Supermarkets

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

In view of my rapidly increasing militancy, I have decided to take my accumulated venom out on anyone who dares to cross my path now.

My first target is Sainsburys.

You can tell it's coming up to Christmas - the detrius (I won't say carp because I love fishing and have difficulty making the connection with fish and rubbish) that is abandoned on every corner, every mid aisle, every end aisle, every mid in the little leeways where you duck out from the turbo charged shoppers.

In my local Sainsburys, you enter, avoiding the big issue seller on the steps who has permission to stand in front of you waving the paper in your face, squeezing past flowers on one side, fireworks, candles, leaflets, someone chugging for some charity, shaking their tins at you (I used to do the Poppy Appeal and was always told NEVER to bother people like that) and some poor woman from the checkouts who was told to stand there and try and sell you a credit card.

You then have sweet tins and beer to your left, blocking the majority of the way out for shoppers, wine and soap powder in front of you to a height of about 6 foot.

There is then stuff everywhere. Each aisle can just about fit one trolley down it, assuming the staff haven't abandoned their cages and wandered off for a chat in another aisle. I've seen crates of wine come crashing down on people, wheelchairs get stuck between displays and pillars holding the roof up, and people panic and throw their shopping down and run away as it is so claustrophobic. Not all Sainsburys are like this, but Tesco, Morrisons and Waitrose are far more reasonable. It seems that with them, if it's not safe to do it, they won't dump the display there.

So. Not that it will do anything, but I have emailed Sainsburys Head Office telling them that I intend to make a formal complaint regarding fire evacuation and disabled access.

If anyone else finds this a problem, please send Head Office an email. I'm sure a mountain of complaints will get them thinking it might not be a good idea after all.

My next crusade awaits...:D

[Deleted User]

In defence of all retailers it has to be said that christmas is of mega importance to them and their survival can often hinge on maximising sales from now till early january,therefore they have to make use of every possible square inch in every store.If you have specific safety issues in specific stores then no harm bringing it to their attention,but i`m sure most play by the rules when it comes to health safety and disability issues

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Fair enough. I hardly think Sainsburys will go bust if someone stops them blocking the aisles and tells them to put the stuff back on the shelves instead, though. I would be more understanding if everywhere did it, but it seems to be this manager's personal decision. I am sure Head Office don't want him doing this, especially if they get sued by the woman I saw getting a case of wine smash over her.

Dave101t

so are you disabled? if so then i sympathise but i find women leaving their trolleys all over the place is much more an inconvenience than people doing their job.

jazabelle

Dave101t wrote: »

so are you disabled? if so then i sympathise but i find women leaving their trolleys all over the place is much more an inconvenience than people doing their job.

Of course she's disabled, this is the Disability board!

Women leaving their trollies? Of course - men would never do such a thing!

Invasion

I've been hit round the face before because there have been people desperate to squeeze past round baskets full of junk in the middle of aisles, and because in a wheelchair your face is at that perfect level. I've also had my wheels kicked and had people push me themselves because there are things blocking my way, and so, their way. No one would dream of picking up an able bodied person and moving them, so why is acceptable for someone to MOVE ME instead of a simple excuse me? I've also grazed my fingers on those stupid baskets, as often, their is only just enough room for the wheelchair, let alone my wheelchair with my hands at the sides pushing. The look on people's faces if your feet- on your footplates, that there's not enough room to manouver, hit a stupid cardboard display at the end of an aisle.
Totally agree with you Jojo, will be writing!

Invasion

To be fair though, our local Wilkinson's is probably the worst culprit...

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

We don't have a Wilkinson's in our town, Invasion. Probably for the best, because I would be in there too often for it to be moneysaving - that and I would probably bring down a few displays from being so clumsy..

mind you, I'd like to see someone try and pick me up and move me. Then they'd be joining the ranks of the disabled

Prinzessilein

Tescos is my big gripe!
They keep moving things so I don't know where anything is, and can't plan a quick route!
They do have some wider aisles, but then block them with 'moveable' displays and 'bargain bins'....and it gets worse at this time of year!
Their only customer loo is on the second floor and 'sorry, the lift is out of order today....can you not manage the stairs?'
They have added some extra tills - for customer convenience! - and now the till-aisles are narrower.

On the other hand there are some lovely places....admitedly they tend not to be the 'big' places....but a big thankyou to our local library who manage to be friendly and accesible without making it seem that they're doing anything special....and for having staff in their cafe who already know me and don't even need me to ask to have someone carry my tea tray to a table, they just smile and ask if I'd like them to do it - even if there's a queue behind me! Lovely people!

jackieb

Our local Co-op, which is bigger than the normal smaller ones that are more common now, has just rearranged it's aisles and they're about 50% wider than other supermarkets. It's lovely to have so much room compared with Tesco/Asda/etc

jackieb

I empathise with anyone is a wheelchair. I've taken people to do their shopping in wheelchairs (with trolley fixed onto the front). It's like steering an arctic lorry and not many people get out of your way without being asked.