Worst customer service ever? (From Consumerist.com) (now with excerpt from article)

[bbernardini]

http://snipurl.com/2nizv

A reader writes: "Last night we were out with friends and went to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory at Bella Terra/Huntington Beach. We were eating outside as my 5 year old daughter got an uncontrollable urge to use the bathroom and began crying and screaming 'diarrhea, diarrhea.' I ran into the store with her in my arms, begging to use the bathroom and they refused multiple times."

I explained she had diarrhea and couldn't hold it and told them she was about to go on the floor. They refused again and never offered me any alternatives. I begged them to have a heart and that she was 5 but by that time she had lost it all over herself and me. I ran with her in my arms to the movie theater that let me use their bathroom. I cleaned her up, threw out some of her clothes and went back to the Chocolate Factory - asking for names and number of management. I again pleaded with them to use their heart in situations like this.

I called the manager today and she finally called me back. She supports the employees and tells me that it is an insurance decision. She told me to sue if it makes me feel happy. She laughed at me when I told her I would be using my extensive contacts to begin a viral campaign to boycott her store and the entire chain and told me that she was "sure that would make my daughter very proud." My daughter was humiliated, forced to defecate on herself due to the lack of compassion exhibited by the store - which the owner continued to support on the phone with me. I don't want anything, I just want them to have a bit of compassion in the future.

[AngryAmish]

1. This is a comment from consumerist

"There's nothing worse than being out and about and feeling a sudden rumbling down in the old Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory...."

[MrCoffee]

2. WTF!

The article about the diarrhea explosion has a picture of chocolate milk being poured into a glass?


:rofl:

I'm so going to hell for laughing at that.

[Chan790]

3. I work in retail customer service...

and that's unexcusable. Is this a chain or franchise? I have to admit I've never heard of them before.

I'd direct it to the corporate office though...I've seen franchises lose their recognition (and thus every element of their business) for less than this. It looks bad for the corporation and draws negative attention, ergo it violates the standard industry contract of a franchisee. Beyond that, it's disgusting...and the response from the owner shows a deep lack of compassion.

[NewJeffCT]

4. I second that recommendation

contact the company's corporate HQ

[knitter4democracy]

5. I had a similar thing happen to me once at a snobby yarn shop.

They didn't have a bathroom customers could use (they had one, but the law in Michigan is that, if you let a customer use it, it has to be ADA-accessible and available to all), but I didn't know that. When my three year old son told me he had to pee, I knew I had less than five minutes to get him in a bathroom. The clerks were really nasty about it, so I had to grab him and run to the pizza place next door. I yelled where we were headed as we ran for the bathroom, and they were super nice and got everyone out of the way. We ate our lunch there--after I returned to the yarn shop and returned what I'd put by the cash register to the rack and left without a word. They've never gotten a dime of mine since. I miss the pizza place, though. Great food and even better service.

[Lance_Boyle]

6. I'm with this guy:

"People are freaking high, that's all I have to say. It's a small candy store with no public bathroom and this idiot mother would rather stand there arguing with them rather than go to find the nearest public bathroom for her kid. Then she wants to make a federal case over it. It would have been nice if they offered to let the girl use the bathroom if there even was one in the store, but by no means should they have to do so."


They said no - why stand there and argue the point instead of seeking an available restroom? What "alternatives" are they supposed to offer anyway? A spade, some woods, and a corn cob? Good christ. The "viral campaign" just shows the mother to be more of a spewing asshole than her daughter's.

[bbernardini]

8. According to others who have looked at the layout of the shopping center...

...there was no other bathroom close enough that the mother would have made it to in time.

[bbernardini]

9. In fact...

It appears that legally, the nearest bathroom was too far away.

[Darth_Kitten]

11. When you have to go, you have to go........

geez...... :eyes:

[amitten]

16. Pleading might have brought a faster result than running to

another place where one might AGAIN be refused admission.

The mother, in an "emergency" situation, did what anyone would do. And because we're all human, her daughter should have been allowed to use the bathroom. Period. As should anyone who is about to soil themselves or vomit. That's what toilets are for, and the "insurance" excuse is pure bullshit.

People suck.

[suninvited]

7. Bet that manager

doesn't have a job anymore. How crazy to refuse a bathroom, when you KNOW the employees have a restroom to use during their shift.

I don't shop in any store that will not provide a restroom when needed.

[jmowreader]

10. I've worked in mall stores...

that did NOT have in-store bathrooms for anyone--employees or customers. They just figure anyone who needs to go to the restroom can use the one the mall provides.

[LeftyMom]

14. Mall stores usually don't have a public bathroom, except for the anchors.

My first job was at a store in the mall, and we never, ever let a shopper use our bathroom, because doing so would mean walking through our stock area and was a huge theft risk. Then again, there was a public bathroom maintained by the mall maybe 50 yards away.

[Maine-ah]

12. where I used to work we didn't have public bathrooms

but if someone HAD to go, or if it was a child we always let them use the bathroom.

what a bunch of assholes.

[Gormy Cuss]

13. The manager's attitude is inexcusable.

There may be good reasons why the employees aren't allowed to let customers into their private bathroom but they should be equipped with the training to direct the customer to the nearest public facility.

The manager's handling of the customer's complaint is truly bad customer service.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

15. I hope they had fun cleaning up the mess and enjoying the stink. n/t

:wtf:

[LeftyMom]

17. I should hope not.

It's mom's kid, ergo any emissions from said kid are mom's problem.

Speaking of a parent of a not much older kid, as a parent you ALWAYS need to know where the bathroom is when you've got a small child with you. ESPECIALLY when said kid has teh hershey squirts, but as a general rule they give you at best 5 minutes between "I have to go" and "I went" at that age. If that's not feasible, the kid should be in trainers.

[Skittles]

18. there's exceptions to rules

sometimes just plain courtesy and compassion are in order