Email from Ocado

Virgin now have an all trans flight attendent shuttle to the US. Good luck getting one of them to help mop up your kids vomit or change your food order.

If you want complain about overreaction, why complain about customers taking their business elsewhere and not complain about bomb threats to venues or vandalism of historic buildings or threats to punch a terf or threats to kill or smoke bombs which can be very serious for those with asthma?

One side withdraws custom, the other threatens to murder and main.

They were one of the 40 or so companies who allowed their logo to be attached to the Metro advert which linked directly to the Stonewall guidance on completing the GRA consultation. There is a long thread

Big offenders there were government agencies such as GCHQ and the IPO, who really should not be taking sides. But Barclays and Virgin Money were there as well. I am POA for my mother who has Alzheimer’s, and most of her savings are with Virgin. She needs dignity and trust, and there is no way she would understand that a man is a woman because he says so. I need to be able to demand that intimate personal care is given by someone she perceives to be a woman. Ditto there are issues in elderly care with things like sexual disinhibition, where safeguarding demands separation between sexes not gender.

So I was disproportionately cross at Virgin not caring about their customers. The first reply was reasonably well crafted, and created a distance from a standard Stonewall line. I have gone back to correct inaccuracies, and am curious as to how much they were mislead by Stonewall. Three on the list have apparently confirmed they had no idea their logos would be used in this way.

Ocado, in contrast, have not publicly rowed back at all, and had no need to support the removal of Posie’s poster. Adult human female = hate speech...indeed.

What have virgin done? Just had a look at their Twitter, and all I can see I t wit feed is their retweet of stonewalls ordinal tweet

Look, a Boycott and public shaming of any company openly supporting AWA is a step in the right direction if we are to make any headway. Ocado is a big name unlike that billboard company no one can remember anymore.
A public statement is needed because Ocado has a large audience.

They could easily put out something acknowledging that this is a heated debate, that there are differing views and that their initial response was wrong. But though they will say it privately they won’t say it publicly. Whty not. Surely their customers deserve an apology, or have every right to take their custom elsewhere.

I had the same email. Requested a public retraction. But I've left Ocado and short of a more public statement won't be back. Over reaction? I don't think so but that's just my personal judgement on the matter. And Waitrose deliveries have been great.

Tanith there was someone on the original thread about Ocado as well saying you're over reacting stop it.

Was that you I think it was. Why do you care so much?

They are still sending out emails?
It's taken up weeks of their time.

I just think a boycott is an over-reaction.

I can understand the anger and the immediate cancellation of orders. I was angry myself. That action obviously panicked them and made them think.

But to keep up a boycott? And even if they apologise publicly, to still boycott them, as some are saying they will?
Exactly what do they have to do to appease you?
And what is anyone doing about the company that actually took down the poster and started this whole thing?

Two tweets, as far as I recall, that seemed to come from ignorance, not from active TRA support, and were removed once Ocado realised what was actually going on.
Do they really deserve to go out of business for that?

Some of you are still watching the BBC and using their websites, despite agreeing that they are supporting the TRA argument. It took far more than two tweets before people resigned membership from political parties, and decided not to buy the Guardian.

I'm rather appalled that two tweets, based on the misinformation they were given, is enough to justify all this.

Virgin did not get it 100% right and I have gone back to point this out, but at least three logos on the Stonewall poster have admitted they were not aware of what they were signing up to.

Waitrose have pleaded ignorance/non involvement.

Ocado in contrast tweeted support for TRAs. They could have corrected this publicly but chose not to. Poor PR advice or deliberate, who knows. But they seem happy to lose customers rather than adopt a neutral position.

Well done Virgin - why on earth are Ocado so stupid? Surely they realise who their main customer base is... it does not do for a supermarket to piss off women, especially mums!!!

Tanith they should have responded publicly, in the same medium used to make the original tweet. It's their preference for keeping it under wraps and contacting all the uppity little mums privately that has both irked women and, in the process, made clear that they're really not troubled by the idea of losing our custom.

Their public statements have been very pro TRA and they have not been prepared to row back on them. In contrast Virgin Money and others who found themselves caught up in supporting a link to Stonewall guidance to the GRA consultation (probably inadvertently) have managed to come up with more balanced responses acknowledging there are concerns.

Quite who Ocado is able to publicly support a TRA line but not then find a neutral position is beyond me.unless their real business is selling software to the States.

Inclusive, my arse. Ocado are literally transphobes, with triggering categories like "women's intimate health" on their website. 1) There's nothing in that section for knobs. It's all horrific, exclusive stuff about vaginas and periods and ladyache. 2) Simply wanting women to have health in the first place, intimate or otherwise, is bigoted and hateful and denies the very existence of transwomen.

Sorry, but I don't like this.

It seems as though the company that actually removed the poster (can anyone remember their name?) has been forgotten whereas Ocado, who removed their employee's tweet and made clear it it should not have been sent, has been boycotted.

They're a decent company to work for, and heaven knows that's becoming a rarity these days. I think this boycott is an over-reaction.

How does inclusivity cover shopping exactly?

Preferably one that makes no reference to fecking inclusivity.

Well, at least it wasn't a random intern

Well their marketing/PR director needs a kick up the backside then. If they aren't so hot on brand and reputation management then thet shouldn't be in the job!

Random customer services folks don't get to drive the social media accounts! Dear god I have to manage 8 of the bastards and no one gets my passwords not even my MD
That's not necessarily true; I've worked at two U.K. banks and a big FMCG where random customer service folks did answer customer comments - usually through an enterprise tool that meant they could answer incoming posts but not post their own tweets etc.

Goodness, does that mean someone in a large retailer is awake (as opposed to woke)?

On a related note I was invited to do an online questionnaire by Sainsbury's today and they asked if my sex was male or female (with a prefer not say option also).

Yay for Sainsburys.