An horrendous visit to Brantano shoes!

[keepingupwiththejoneses]

Took ds2 to get shoes for school yesterday after weeks of attempts it was the last day to get them. My aunt who works with asd adults suggested brantano, so decided to give it a try. OMG it was dreadful, staff totally ignored all the customers and didn't move from behind the counter. As soon as we walked in there was a huge rack of thomas toys for sale. DS wanted them all, of course, to which he had a meltdown at being told no! To which I start to hear whispers and tut from behind me. I managed to get hold of ds then turned around to see it was the staff making the tuts! one of them, who looked like the manageress looked at me sternly shaking her head. I got out of there as quickly as ds would let me.
I drove around for a while and found a little shoe shop which look quite empty so went in, we were greeted as soon as we went in by a lovely lady. I told her ds had asd, to ahich she smiled and said she would b back in a tic, she came back with some clarks comics and a great big stuffed dog. She them asked what type of shoes did ds prefer to were, she managed to measure his feet with no problems she went in the back for 2 mins max and got ds to try on a pair of waterproof startright shoes which fit first time. I was gobsmacked to say the least, it was such a relief, I felt like crying after coming out!
It was amazing the difference between 2 shoe shop visits within 1 hour.

Aw I'm so sorry you had to suffer the ignorance of the fools in Brantano Jonesy but so happy for you to know in the space of 5 minutes that there are also some lovely people out there. They make all the difference with a little care and consideration.
I would 1stly write to Brantano HO and tell them about your poor treatment inc the comments and sniggers and then i think I would be inclined to give the nice lady in the nice shop a little thank you card so she knows she's appreciated for her care and concern too.
Too often we forget to praise good treatment. I know I do but it really does help doesn't it.

I defiantly intend to send a thank you card to the good shoe shop. I think I will contact Brantano, there is just no need to act that way.

Absolutely right Jonesy, their behaviour was abhorrent in a so called professional capacity. I would say something along those lines to HO! About their distinct lack of professionalism not to mention lack of regard and care for their customers who ultimately pay their wages!
Tell them the time you went in and they will know who was on duty at this time. Don't let 'em fob you off with a goodwill voucher either!
I would accept nothing but a huge apology and a promise to retrain their staff in disability issues at the very least.
Point out the changes in the disability act (Oct 2004) which state that all service providers must make their provisins accessible to all service users; they clearly did not enable you to access their goods with such a poor and judgemental attitude to their paying customers. I think I'd also mention the good shoe shop and use as a comparison.
Oh hark at me getting right on me high horse now I am!!!

Thanks for the info, I will defiantly use that.

No worries Jonesy, hope you get a good result.

we has similar prob at brantano too - assistant was clueless as our ds has major tasntrums due to gdd and doesnt like strangers or people touching him. she just kept putn her head down n we had others staring - was so temptecd to say to them my son has a learning disability wots ur kids excuse ivn that sum of theirs were behavn worse. brantano is brum is ok. dont go to the stratford 1 peeps. do wish they'd get rid of the toys in it - there a shoe shop sont think they shud do them as causes kids to get upset. we got collared just to calm him down enough to try shoes on - £5 for a bus that does nothin. dont they make enough from shoes n accesories without doin the toys.

OMG keepingupwiththejoneses that is awful, how unprofessional. I would write a complaint letter to head office totally unacceptable behaviour. Its fantastic that you found a great little independent, trust you will be using them again, they sound fab . John Lewis are usually good with my dd (dev delay and autistic traits) never had a problem with them.

We go to an independent shop that sells all the "good" (ie fitted brands). They do well out of us as DS wears splints so needs shoes in a big size for when he has the splints on and "foot" size for when he is not wearing them. They have a loyalty card for a free pair of shoes (based on your average spend) after every so many purchases.

If they dont have the size they will tell you what you need, and send you round to Clarks with advice on how to check the fit properly.

It's the shop I was taken to as a kid, and ds loves that!!