Disability or other discrimination situations

[CRcyclone6]

I've had good and bad experiences at Menards, Lowe's, Home Depot. Sucks you had one as well. I think this person just had no clue and didn't care to help. I go to Ace as much as possible. Never a bad experience there.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

I say you contact

1. Corporate
What is Lowe's corporate phone number for complaints

(800) 445-6937

2. The media

3. Your Iowa Congresspeople

4. Your U.S. Congress representatives (Grassley, Ernst, & Zach Nunn, most likely)

5. The Iowa Civil Rights Commission:

You can also file with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission online or by calling (800) 457-4416. Get help filing your complaint: If you are not able to write, you can file your complaint by phone or videophone. Use the ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 – voice or (800) 514-0383 – TTY to schedule an appointment.

How To File A Disability Discrimination Complaint – Iowa Compass

iowacompass.org

Any or all of the above.

By doing so, you will help others to avoid being discriminated against.

Except this is nothing to do with discrimination, this is awful customer service. Your not helping anyone really and possible taking away time and energy from actual discrimination cases/issues

 

[Freebird]

Ok, so I've been struggling with something and need to vent. For background, this is related to my Parkinson's and inability to walk without a cane or do a lot with my hands (carry things, fine motor skills, etc). I really try to be a calm, rational, and understanding person so am not trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. But this is really bugging me.


I was at the Lowe’s on Jordan Creek in West Des Moines, IA on Saturday. I was looking for a plumbing part to go along with a garbage disposal I had in my cart and the only associate I could find was at the appliance desk (he was in late 40s or 50s). I politely asked him if he could help me find something because I couldn’t find it after spending probably 10 minutes trying. He said it’s down aisle 34. I asked if he could help because I already looked there. All this time, he was looking at my cane and could clearly see I was having issues walking due and pushing the cart. He said no, it’s in 34. Again I asked for his assistance, and again he refused to move - and there were no other customers around waiting for help.

I went to isle 34 and looked again for probably 10 minutes. I went to find him again and when he saw me coming, he immediately turned around and walked away. I hit the help button in plumbing and it rang over the PA for over 10 minutes without anybody coming before just turning itself off. He walked by a couple isles away and saw me waiting there. He kept casually walking away; again he wasn’t helping anybody.

I kept waiting and looking and had to finally yell at somebody a ways away to get somebody to help. It took them over 5 minutes to find the part and it wasn’t in aisle 34.

I feel this associate purposely discriminated against me for being handicap, despite me being polite and trying multiple times to find it myself. I have never in my life felt so dehumanized and belittled as I did. I have only had my disability for around a year and this is my first encounter where I feel it wasn't just a case of bad customer experience - and I really try to be understanding and accepting of those types of things as everybody has a bad day.

I was so worked up, my chest was hurting like I was going to have a heart attack (had one last year), my blood pressure went through the roof (had 3 strokes last year), and I was shaking so badly I almost got into an accident. All which then led to a panic attack. I am a very calm and rational person, but that is absolutely unacceptable and demonstrates the level of discrimination I perceived. When I (very visibly upset) told the cashier that I was treated very rudely by an associate, she didn't even acknowledge it or apologize for that experience, let alone attempt to escalate the matter.

I called the store right when I got home and demanded to speak to the manager (call me Karen if you want). She was dismissive and flippant to the point she was hanging up when I said, um... don't you want my name and number in case you have questions?

I then found the Executive Customer Experience email address and sent a complaint matching the above. I've gotten a few replies going back and forth, but it's basically "thanks for letting us know, now forget it" every time. That doesn't address 1- the discrimination I felt, 2 - give me any comfort that those involved are held accountable, and/or 3 - show a true interest in acknowledging and fixing what may be a systemic issue at either that store or culturally in the organization.

It's very clear that at no level in the organization is there genuine understanding of what basic, consistent, and unbiased customer service and experiences should be for everybody, regardless of race, gender, disability, or anything else.

From the clear discrimination by one or more associates, the flippant handling of the complaint from the store manager, to the canned responses, I honestly don't feel like Lowe's cares one iota about how it treats those with disabilities. It's even more egregious when those customers are doing everything they can to both be polite and respectful to associates, and go out of their way - despite their struggles - of resolving matters themselves.

What I need to determine is how to proceed. Do I forget the discrimination and the immediate and lasting pain it has caused? Do I start a social media trend for people to share their stories of discrimination by Lowe's associates (I'm guessing something like that would normally trending, but I've never Tweeted or thus have followers)? Do I file a formal ADA Civil Rights Complaint? I don't know the answer.

That’s absolutely infuriating. I’m pissed off vicariously. Be persistent with your complaint until someone listens to you.

 

[pourcyne]

Except this is nothing to do with discrimination,

To quote the original post:

I feel this associate purposely discriminated against me for being handicap[ped]

this is awful customer service.

One does not preclude the other. The very definition of discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability.

Your not helping anyone really and possible taking away time and energy from actual discrimination cases/issues

WTAF, dude. It's not pie.

 

[FriendlySpartan]

To quote the original post:

I feel this associate purposely discriminated against me for being handicap[ped]



One does not preclude the other. The very definition of discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of ethnicity, age, sex, or disability.



WTAF, dude. It's not pie.

Yep and the employee did not do a single thing that could be identified as discrimination. They didn’t make a single comment, they didn’t infer anything or make another recommendation based on his disability. It’s possible of course that they were being ableist but they didn’t do a single thing to display that. Same way that if Jeremy was a minority this wouldn’t be considered racism, or sexism if he was a woman, or homophobic if he was a member of the LGBTQ community. Because the employee didn’t do anything directly related to his disability he just gave awful customer service. The same way millions of people have gotten awful customer service.

When you scream discrimination for things that aren’t it makes people less likely to listen when actual discrimination comes up. Jeremy is going through a lot, we’ve talked about his Parkinson’s as my mom is going through the same thing and he’s being incredibly brave with how much he has shared.

But the facts that he has stated are fundamentally not discrimination. You can’t claim discrimination based on a feeling it has to be how you were treated and show most importantly that it was because of the disability.

Instead of giving inane advice like go to the media or call your congressmen who will say the same thing the best course of action is to complain to the store. Nothing will come of it besides a reprimand unless he’s given ****** CS before which in this case just proves it’s the employee being bad and not discrimination. Again the employee was an ass and probably should be fired but for being a bad employee not for discrimination.

Words, especially when talking about things like this matter.

 

[Pat]

I think this can distilled down to this: would it make you happier to spend the time run it up the customer service chain? What is the best outcome, and what are the odds of achieving it? Or, long term, would you be happier if you’re able to say, man, eff that guy, and try to move on? No wrong answer.

 

[NoCreativity]

Probably best to just move on and recognize their are ***holes everywhere. Don't give him any more of your time and energy.

 

[trevn]

My first job was in retail many years ago. There are a lot of things not fun about it and it can wear on someone. That being said, I'm still shocked at the general level of apathy by employees in most retail stores I visit. The situation you went through is ridiculous Jeremy. I hope that employee gets some sort of reprimand and training on basic customer service principles, but I doubt it. It doesn't appear it's a priority of that particular store's management judging by the responses you have received.

 

[Jer]

Thank you everybody for weighing in. I completely appreciate and understand every single viewpoint posted in this thread - all of them. It also demonstrates how so much of this is stuff up to perception and "in the moment" experiences. I hate when people yell racism, sexism, disability discrimination, etc without either being a witness or having all the facts. And that was not my intention here, I wanted to get other viewpoints - so thank you.

Personally, it felt completely different from bad customer experience in the moment - something that I had never felt before and really never expected to ever consider. We've all had bad customer experiences and my brain isn't one to rush towards victimhood, quite the opposite as I understand some people are just lazy, jerks, and or having a bad day. Again, in the moment it just felt different - thus my post/questions/solicitations of feedback.

I fully agree that this can be nothing more than a bad worker (lazy, incompetent, whatever) or somebody having a bad day and have absolutely nothing to do with any other factors. If nothing else, it gives me a sense of what others may feel in various situations where they're in a vulnerable or disadvantaged position.

I'm going to close the thread primarily because I'm trying to keep it out of mind, but also because I think all possible viewpoints have been shared and all are equally valid.