A disabled woman was thrown out of a shoe shop because she was using a mobility scooter.
Suzan Swinford says as she entered the store she was met with a shouting staff member who told her that the shop didn’t let “your people” inside.
The 47-year-old, who suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, was out shopping when she visited a branch of Shoe Zone to buy her stepfather some new slippers.
But when they entered the store and Suzan made her way to the back of the shop, a member of staff ran after her and shouted that she had to leave.
When she complained to the store on Facebook they offered her a £50 voucher, even though she can’t walk.
Suzan said: “I was talking to my mum and went straight down the middle aisle of the shop.
“The shop assistant started running after me, waving her arms, shouting that I had to leave.
“She said that ‘we have been told your people are not allowed in here on one of those’.
“I asked if she wanted my custom or not but she told me to get out. I was so embarrassed.
“I didn’t really process it until afterwards, but I was humiliated, it’s caused me so much emotional distress.”
Suzan, who lives in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, was visiting the Templar’s Square Shopping Centre in nearby Cowley on September 9 with her mother, Jean Diprose, 69 and partner and full-time carer Ian Herring, 48.
The mum-of-three suffers from rheumatoid arthritis in her knees and lower back, as well as functional breathlessness, anaemia, high blood pressure and nerve issues in her feet.
She says she has never experienced any sort of discrimination because of her mobility scooter before, and that staff usually overcompensate for her disability.
Suzan said she will never set foot in another branch of Shoe Zone again after the incident, which has left her shaken and humiliated.
She added: “I was disgusted by the way she used the phrase “your people” – it was disgusting terminology.
“I was too upset on the day to complain, it took a while for me to process what had happened.
“I didn’t really process it until afterwards.
“They said somebody on a scooter had been in before and knocked into a shoe rack and ended up in hospital, and that’s why I wasn’t allowed in.
“It’s ridiculous – they’re tarring everyone with the same brush, and what happened before was obviously an accident.
“It speaks more volumes about their shoddy shopfitting than people on scooters.
“The shopping centre itself promotes a shop mobility service, but Shoe Zone obviously don’t.”
The following day, Suzan posted on Shoe Zone’s Facebook wall about what had happened to her.
They initially promised to respond to her complaint within 24 hours, but took almost a week to get back to her.
When they did, they apologised and offered her a £25 voucher, later upped to £50, but Suzan was still unsatisfied with their apology.
Suzan said: “I said thanks but no thanks, £50 won’t get rid of the emotional distress and public humiliation I’ve suffered.
“The voucher is very little use to someone who can’t walk.
“I can’t explain how I feel, my whole body is shaking going over the experience.
“If that’s happened to me, how many other people will it happen to?
“Their shop is not suitable for disabled people.
“I’m quite a thick-skinned person, and things don’t normally get to me, but I got really emotional and I can’t believe I was treated like that.
“What if it had been an older person who was too scared to complain or didn’t know how to?”
Shoe Zone said staff are being retrained as a result of the incident.
A spokesman said: “Shoe Zone is fully committed to maintaining a welcoming environment for all customers.
“Following feedback from a customer in one of our stores, we have been in direct contact with the customer to look into this, and have reiterated our customer care company guidelines and training to our employees, to ensure that we provide a consistently high-quality service.”
