AIBU to have got very cross in M&S yesterday

[marriedandwreathedinholly]

Have slept on this and don't think I'm being unreasonable. Went to M&S yesterday afternoon - am on crutches at the moment - DH dropped me at the entrance. Got up to 2nd floor OK using the escalator but wasn't brave enough to come down on the escalator. Circled the floor twice looking for the lift and eventually had to find a member of staff to help me. Member of staff took me to the lift and there was one sign which was close to it and not in good view. I mentioned that I thought the signage was poor and was told I should write to head office. I said as I was a customer and as the member of staff had told me they received a lot of complaints that the store should be dealing with the matter and should be far more aware of the needs of people who had mobility problems or who were disabled.

I was told all signage was dealt with by head of office and the stores had no say about it and it would help if customers wrote.

I thought this was disgraceful; I presently have mobility problems, the lift wasn't signed and the store can't do anything about it because only head office can decide if a sign is needed and Head Office doesn't listen to the stores. For an organisation that prides itself on customer service, does anyone else think this was unacceptable. Apart from the fact that if I were permanently disabled I think it hinges upon disability discrimination.

YABU. Yes it was difficult for you but the member if staff did everything she could. As others have said, the stores don't have any power over anything now. In some chains you are even told exactly where to put the stock in the shop and sent images of how it should be displayed. Signage is something that would have to go from the manager to the regional manager to the divisional manager and then onto head office. Then they will just use any excuse they can to ignore the request so that they don't have to pay out. Unless a customer complains or it is a health and safety issue then they won't do anything.

I used to work for a book chain and the manager spent A YEAR complaining every week to bosses and head office about the carpet on the shop floor stating that it was becoming a health and safety issue. Every time we asked the request was refused for various reasons. It was only when a customer complained to head office that they had nearly tripped because it was so threadbare that we got a replacement.

You'd think the manager would be able to sort it but trust me, they have no power at all over things like this.

YABU however the store can influence their own signage to a certain extent so should be able to deal with it themselves, any possibility of knowing where the store is?

yabu and shouting "discrimination!!!" where there isnt any

And it is true that shop logistics for most large companies are handled by head office, and they dont tend to listen to the staff unfortunately (Ive been there) but they do listen to customers

my local M&S has a spare wheelchair (i needed it when i was non-weight bearing on crutches),....did you ask if they had one?

"I encourage you to write to Head Office" roughly translates as "we get this complaint all the time and we are fed up to the back teeth of telling our managers to sort it out. If more people like you complain then we might be able to use our initiative."

YABU - employees at store level aren't allowed to make decisions on anything.

poor employee, they were probably desperate for you to write. deffo do it and HUGE sympathy on the crutches front, it's awful isn't it? sooooo not as much fun/easy as they look.

But why don't you just write to HO?

I wonder if it's a deliberate policy to stop people using the lifts? At my local store it's stairs to go down (escalator up) and the lift is always jammers with people who appear perfectly capable of using the stairs. Yes, I'm aware of hidden disabilities but I'm suggesting that some of them were just idle. And before I'm flamed, I notice because the lift is next to the stairs, you can see people trying to squeeze in .

Maybe they've worked it out and reckon they'll get fewer complaints about poor signage than they will about people not being able to use the lift because it's too full. A big LIFT sign would make you wander over to use it automatically.

Yabu.

Stores have fuck all control.

Write to head office and stop moaning about nothing!

I've worked for huge corporations and I've worked for small ones and never have we been allowed to so much as stir our tea without a memo detailing which spoon to use, which mugs can be used on what days, how much sugar is acceptable and which direction to stir in.

In fact in my last job we had a flood every winter due to the roof leaking. For SIX YEARS my manager complained every week for the rainy months (of which there are many in the Highlands) about this as it got to the stage where the walls were getting mouldy, water was getting into the lights and heaters and we were losing stock due to the floods. They also had to replace the carpets on the shop floor.

They did nothing about the office ceiling, however, until I, at six months pregnant, came in to open up one morning, the tiles soaking and slippery and found the majority of the ceiling on the floor and the light fillings dangling from their wires. Even then it took them three days to get an electrician to come and make the office safe after asking me to climb the fire escape to check the drains (I declined that request funnily enough).

What I'm trying to say is YABU to get cross over something that the shop staff had no control over. YANBU to wish for better signage. YABU to not just do what the (seemingly helpful and pleasant) shop assistant said would help and hope for a change.

I bet the shop are doing it deliberately to wind you up. You were right to give the minimum wage shop worker a rough time over it.

can i just point out that the OP is on crutches at the moment. honestly, i was never more of a bitch than when i was on those fuckers. give the girl a bit of a break...

Did the store not have any mobility scooters for you to use and make your shopping easier.Its not only permanently disabled people who use these you know.