Last year Tesco – lead by Sir Terry Leahy – made over £3,000,000,000 profit. 3 billion quid. They have a store at Beaumont Leys in Leicester. If you go upstairs in that store and you are in a wheelchair you cannot browse the DVD section. Building supports and their deliberate placement of the aisles mean you can look down the aisle but not move along it. Tesco do not believe that people in wheelchairs watch films.
We went there earlier to buy some food. Because Jacq uses a wheelchair we have to use a trolley that clips on the front. And because of that we have to wait until one of the people on their front tills happens to notice us and decides to help. The person doing nothing in the Exchange booth will just stare at us while I usually then have to queue with those wanting to buy their cigarettes. More often than not it’s a security guy who helps. We have to ask for these trolleys because they keep them locked up for some reason. So we can’t just “go shopping” we have to wait and be treated third class first. Today we asked and were told that all their wheelchair trolleys were being used. That we would have to wait. And then she said “but all 4 are out”. Four.
It’s a big store that caters to a huge area and yet as far as Tesco are concerned 5 people in wheelchairs would be 1 too many. They make 3 billion profit a year and yet they will happily discriminate by not providing trolleys. Maybe there is some fire regulation? Maybe those trolleys cost thousands of pounds? Maybe they’ll say “But they always get stolen” to which the reply is “Keep buying more then” Or maybe Tesco just don’t give a crap. And by Tesco we have to mean the person who takes all the plaudits and that is the disability hater himself, Sir Terry Leahy.
Romantic Robot
directionless.
I’ve never heard such crap in my life… how is a wheelchair trolley more likely to get stolen than any other? I take it there’s a reason you shop at Tesco, otherwise the best and most effective solution is just to withdraw your custom. That, or see a solicitor about their constant failings to provide an unhindered shopping experience for wheelchair users.
Both Asda and Tesco are the same distance apart. Asda is definitely cheaper but their aisles are narrower. They insist on putting little displays at the ends of the aisles which means in we enter at one end we might have to turn around to get back out. They have always had trolleys. So Tesco costs more but aisles are easier to negotiate but they have no trollies.
I’m sure they will demonstrate they are within the law, just as they’ll swear that able-bodied never ever park in the disabled spots. So lawyer or anyone else? Fight with no point almost.
It’s that time of year for night shopping though. It still seems like most of the country believe shops will shut for 2 weeks so better buy everything several times over. Makes for me swearing even louder. The daft thing about night shopping is that they have the large cages to restock the shelves so less people + cages = even less moving easily.
There’s always a Morrissons in the city.. :)