A registered blind mystery shopper has slammed Asda employees as “appalling” following a visit to one of the supermarket’s branches in Devon.
Mystery shopper Shakti was forced to abandon her shop at the supermarket’s Newton Abbot branch after she was paired with a car park attendant who had no familiarity with the store’s layout.
Shakti, participating in a Grocer 33 assessment for blind and partially sighted customers, was compelled to cut short her shopping trip after an hour, having collected just half of the required 33 items, reports The Grocer.
She described being on the verge of becoming “totally overwhelmed with anxiety” while attempting to keep pace with the attendant “as he whizzed round the store”.
Shakti said: “He was really polite and as helpful as he could be but he had no knowledge of the store at all.
“He did a great job trying, but he was confused about what he was supposed to do. He was thrown in at the deep end. It wasn’t his fault he didn’t know the shop, he was out of his depth and not able to find things.”
The shopper reserved her harshest words for the customer service desk, where staff had told her when she attempted to book assistance in advance that she should simply arrive and request help.
Upon reaching the store, Shakti was informed that all employees were too occupied to assist her.
The supermarket was slammed by the mystery shopper
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When she pressed the matter, explaining she could not shop independently, a member of staff summoned a car park attendant.
The staff member told him: “I’m sorry, but you’ve been relegated to help this lady. Do you mind?”
The confused attendant initially walked away, and when another customer tried to intervene on Shakti’s behalf, they were dismissed with the words: “She’s been dealt with.”
Despite six staff members being visible on the shop floor, none stepped in to help as the attendant visibly struggled.
The Asda supermarket was slammed by the blind shopper
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ASDAThe checkout proved equally problematic for Shakti.
While the parking attendant remained with her and helped unpack her shopping, the cashier directed all conversation towards him rather than the customer.
Shakti recalled: “It was like he was the customer!”
She said: “I packed my own bags and the till lady didn’t tell me how much my bill was or show me where the payment machine was.”
Asda said the store’s conduct was ‘totally unacceptable and far below our usual standards’
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ASDAA supervisor informed her that the manager was occupied with meetings throughout the day but promised to relay her concerns.
“The staff, their attitude and conduct, especially at the helpdesk, were appalling,” Shakti said.
Seema Flower, founder and managing director of disability training consultancy Blind Ambition, which advised The Grocer on the mystery shopping exercise, said the supermarket chain had a track record of letting down blind and partially sighted customers.
“Of all the major supermarkets I’ve been to, Asda has always been the least helpful when it comes to providing reasonable adjustments in the form of a shopping assistant. So this comes as no surprise,” she said. “Their staff aren’t adequately trained in my experience.”
Asda has apologised to Shakti
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ASDA
Asda’s chief commercial officer for non-food and retail Liz Evans described Shakti’s experience as “totally unacceptable and far below our usual standards”.
She told The Grocer: “We’re grateful she has spoken with us to allow us to apologise and agreed to meet next week so we can further understand how we can learn from this and put things right.
“We’re also working with Blind Ambition, the disability inclusion consultancy, who will deliver training in store next week, with plans to roll this out more widely across our business.”
