Wheelchair access in shops

babymoo

This may be the wrong place to put this so please feel free to move it if there is somewhere else better suited for it

I decided to go shopping yesterday with my bessie and we went to Trafford Centre in Manchester. I can't walk that far so I take a wheelchair if I know I will be on my feet a long time.

Anyway we went past New Look and decided to have a peep inside, we took 1 look and thought not a chance, there were maybe 10 customers inside the shop but that wasn't the problem, it was sooo ram jammed full of railings and tables with stuff on them it was nigh on impossible for get my wheelchair around the store without taking half of it with me.

We did however persevere and I found what I wanted and went to pay at the till and when asked if everything was ok I mentioned to the cashier that while I had managed to get everything that I wanted, I had really struggled to get around the store in my chair and had I been alone and not with my friend there is no way I would have even entered as it is so cramped.

I was absolutely appalled.

The majority of the shops we went into were absolutely fine but I was really disgusted by New Look. Having thought about it more I took a trip to my local New Look this morning and found the same again, and I didn't bother going in because I was alone and wouldn't have got round the store.

I have been on the New Look website as I would like to complain about this to the head office via e-mail but I can't find the relevant e-mail address anywhere. Could anyone help? Maybe I should post a note on their facebook site?

I do wonder when I spend the afternoon in my chair how people who spend day in day out in their chairs manage to get around anywhere.

nannytone_2

these random displays and closely packed clothes rails are a nightmare for the visually impaired too.

supermarkets drive me mad, when they decide to plonk a pallet of beer straight in fromnt of the entrance. once it is lower than waist height, i have no chance of seeing it.

sunnyone

babymoo wrote: »

This may be the wrong place to put this so please feel free to move it if there is somewhere else better suited for it

I decided to go shopping yesterday with my bessie and we went to Trafford Centre in Manchester. I can't walk that far so I take a wheelchair if I know I will be on my feet a long time.

Anyway we went past New Look and decided to have a peep inside, we took 1 look and thought not a chance, there were maybe 10 customers inside the shop but that wasn't the problem, it was sooo ram jammed full of railings and tables with stuff on them it was nigh on impossible for get my wheelchair around the store without taking half of it with me.

We did however persevere and I found what I wanted and went to pay at the till and when asked if everything was ok I mentioned to the cashier that while I had managed to get everything that I wanted, I had really struggled to get around the store in my chair and had I been alone and not with my friend there is no way I would have even entered as it is so cramped.

I was absolutely appalled.

The majority of the shops we went into were absolutely fine but I was really disgusted by New Look. Having thought about it more I took a trip to my local New Look this morning and found the same again, and I didn't bother going in because I was alone and wouldn't have got round the store.

I have been on the New Look website as I would like to complain about this to the head office via e-mail but I can't find the relevant e-mail address anywhere. Could anyone help? Maybe I should post a note on their facebook site?

I do wonder when I spend the afternoon in my chair how people who spend day in day out in their chairs manage to get around anywhere.

The store should have enough room for a standard 18" wheelchair to easily negotiate the shop safely, if you ring the EHRC on Monday (if your not hearing impaired) and they will talk you thorough the complaints procedure (not the shops own but the legal standpoint), its important to complain to make sure that shops etc. take disabled people seriously or things will never improve.

lolseh

Claires Accessories is awful too for it. Even though I don't really need a wheelchair now I can still be a bit unsteady when standing so find it hard to get around these kind of places. WHSmith at The Fort in Glasgow is so bad. Mum complained because I was wanting to look at the magazines while in a wheelchair but it wasn't wide enough because they had a huge display infront of them but the reply she got back from the staff member was 'Can't she get up and walk!?' :mad:

babymoo

lolseh wrote: »

Claires Accessories is awful too for it. Even though I don't really need a wheelchair now I can still be a bit unsteady when standing so find it hard to get around these kind of places. WHSmith at The Fort in Glasgow is so bad. Mum complained because I was wanting to look at the magazines while in a wheelchair but it wasn't wide enough because they had a huge display infront of them but the reply she got back from the staff member was 'Can't she get up and walk!?' :mad:

Claire's accessories I did completely avoid yesterday it is ALWAYS bad wheelchair or not. I don't know how they get away with it.

MrsManda

babymoo wrote: »

I have been on the New Look website as I would like to complain about this to the head office via e-mail but I can't find the relevant e-mail address anywhere. Could anyone help? Maybe I should post a note on their facebook site?

You can fill out a feedback form on the New Look website

http://www.newlook.com/furniture/contact_us.jsp

I know the link says furniture but if you go to the bottom of the page you can fill out a contact form which isn't just for furniture.

LadyMorticia

We have two New Looks local to us and one at the Mall. The Mall one is really cramped. I have a wheelchair when out too and we had to leave the Mall New Look as it was so hard to get around in my chair.

One of the local New Looks has quite a bit of space to get around so that one is okay. The other New Look, however, is also cramped and hard to get around too.

kingfisherblue

A couple of years ago, I couldn't take my son into The Works as his (child size) wheelchair could not fit into the shop, so close were the displays to the door. I rang their head office and asked why this was the case - didn't they have to consider disabled people? I also pointed out that on many occasions when my son wasn't with me, there were piles of stock on the floor, which could be dangerous.

The safety officer at The Works visited the shop anonymously a few days later. The manager was then reprimanded about the lack of disability access and the dangers to members of the public. Staff were re-trained in customer safety and were reminded that The Works policy is to have a minimum distance between any displays (I can't remember the distance, but it was sufficient to comfortably allow an aadult sized wheelchair to fit through).

Needless to say, this branch has been okay since. The head office also issued me with a £5 voucher to spend in store or online, by way of apology.

If people don't report the local branches to head office for breaches in access and/or safety, then little can be done. Shop assistants at the till might not be that bothered about the problems that others have in getting around (I know some will be concerned, but not all).

Definitely contact the head office - it won't just help you, it could help others as well.

formaldehyde_perfume

I find this in a lot of stores. I have a manual wheelchair which I almost never use as my mum (carer) isn't strong enough to push me, but mostly I use my scooter which is one of the small, folding type ones and I find that a lot of shops don't have enough width for me to go down the isle, letalone turn round.

I have found myself using wilkinsons a lot lately as it is very disabled friendly, as much as any shops with high and low shelves can be.

As for Claires, I can't even go in most of them with my crutches as the 'isles' are that small that I turn around and knock things off shelves in the process *sigh*

charleyzee

I know not everyone will want to read this all through but I just wanted to share it, and to see if anyone could advise me of an organization that I could copy the letter in to? I want to put a name on the letter that will make Dunelm Mill sit up straight & react quickly!
Also, somebody mentions below that shops should allow access for an 18 inch wheelchair - is this a legal requirement? If so, could you please tell me the law so i can quote it directly to them?

Many thanks!

Mr Will Adderley Deputy Chairman
Dunelm Mill

Dear Mr Adderley,


Having been a loyal customer of Dunelm Mill for many years, I was delighted when you opened a large store in my home town. As I have become severely disabled in the last 3 years, I was especially pleased that the store was so large with lovely wide aisles.


Sadly, from my first visit to this store, my carer and I struggled to get around. On one visit, my carer asked a member of staff if there was a wheelchair trolley available – this member of staff just stared at my carer and did not even answer her. On my last 2 visits, I have complained to staff (and at least twice to a manager) about the amount of stuff piled up in your aisles, blocking access to me and my chair. The store has nice wide aisles but staff repeatedly pile up boxes of products at the ends or edges of aisles. I suggested to one manager that he try himself to push a wheelchair around the store – this clearly did not happen as nothing has changed.


Today, April 4th, I visited the store with a carer and friend. I am frequently housebound so was excited to have a trip out and was keen to buy lots of household goods. However, within two minutes of being in the store, I wanted to leave. In the cushion aisle, over-stuffed shelves caused a pile of cushions to fall onto me when I pulled just one out to take a look. In the duvet aisle, another customer knocked 2 duvets off which landed on me. As we approached the curtains aisles, our access was blocked by 2 large trolleys stuffed full of products. Three members of staff were standing by these trolleys and they just stared at us, clearly expecting us to find another route towards the curtain area. I was appalled at their attitude, their apathy, and their lack of basic decency, let alone respect for their customers.


After taking a detour, we arrived in the curtain area where we found shelves full of sale items overflowing onto the floor, again blocking our access. The foam aisle was also over-loaded, with large blocks of foam piled up on the floor, making it difficult for us to move around. I should stress that we did not even have a wheelchair trolley with us – it was just me, my chair and my carer. It would have been impossible to use a wheelchair trolley.


I asked a member of staff in the fabric department if she could report the issue with the foam to a manager. However, she clearly had the same apathetic attitude as the other staff we had encountered. In any other store, she would have immediately gone to fix the problem – or at least to see it for herself – but she just looked at me blankly and agreed to tell a manager. I told her I'd be happy to speak to the manager if he wanted to come and talk to me – this did not happen.


Throughout the store, we noticed rubbish on the floor – packing material, bits of plastic and cardboard, as well as the usual aisles cluttered with boxes, etc. We headed towards the customer lift but had to wait as a member of staff got there first, with a trolley full of boxes – surely shelf-stacking, etc should be done out of hours, as other stores do?! If not, there is presumably a separate lift for staff to use?


Upstairs was no better – shelves being re-stocked, inaccessible aisles, etc. One member of staff was loading a trolley full of flattened cardboard boxes, some of which were on the floor. After passing her, I spotted a manager. I told him how disappointed I was in the shop, in the cluttered aisles, and the rubbish on the floor. The manager shocked me by blaming his customers for the rubbish in the aisle! I pointed out that every store has to deal with customers moving things around, and that staff are there to keep the shop tidy. At this point, the member of staff who had been loading the trolley with cardboard, and another member of staff, walked away from the trolley – leaving two large flattened cardboard boxes lying across the whole aisle! I pointed this out to the manager as a clear example that the problem is with his staff, not his customers!

I told him about the rude ladies in the curtain department who had been unwilling to give me access and that his entire staff seemed to be apathetic and uncaring about their customers. I told him I felt like I did not want to return to the store as I had not enjoyed my visit at all: indeed, it must have been obvious to this man that I was close to tears. He promised it would be different on my next visit – but then I was given that promise the last time I visited the store and clearly nothing has changed.


In your position, I am sure you are aware of The Equality Act 2010 (EA), which allows disabled people to have the same rights as able-bodied people, including important rights of access to everyday services. Under this act, service providers have an obligation to make reasonable adjustments to premises or to the way they provide a service. In fact, in the case of your St Albans store, no adjustments to the shop area need to be made – your staff just need to show more consideration and to not fill every 'available' space with products – especially as those 'available' spaces are meant for customer access!


I should also point out that , as a service provider, you are obliged to follow guidance issued by the Equality and Human Rights Commission: 'If an organisation provides a service to consumers, it also needs to avoid discrimination in how it provides that service. This includes discrimination on the grounds of disability. This applies to all organisations that provide goods, facilities or services to the public, whether paid for or free, and no matter how large or small they are. […] Services include going to a restaurant, shopping for clothes or food, using the local library, going to church or visiting your solicitor or doctor.'


Regarding access, I should also point out that the toilets close to your caf! are completely unacceptable. I do not know if there is a disabled toilet downstairs, but we disabled people have the same rights as the able-bodied, which should include access to a toilet close to the eating area. It seems ludicrous that a newly refurbished shop, in such a large space, would neglect to make disabled access a priority in planning.


I do hope that my letter will bring dramatic, and much-needed, changes to your store as I certainly will not be returning under the above conditions.


Yours faithfully,

OneYorkshireLass

charleyzee wrote: »

I know not everyone will want to read this all through but I just wanted to share it, and to see if anyone could advise me of an organization that I could copy the letter in to? I want to put a name on the letter that will make Dunelm Mill sit up straight & react quickly!
Also, somebody mentions below that shops should allow access for an 18 inch wheelchair - is this a legal requirement? If so, could you please tell me the law so i can quote it directly to them?

,

You mention the EHRC, so I'd copy them in. However, you might want to talk it through with them first: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/ The phone numbers are on the top left of the homepage.