On Saturday 21st January 2023 I visited the Falkirk Asda store at 3 Newmarket Street with my…read morehusband and 13-year-old son initially as he was looking to buy the "Prime" drink, it was out of stock but I decided to take the opportunity to do some shopping as I was there.
As always I used Scan & Go, I had picked up drinks for my house when my son decided to swap one out for a different flavour, there was a young female staff member stocking shelves so I asked if that meant I had to remove one and scan the new one, she said I didn't because it was on a mix & match offer so the price would be the same.
When I got to the Scan & Go payment section, customers of all four points including myself were selected for quality checks there was one young female in this section who was clearly overwhelmed and inexperienced to the point that she took one customer's phone and then tried to take mine, I refused to let her take my phone to scan the barcode as I knew that the machine for this is portable.
When she started my check I told her about the drink just in case it made a difference to the checks, she said nothing just nodded, and continued scanning, it seemed like she was doing a lot of items so I asked how much she had to do as I know from previous times that there is either an amount of money or items that have to be scanned.
It was only then that she told me she had scanned the drink I told her about, (after I told her about it and she had acknowledged what I had said) and was now carrying out a full rescan! Surely, I should have been told this when she realised it would need to be done.
I asked to speak with a supervisor at this time as a full rescan of nearly £100 worth of shopping for a £1 item that I had already brought to the staff member's attention. It was at this point the male in my tweet arrived in an already indignant mood/manner. I asked my husband at this point to step in and speak as the man would not allow me to talk, he talked over me in an aggressive way any time I tried.
At this point a woman came over, her name I believe was Chrissy. Her badge was obscured so I can't be certain, what her role is I do not know. She too came into the fray in an irate manner and told me that I was the one in the wrong and I was wrong to listen to her fellow staff member from the floor and instead I should have remembered the terms & conditions. Sorry, but I read them when Scan n Go was introduced over 2 years ago! Could you tell me the T&C of something from that long ago??
Given the hostile reactions I opted to empty my bags of shopping back into the trolley and leave, this caused more severe anger and aggression from those two staff members So I asked to speak to the store manager, and at this point, I was yelled at by both staff members and told I was barred.
I left the Scan n Go area and walked to customer services, whilst I was doing this the male used his headset to contact other staff telling them to refuse my request should I ask them. He marched to the customer service desk while I queued to get there and said the same to the male staff member, I know this because when I asked him for the manager I was told "I have been told to refuse your request, sorry"
By this time both the male and female staff members were standing talking to the security detail and my husband had caught up to me, he spoke to the male and said "She may be barred but I'm not and I want to speak to your manager" his request was also refused. At this point my husband tried to take his picture as still we were refused his name and he charged at my husband telling him he "would smash his F....... phone" This happened close to the security station and I was still at customer services.
When I walked over, about 15 feet, I passed the male and spoke and when he turned I took the picture. He then charged at me, threatened to snap my phone, and hit me. He was at this point restrained by the female colleague and while she was physically holding him back she called him Gary and that was the one and only time I heard his name said.
I feel it is worth noting that at no time did the security man move from his station, not to ask me to leave or to prevent your staff member from inflicting injury on a customer.
The man we believe to be called Gary had "Section Leader" on his uniform, I find it incredulous that a person with clear anger control issues is not only employed by you but put in a position where he is a main point of contact for customers who have complaints. It is only a matter of time before his unstable nature causes him to seriously harm a customer.
As not only someone who is registered disabled but also a mum, the thought of being an Asda customer causes a level of fear and uncertainty that no one should ever feel when they are doing their shopping.
As someone who is physically & mentally disabled, I choose Asda over other stores as their layout, clear signage and usually helpful staff make shopping a stress-free experience.
