To think it is appalling Asda are using disabled spaces?

[NightSpot]

For their click and collect orders?

Our Asda has a hut in the middle of the carpark. During lockdown understandably this became busy and was blocking the flow of traffic so they moved click and collect to the side of the store. All fine.

Went to get my order for the first time ina few weeks and realise they have now moved it to the other side of the carpark.. using the disabled bays as the collection point.

Yes, they have other disabled bays, but as I understood it they needed a certain amount or they wouldnt have been originally installed? When questioned, they said it was because they are only using one of the entrances, "hardly anyone " was using them. Surely that is not the point? They are there for a reason! And the queues to the entrance they are using are quite often up to these ones anyway so the person would have to walk further to reach the end of the queue!

We have a blue badge and I shop at Asda who have taken I think 3 disabled bays out of use to do the same. Zero issues getting a spot, there's always multiple spaces free. There isn't really any other option based on the layout at our store but it isn't causing an issue.

@My0My

May I just say that BB holders can get to all sorts of areas that have opened up if they have a car and a willing partner if they do not drive. Just going shopping is hardly the most fun thing to do. I think it makes far greater sense to let someone else do the shopping if they will and get out into other areas for a bit of pleasure. I have never really seen shopping as pleasure and surely we all have to be a bit more understanding of supermarkets right now. Many of their staff have worked long hours and we need to acknowledge they may not get everything right but they have worked hard and supplied us with food. If unused slots are reduced for a bit, then that's OK right now.

Just because you hate shopping that means every person with a disability should do it? Seriously? What about those who do like to do thier own shopping, go out alone, do not have a partner to drive them ( nor want them to). What about people nipping in to a shop on the way home from work? People with any kind if disability should give up.thier independence unless it's to have someone take them somewhere pleasant? How patronising can you get? Maybe all those disabled people who have worked throughout this should have just stayed home and starved? Been less of a nuscance in a car park?

May I just say that BB holders can get to all sorts of areas that have opened up if they have a car and a willing partner if they do not drive. Just going shopping is hardly the most fun thing to do. I think it makes far greater sense to let someone else do the shopping if they will and get out into other areas for a bit of pleasure.

Congratulations, that’s the most ridiculous and irrelevant thing I’ve read today. Disabled people still have to go shopping, people have to take their disabled children shopping, whether it’s a fun thing to do or not.

Supermarkets have to have a certain % of bays as disabled as do commercial car parks, there's never as many blue badge holders in my experience so they sit empty. They will have checked on usage. Unless it's Christmas supermarket car parks are rarely full at the large stores

Massive shortage of spaces where I live. Really hard to get a space.

There's no excuse to block them. The dedicated spaces for these vans sit empty - as a BB holder I'm not allowed to park in them. No one is. There are no P&C spaces here.

A lot of towns are now becoming pedestrianised blocking BB users from accessing services.

Disabled people have been seriously screwed over with covid and everyone assuming every disabled person has access to online deliveries and free carers.

A LOT of people will get a very nasty wake up call if they're need one.

Oh and don't be surprised if those spaces being blocked are removed. We've had a lot of BB spaces removed in towns and villages in my county because they "weren't being used" - turned out in the case of the one local to where I live it's because the person who lives next to it uses it as their personal parking space and refuses to move their car, yes they get tickets which they just pay. It was closed as a result of being so rarely used, the ones in town which were constantly used for deliveries were also removed for the same reason - lack of use.

We have four BB parking spaces at our shop. That was reduced down from eight last year which the council and shop claimed were unused. The notice of closure was hidden in the local rag and no one saw it (the sign in the shop not being next to the spaces).

Always been difficult to find spaces, easier with lockdown until the shop decided they'd use them for deliveries given "all disabled" could order online or get their carers to go shopping.

I qualified what I said by saying that if someone else offered to help and do the shopping then there was no need to go to Asda. Please read what I said. Honestly!

Jesus Wept this thread is a disgrace.

Blue badge spaces have to be provided by law. It's so lazy and selfish when any store uses them for any purpose other than for than for parking for BB holders. They're essential for many of us. If we can't use them we can't get out of the car so we have to go home. It's as simple as that.

I'd love to move to one of these magical areas where there's an abundance of BB spaces because I've yet to find one. It's usually us driving round and round the car park while everyone else parks just fine because the BB bays are full. Very often with selfish buggers who don't have a badge.

I was replying to the person who went shopping with her husband. She didn’t have to go. Jeeez!

Try Aylesbury. Numerous supermarkets. Acres of disabled spaces. Always. In every car park. You’d be welcome here!

@SantaClaritaDiet

Umm judging by the votes, people don’t agree with OP and usually P&C threads are pages long. Plus I expect all people to be up in arms over issues that affect a legally protected group, be they disabled or any other protected minority.

@My0My

May I just say that BB holders can get to all sorts of areas that have opened up if they have a car and a willing partner if they do not drive. Just going shopping is hardly the most fun thing to do. I think it makes far greater sense to let someone else do the shopping if they will and get out into other areas for a bit of pleasure. I have never really seen shopping as pleasure and surely we all have to be a bit more understanding of supermarkets right now. Many of their staff have worked long hours and we need to acknowledge they may not get everything right but they have worked hard and supplied us with food. If unused slots are reduced for a bit, then that's OK right now.

Patronising and ableist.

P.S. many disabled work, I know it’s shocking!

It’s often non blue badge holders who notice (and tell us) how many places have so many disabled spaces. Whereas, blue badge holders do find it’s very hit and miss with problems in many places.

Look at the voting! Tells you all you need to know. 80 percent horrible people who think you are complaining when no complaint is justified.

Blue badge spaces have to be provided by law.

And they have been. The store hasn't removed all the bays, they have just temporarily repurposed some of them due to a need created due to the global pandemic.

In the store I work in we have seen a 200% increase in home shopping orders. Our home shopping area physically can't hold all of the orders. Fortunately for us ours is located at the back of our store and we have been able to reorganise to use some of our warehouse and back up fridge/freezer to store orders. Clearly in this store their home shopping collection point is separate from the main store, and if they were having the same issues then they have had to take the logistical issues into consideration - close to store, minimal time of orders being out of cold storage (there are laws covering how we must store items and how long we can keep them out of the correct storage), customer access, not causing safety issues in the car park, H&S of staff etc.

In this instance the needs of the business has required them to use some of their disabled bays as a temporary measure.

In this instance the needs of the business has required them to use some of their disabled bays as a temporary measure.

Why not use non-disabled or patent & child spaces then?

@My0My

I was replying to the person who went shopping with her husband. She didn’t have to go. Jeeez!

Maybe she wanted to go?

My dad is a blue badge holder, normally he goes to the shops once a week with my Mum because he likes to have a look at pick something different for himself. He didn’t go for weeks but now he is trying to get out again after months never leaving the house

I love it when non bb holders come on and tell us that there are always plenty of bb spaces.

You notice when they're loads, but you won't be aware when they are full because you're not looking.

Bb spaces are hit and miss. Some stores always have loads, some stores never have any, some stores bb spaces are full at certain times and not others. When you actually have a bb you realise they're not always loads avaliable.

And bb arnt just for ill people. They are for people with reduced mobility too. My ds has one, he's not ill he's not shielded and we've had no help or extra allowances during lockdown. We couldn't get on delivery lists and we didn't get free food parcels.

If I needed to take him to the shop he came to the shop with me and I used a bb space.

To summarize this thread:

There are loads of disabled spaces
Disabled people are also shielding for some reason
Disabled people shouldn't go shopping, someone else should go for them
Once again it's fine for them to miss out because we are in a pandemic (although others haven't had to give up their spaces)

Why not use non-disabled or patent & child spaces then?

Because of logistics, as I said. We don't know that the P&C or general spaces are suitably located for the store's needs.

I dont know which store the OP uses but clearly their car park is set up that they have two sets of disabled bays closest to the store, meaning that - taking into consideration the H&S of staff and customers and general logistics - if the store needs the home shopping collection point to be as close to the store as possible.

If all the disabled spaces in both bays were regularly at full capacity then that would have been taken into consideration. Even the OP doesnt say that the reduced number of bays are full, just that they object to some spaces being repurposed, even as a temporary measure, just because they are disabled spaces.

Sorry, the end of the last sentence of that middle paragraph should read:

*if the store needs the home shopping collection point to be as close to the store as possible then the disabled spaces are the most viable option

Yanbu its disgusting and discriminatory
The problem is nobody except those with blue badge seem to care.
I think parking in a blue badge space anyway should be automatic fine and points on your license. None of this private property bs. Other road laws apply so should these.
You should also be forced to walk everywhere.

It isn’t logistics, it’s convenience. I can think of two stores off the top of my head that do click and collect, neither are anywhere near the store. I also know of a store where the parent and child spaces are nearer to the store than the bb spaces. Funnily enough they’re not using those for their extra space though. There is no justification for it.

I think parking in a blue badge space anyway should be automatic fine and points on your license.

Why so soft ?

Personally I'd be quite happy to see a single law that any abuse of a facility provided under the 2010 EA becomes an automatic hate crime. That way I can put away the rusty razor blades I have kept in a safe place if I ever catch the scrum that vandalised the lift to the local library meaning DW can't get in anymore.

@dg I have suggested taking away peoples legs if they abuse the spaces but was told I was as bad as them.

if the store needs the home shopping collection point to be as close to the store as possible then the disabled spaces are the most viable option
There are plenty spaces near any store entrance that are not BB spaces.

Why is taking away spaces for people who need them most a viable option when click and collect is not normally outside the front door? Taking shopping just a few extra feet to a car is not a major hassle for shop staff.