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Gourmet Burger Kitchen-Avoid
rockiedog
Posts: 144 Forumite
A deaf man was thrown out of a branch of Gourmet Burger Kitchen in front of shocked customers because he had his hearing dog with him.
Louise DeNew was eating with her partner at the restaurant in Wimbledon, south-west London, on Saturday afternoon when she was confronted with the “horrible, horrible sight”.
She said she saw a middle-aged deaf man and his wife being kicked out by the manager of the branch, as outraged patrons looked on.
Ms DeNew added that although the small dog, believed to be a cocker spaniel, wore an assistance dog harness and had an ID card on its lead, the manager ordered them to leave.
She told the Standard: “They came in after us and had been seated in the corner with the dog pretty much hidden under the table.
“It wasn't in anyone way and most customers in there wouldn't have seen it.
“My partner and I were most upset by the fact that the gentleman seemed to have speech difficulties and wasn't able to make himself understood.
“He was waving the dog's lead with the Hearing Dog badge on it to show it was an assistance dog but the staff just ignored him.
“We felt that they used the gentleman’s disability against him really.
“It happened very quickly and the manager put his arms out and pretty much herded the chap out of the door.
“It was very upsetting to witness and we left soon after.
“My boyfriend did complain before we left, in fact he kicked off quite loudly that it shouldn't happen in this day and age so I am fairly certain that other customers would have heard it too.”
Alasdair Murdoch, CEO of Gourmet Burger Kitchen, said in a statement: “I was very disappointed to learn of the incident at the weekend that occurred in our Wimbledon restaurant.
“At GBK we firmly believe in equality and the treatment of these customers was unacceptable. This in no way reflects the values of the company and we are truly sorry for the upset that was caused. We have taken this matter very seriously.
“All our restaurants accept assistance dogs and we are taking immediate action to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“We are reviewing all training and are re-communicating with all members of staff regarding our inclusive policy.
“In the meantime we have been in touch with the customer affected to apologise and have resolved the situation directly.
“Again, we would like to apologise sincerely if we have offended anyone through this matter.
Louise DeNew was eating with her partner at the restaurant in Wimbledon, south-west London, on Saturday afternoon when she was confronted with the “horrible, horrible sight”.
She said she saw a middle-aged deaf man and his wife being kicked out by the manager of the branch, as outraged patrons looked on.
Ms DeNew added that although the small dog, believed to be a cocker spaniel, wore an assistance dog harness and had an ID card on its lead, the manager ordered them to leave.
She told the Standard: “They came in after us and had been seated in the corner with the dog pretty much hidden under the table.
“It wasn't in anyone way and most customers in there wouldn't have seen it.
“My partner and I were most upset by the fact that the gentleman seemed to have speech difficulties and wasn't able to make himself understood.
“He was waving the dog's lead with the Hearing Dog badge on it to show it was an assistance dog but the staff just ignored him.
“We felt that they used the gentleman’s disability against him really.
“It happened very quickly and the manager put his arms out and pretty much herded the chap out of the door.
“It was very upsetting to witness and we left soon after.
“My boyfriend did complain before we left, in fact he kicked off quite loudly that it shouldn't happen in this day and age so I am fairly certain that other customers would have heard it too.”
Alasdair Murdoch, CEO of Gourmet Burger Kitchen, said in a statement: “I was very disappointed to learn of the incident at the weekend that occurred in our Wimbledon restaurant.
“At GBK we firmly believe in equality and the treatment of these customers was unacceptable. This in no way reflects the values of the company and we are truly sorry for the upset that was caused. We have taken this matter very seriously.
“All our restaurants accept assistance dogs and we are taking immediate action to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
“We are reviewing all training and are re-communicating with all members of staff regarding our inclusive policy.
“In the meantime we have been in touch with the customer affected to apologise and have resolved the situation directly.
“Again, we would like to apologise sincerely if we have offended anyone through this matter.
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Comments
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I like GBK and I am not going to boycott a whole chain due to the actions of one member of staff at one of their branches.0
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If the CEO had simply ignored the complaints or denied that the incident actually happened as described then I would agree with a boycott of the chain.
However, this didn't happen and hopefully it will get looked into and the policies and practices of the branch or branch manager & staff will change.0 -
I don't often agree with JR but in this instance he is quite right, and GBK have made it perfectly clear that it was an unacceptable incident.
Any by the way OP, if you're going to simply quote what somebody else has written, as you seem to have done (I'm guessing it's the Evening Standard), it's good practice to provide the original source.0 -
She said she saw a middle-aged deaf man and his wife being kicked out by the manager of the branch, as outraged patrons looked on.
....
“My partner and I were most upset by the fact that the gentleman seemed to have speech difficulties and wasn't able to make himself understood.
“He was waving the dog's lead with the Hearing Dog badge on it to show it was an assistance dog but the staff just ignored him.
Obviously it's unacceptable that they were kicked out and it's even more unacceptable that they were seated first and then kicked out.
But I don't understand why the mans wife didn't explain why he needed the dog and what it was for considering that he had difficulty in speaking.0 -
Obviously it's unacceptable that they were kicked out and it's even more unacceptable that they were seated first and then kicked out.
But I don't understand why the mans wife didn't explain why he needed the dog and what it was for considering that he had difficulty in speaking.
The woman that made the report was not the deaf man's wife!
Perhaps best to reread
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Maybe it is you who should re readBorisThomson wrote: »The woman that made the report was not the deaf man's wife! who said it was ?
Perhaps best to rereadShe said she saw a middle-aged deaf man and his wife being kicked out by the manager of the branch, as outraged patrons looked on.0 -
I also wouldn't boycott them for this.0
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If everyone boycotted every single establishment because one random member of their employees was a tactless clot there wouldn't be many businesses left.
Goes without saying that it shouldn't have happened, but the CEO's response was appropriate.0 -
“In the meantime we have been in touch with the customer affected to apologise and have resolved the situation directly.
How did the CEO know who they were to contact them?0 -
There are various ways I can think of. Most likely is that they made a complaint directly to the company?“In the meantime we have been in touch with the customer affected to apologise and have resolved the situation directly.
How did the CEO know who they were to contact them?A witty saying proves nothing0
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