Today, I was finally well enough to be taken to the Merry Hill centre to spend some of my Christmas money. The centre itself is actually pretty good for those of us who are a little less able; the Age UK shop is located just inside the entrance nearest to the cinema and has a range of wheelchairs and scooters to suit a range of abilities. I usually only visit the centre a couple of times a year, but when I do I tend to borrow one of the three electric wheelchairs that they have.
Unfortunately, although the centre itself is pretty good for wheelchair users with wide walkways, roomy lifts and good lighting, many of the shops are not of the same standard. I only went into a few stops today because I am trying to be sensible about how much I do on the rare 'better' health days. With that in mind I went into Debenhams where we spent the gift tokens I won in a competition courtesy of Thomson Cruises. We now have a new ceramic frying pan and several small kitchen items - so huge thanks to Thomson's for that!
Debenhams is actually pretty good to get around in a wheelchair; like most department stores there are nice wide aisles separating the different areas and although the sections are a little more difficult to navigate, there is still sufficient room to manoeuver without trashing the store. Once the kitchenware spree in Debenhams was finished we had a short rest somewhere - amazing how worn out I can get just looking at things. We then headed down to Waterstones so that I could indulge my book addiction. It was here in the home of my favourite items (books) that I found the biggest problem; whoever had decided on the store layout had had absolutely no thought about wheelchair users or any mobility-impaired shopper. The bookshelves lining the walls are well laid-out, but the problem comes with all the additional tables scattered throughout the store. If you happen to be a wheelchair user I would advise that you take someone with you if you want to get round Waterstones at the Merry Hill centre without knocking books off tables. Unfortunately I not only got stuck in corners several times, I also managed to knock almost every book off one of the tables. Luckily my husband and a very nice man who just happened to be nearby picked up all the stray books and popped them back roughly where they had come from.
I quite honestly would have loved to have asked to speak to the manager/ess but we had already heard a loud argument coming from the back of the shop/staff area and I didn't feel up to discussing accessibility with some unknown person after the stress and embarrassment I had experienced in the shop. I have found an email address for a general customer services department, so will just drop them a line asking if they could perhaps consider widening the aisles so that wheelchair users can access their stores. I will let you know if I get a response. Anyone care to take a bet on it?
No comments:
Post a Comment