To be upset when a clean wheelchair trolley is not available when I visit Waitrose with DS?

[Livingtothefull]

At my local Waitrose there is just one wheelchair trolley which I always hope is available when I visit with my DS - sometimes it isn't as another disabled customer may be using it; I have complained already as I think there should be more. It is stored away from the 'regular' trolleys, in an alcove next to the toilets (would you mind your trolleys - used to hold your shopping - being stored there? That is a genuine question).

Yesterday I went to pick up the trolley and found it had rubbish in it. It is by no means the first time this has happened, I regularly find discarded food wrappers, used hankies etc., many people seem to find it appropriate to use the wheelchair trolley as a rubbish bin.

I complained at Customer Services desk but felt fobbed off so complained again to the manager on the shop floor. She apologised and said that she would tell the staff to keep an eye on this. Based on past experience of complaining though, nothing much will change.

AIBU to think that this demonstrates the really rotten attitude that many people have towards the disabled?

AIBU to think that Waitrose service provision for their disabled customers is just not good enough?

I would just like our shopping experience to be much like everyone else's; you come to the supermarket and collect a nice clean trolley (preferably one from a gleaming row of trolleys).

I do quite a lot of shopping online but sometimes need to go to the supermarket….I also enjoy the shopping experience at a supermarket, DS is v sociable so he does too. I don't think the response to disabled people who complain that the shopping experience is inconvenient should be 'Just shop online then. What's all the fuss about?'.

I am not for a moment saying that this was your intention in suggesting online shopping, I know your advice was well intentioned and yes I do shop online when appropriate. I am just pointing out the implications if disabled people feel they have to shop online because it is too difficult and inconvenient for them to venture out; i.e. disabled people confined to their homes. Back where we were a few years ago.

I think that decisions whether or not to shop online are lifestyle decisions which should be made on the same basis as everyone else, i.e. personal preference only. In this post I am giving one example of something that I feel would help to give the impression that the disabled are regarded as fully part of the community rather than an afterthought. I am saying that I would like a clean wheelchair trolley to be readily available when I go shopping with my DS at my local supermarket. Is that really too much to ask?

paper than someone has probably wiped their arse on.

Seriously? You honestly think that people wipe their arse and take the paper out of the toilet in order to dump it in a trolley?

You sound like the sort of person who makes my colleagues' lives in retail miserable.

They take your numberplate you know, so that their HGV drivers can return the favour.

I think that if the store are not providing equal access then it is absolutely wrong.

However it doesn't sound like that is the case, it sounds like you don't like rubbish in your trolley (fair enough, does anyone?) but that the only actual restriction is that they only have one trolley.

The rubbish and where the trolley are stored are red herrings (unless it is behind a locked door, or stored somewhere which isn't wheelchair accessible). Rubbish in a trolley is inconvenient for everyone regardless of ability but doesn't actually stop anyone doing anything (unless it is so full that your shopping doesn't fit in)

I think I see the OP's point about them being stored near the toilets, surely wheelchair trolleys should be more easily accessible, not less? Also, 1 wheelchair trolley is nowhere near enough.

But to say this whole saga is representative of how disabled people are ignored and disadvantaged in wider society is a bit much.

I don't think the rubbish is a red herring, and I don't get why people are dismissing this. Yes, you get rubbish in other trolleys, but the point is (a) that you generally have a choice and can go for one without; (b) it is easier for non-disabled people to clear the rubbish out than it is for disabled people; and (c) it appears that in practice the risk of having rubbish in it is increased because of where it is stored.

As I have explained several times, I have accepted what several of you have said re trolleys stored near the toilets and that it wbu to expect the trolleys to be 'hygienically' clean. I do wonder though how you would feel about finding what look like screwed up pieces of toilet paper which people may have used (for all I know) to wipe their bums. Or at least blow their noses.

And yes in wanting to feel that DS and I are valued customers, and in wanting both the staff of the store and the wider community to be sensitive to the needs of the disabled and doing small but necessary practical things to assist them in feeling part of said community, I confess to feeling 'entitled'.

But yes it is representative diving and no it is not to much and not exaggerating to point this out. It is like bullying; each incident may by itself be regarded as trivial but they all add up to a pattern.

I could post about every incident in which DS faces difficulties but then I would be spending my life posting. All I can do is post occasionally on incidents such as this one, which illustrates the difficulties that the disabled frequently face. I am NOT bu about this and I won't back down. Being nice, understanding, giving the benefit of the doubt has got me nowhere.

Livingtothefull

Do you genuinely think that people would wipe their bums in the toilet and bring the paper with them to put in a trolley outside the toilets? Or that people only blow their noses in the toilets but then bring the paper outside to put it in the nearest trolley?

I really can't see how putting a trolley in a safer place where it won't get wet or be taken by someone thoughtless who doesn't need it can be construed as making people with disabilities not feel part of the community or make you feel that you are not a valued customer.

I also don't understand who is not being sensitive to the needs of disabled people.

Livingtothefull

Do you genuinely think that people would wipe their bums in the toilet and bring the paper with them to put in a trolley outside the toilets? Or that people only blow their noses in the toilets but then bring the paper outside to put it in the nearest trolley?

I really can't see how putting a trolley in a safer place where it won't get wet or be taken by someone thoughtless who doesn't need it can be construed as making people with disabilities not feel part of the community or make you feel that you are not a valued customer.

I also don't understand who is not being sensitive to the needs of disabled people.

Thank you Dipankrispaneven and the other posters who like you have really got it.

You have asked if you ABU in your OP, had you already made your mind up or have you become more certain as people have expressed their varying opinions?

You have three issues:

1. only one wheelchair trolley - YANBU and this is worthy of a polite complaint. I'd do it by email to HO as they are likely to be able to resolve easily.
2. wheelchair trolley is often full of rubbish - YANBU, especially as you can't just select an alternative, cleaner one. I would show the customer service staff next time I found it in a mess and ask them to remove the rubbish
3. trolley stored by toilets - YABU, I'd let this one go if I were you

I don't really think so Mrsstarlord but the point is I don't know. Some of the rubbish looks pretty disgusting to me and the trolley is the only receptacle directly outside the toilets.

I don't see why the store would worry about the trolley being taken by someone who doesn't need it. The trolley has no handles, it clips onto a wheelchair and is pretty much useless for anyone else.

When do I feel that people are sensitive to the needs of the disabled? When I say directly what I would like done to help make our lives easier and it is disregarded/pooh poohed/I am told that I am wrong.

I wonder if the supermarkets store these trolleys purposely away from the others so that shoppers don't inadvertently take them. I've looked at the wheelchair-suitable (I think?) trolleys before now and thought they would be good for people wanting to zip in for a dozen things and you don't have to faff around with a trolley coin for them. I know what they are though and would never take one. The supermarket is protecting your needs here.

The rubbish is something that we all encounter everytime we get a trolley. There's usually a bin somewhere nearby so I think it's not a big deal to empty the trolley.

There are many more potential users of wheelchair-accessible trolleys than there are such trolleys. I've (infrequently, it's true) not been able to find a trolley to use at all, just a normal one.

It's not about being a 'valued customer', it's about your mindset. Sometimes it's easier to 'find another way' if there is one; you can still write to HQ and ask for more trolleys to be made available, maybe get up a petition if you feel so strongly?

Yabu. Perhaps they site the trolley in the alcove as it's quieter so easier for disabled to set up there without the chaos of the main trolley bit?

What the general public do is beyond Waitrose control - if customers behave in an antisocial way then waitrose can't constantly police it?! If you dislike this store though then I suggest you shop elsewhere.

I know its odd but I have seen people using the wheelchair trolleys without wheelchairs before. No idea why because they can't be easy to use but I guess that if there are limited trolleys available or people are bone idle they take the first one they see. I also stand by what I said about water dripping on your legs so it being preferable if the trolley is dry.

I understand that you have asked for things to make your lives easier and feel that they haven't been taken on board, maybe you could put it in writing so that you have a record of any response?

My point would be that I just know through experience that focussing on the important bits (i.e. they don't have enough of these trollies and if they did, none of the other things would be an issue) is the most constructive way to go. Focussing on a trolley next to the toilets and the type of rubbish which may or may not be left in it detracts from the real issue and makes it too easy to dismiss what you are actually saying. It also makes life very stressful because you feel that you are constantly fighting with the world.

I'm intrigued that you think people wipe their arse then carry the loo paper out to put in a trolley

I'm really surprised at the people who find their trolleys regularly full of rubbish, dirty tissues etc and think this is normal.

At my local waitrose, I'd say 99% of the trolleys were empty of rubbish and if there's anything in them, it is a receipt and/or shopping list. AND I have the option to choose a different trolley with no rubbish in it anyway.

How about taking a photo of the trolley each time you find it with rubbish in and then sending Waitrose an email with a collection of the photos.

I don't know what area you live in but my Waitrose trolley rarely have any rubbish in them. Occasionally there might be a list but that's about it.

DisgraceToTheYChromosome Sun 21-Dec-14 10:53:24 You sound like the sort of person who makes my colleagues' lives in retail miserable. They take your numberplate you know, so that their HGV drivers can return the favour.

This is not a nice post, Disgrace, the OP is upset and it sounds vaguely threatening. What do you mean exactly?

I have already complained in writing to HQ about the lack of trolleys Chewbecca and nothing has changed so I have to keep complaining whenever I am in there. I suppose that does make me one of life's moaners but hey ho.

Yes Mrsstarlord I had some pretty strong opinions before I posted, I think the same can be said of most of those who post on AIBU so don't think I can be singled out as an especially unreasonable person on the basis of this alone. And as I have already stated (several times) I have taken some feedback on board but on other matters I have not been persuaded to think otherwise.

I regularly shop at aldi and I can remember the last time I found rubbish in a trolley

Disgrace, I don't have a car so don't bother threatening me.