To be Angry with b&q

[Pregbabe]

Hi I am 31 weeks pregnant and yesterday was in b&q doing some shopping. I was bursting for a wee so asked the female staff member if there were any toilets, she said staff ones only and I couldn't use them. I had run across to Morrisons on the other side of the retail park.

They probably also have someone ask on a daily basis. Pregnant, Ibs, elderly, incontinence issues, kids, nappy changing, nausea, whatever, they’d have to have a member of staff on hand at all times to escort someone to the loo, then they’d have to sort their insurance so if someone tripped over whilst in staff only area or whatever they were covered if sued. Then you’ve got the weirdos who say the staff member did something inappropriate when they followed them to the loo or stood outside listening. Honestly I can see why they don’t let the general public use staff loos.

It’s either they provide public facilities or they don’t. And like many large retail outlets, they don’t.

B&Q have loo's though at least everyone I've been in do and homebase come to think of it.

ugh so many people follow rules so they can keep their job

Huh? I’m assuming she works there because she needs the money and not because she just loves diy. Why would she risk her job over this. That’s nuts. Sorry kids, no dinner tonight, mummy got fired, but hey I’m a rebel who didn’t follow my companies rules. Go me.

if a company sacked me for letting a pregnant woman using the toilet I wouldn’t want to work for them.

That was a response to someone posting -
ugh so many people just following rules.

Of course she wants to keep her job so follows the rules. I would have done the same as her.

Well, yes. Given the choice between letting a customer use the loo or possibly wee on the floor I know which I would prefer.

Yes! Crisscross!

crisscrosscranky Good for you having those options. Shame some people would be homeless if they couldn't pay the rent. If you get sacked, you are not entitled to benefits for a long time.

Nice if you can choose, crisscross.

But surely a bit of common sense and compassion could be used. Do you never question any "rules"?

Yabu. You were on a retail park so it's not like there weren't any. They just weren't in B&Q.

Often those stores have stock and people's belongings around in the private areas so they cannot just let anyone in because there's a risk of injury or theft.

Your bladder is your responsibility and while people should be kind where possible this is not one of those situations where there was no alternative.

Presumably you didn't go from first twinge of needing a wee to desperate?

The B &Qs with cafes normally have toilets ( think it’s law) , however the staff toilets are probably not accessible from the shop floor so I wouldn’t expect to be able to use those . It would be like walking into some random bank / shop on the high street and asking to use the toilet , you just wouldn’t expect to be able to .

Arf at work in there because she loves DIY

Or maybe just looks a-mazing in orange?

My local B & Q's have loos for public use. Perhaps you just encountered a new employee that didn't know, or a unhelpful one ? ring them up and complain.

Because people who work in retail environments can afford to be picky. No secret is made of the fact that you're 100% expendable in that sort of job.

Is it still legal to use a policeman's helmet to wee in, if you;re pregnant? Or is that just an urban myth?

They don't have public toliets YABU, what's if you had an accident in the back of the store where the public shouldn't be? That staff member would get in a lot of trouble.

When I worked in retail a member of staff let a woman and her child use the staff toliets and when they left we discovered they had smeared poo everywhere. It was disgusting, from then on we never let anyone other than staff use the toilets!!

MovingonuptoMovingonout

I take it you have never been pregnant? Trust me you can go from not needing to practically weeing yourself in no time.

Had I not been pregnant I would have had no problem holding it.

There is a website/app that gives you location of public toilets.

I need the toilet a lot, but I wouldn't expect somewhere like B&Q to have a public toilet. Shops don't have to provide public facilties but it's nice if they do. I don't get angry at B&Q for not having facilities, I'm just mindful of where does.

You were on a retail park, so had the option of a supermarket. Was there not a McDonalds or other fast food place or coffee shop?

McDonalds at least don't mind if you use their facilities without buying anything, same for supermarkets. I've never been challenged, but if I was, I would just say I want to wash my hands before eating. No-one can argue with that can they? And you just walk out afterwards as the staff member you spoke to is unlikely to be waiting for you to emerge from the toilets to order something.

Trust me you can go from not needing to practically weeing yourself in no time.

Which is why you start trying to find a toilet when you first feel it coming on - Had you felt the urge as you got out your car you'd have still had to run across the car park to Morrisons.

As a retail employee, YABU

Generally stores don't have public toilets unless they're supermarkets, department stores or have some sort of food court/cafe/restaurant inside. It is not unreasonable for the store to not provide something they don't have, no matter how desperate you are.

In my store not only is it an insurance liability and a H&S violation to let customers into employee areas but is also a security issue as they would not only be going through the staff break room and the staff locker rooms - including areas areas without security cameras - but also passing areas where information/alarms/keys etc are kept that are not for the public's view. If a manager knew we had let a member of the public into the staff areas then we'd be in a lot of trouble.

I work in a supermarket so the issue doesn't happen for me as we have public toilets on the shop floor, but if I was to let a customer use the staff toilets then we'd have to ensure a staff member of the same sex was available to accompany them, they'd have to walk them through the warehouse (which is filled with all sorts of machinery that can cause serious injury), through to the security corridor, up two flights of stairs, through the break room and then into either the male/female locker room (where colleagues' coats and bags may or may not be locked away) and then through to the toilets. They would then have to wait for them and walk them back to the shop floor. This would probably take them the best part of 15/20 minutes, depending on how quick the customer is. So they would then have to make up that time on their job tasks throughout the day and may have left other customers annoyed that the colleague they need to speak to isn't available.

Gherkin - if the baby suddenly shifts the need to wee is instant.

But surely a bit of common sense and compassion could be used. Do you never question any "rules"?

And where's the common sense and compassion if the OP trips on the stairs en route to the staff toilet and the insurance won't pay out, because she shouldn't have been using it?

If you want to get upset about companies having to stick rigidly to these procedures, blame the compensation culture, not the staff.

There are lots of insurance issues regarding customers using staff toilets. It's just not allowed and there would be few people who would bend the rules for you - it's not worth getting disciplined for.

I used to hate getting angry customers who didn't understand this. It's not our fault. Take it up with management and they'll tell you exactly the same thing.