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Swiss Cottage Tesco staff tell blind woman to 'get dog out'

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."

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.
...[snip]...
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."
Full article and photograph here...

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-29652764

It is a pity that Tesco do not train their staff better. Do they think that offering a £20 voucher cancels out the rudeness suffered by Ms Makri?

Your comments and views:
Jackie
Dogsey Veteran
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 13,122
Female  Diamond Supporter 
 
17-10-2014, 03:37 PM
i would have asked to see the manager, not sure why she did not do that !!

If I had been a witness to this I would have demanded the manager was called .
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Musher
Dogsey Junior
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 245
Male 
 
17-10-2014, 06:08 PM
If these individuals were employed by me I would have them dismissed and never allowed to be employed by my company again and disallow them the use of my company name on any future resumes pending legal action.
I hope Ms. Makri doesn't let this slide.
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