, by saying “it is clear that Miss Paige and her partner were not behaving inappropriately and we are very sorry that they were treated in this way.”


:

Yes they were behaving inappropriately. Nothing to do with whether they are gay or not.

A supermarket is not the place to snog the face off your partner.

SkyBlueClouds

Murt10 wrote: »

Yes they were behaving inappropriately. Nothing to do with whether they are gay or not.

A supermarket is not the place to snog the face off your partner.

I gather it was a light peck on the cheek. Not a snogfest.

Lyger

"she was told "never come back"."
Seems like total bullsh*t.

Those salacious customer complaints that make the media are always very one-sided. I have absolutely no doubt there's more to it.

branie2

Some people are just ignorant