Two loyal and longtime customers of Southport’s ASDA superstore have written to OTS News following an accident at a till that happened last year.
The lady who does not wish to be named at this stage (Mrs X) had fallen at a till after catching her foot in the metal barrier that runs along the till aisle. The customer told OTS that:
“I could not free my foot from the metal barrier. I went headlong against the display onto the floor. My knee, leg and side hit the floor very hard. I was helped up by my partner. Another kind customer, who was being served on the next till, came over to ask if I was alright, as did a staff member. I told them that my knee hurt and other parts.
The assistant serving at the till was very concerned and asked if I was alright, by which time my back and shoulder had also really started to hurt. He suggested I should go and sit down while he called for the First Aider to see me.
The female customer came back over to talk to me. She was very sympathetic and anxious, seeing that I was upset and in pain. After a while, another staff member came over and said she was the First Aider. She asked me if she could do anything to help me at which time I explained my symptoms.
She offered to fetch me a drink of water. I asked her to record the accident and she said she would. However she did not write anything down while we were there, she did not ask me any of my details or name and address. She did not take the contact details of the lady customer either.
As an ASDA first aider, she should have logged all accident details but she did not. At least three staff members amazingly had ‘selective amnesia’ about my fall as well, even though I still retain the dated till receipt to prove we were there at the time of my fall.”
It later transpired that Mrs X had cause to visit her GP for injuries treatment and after that, she attended the hospital regularly for more medical help.
Mrs X later contacted a solicitor. However, because ASDA had made NO report of the fall the claim could not be progressed further. ADSA also claimed that CCTV would have been lost after one month. Moreover, the elderly lady witness had been forced to drop out, due to serious health issues.
Mrs X stated:
“My claim indicates that the health and safety policies at this ASDA store are woefully insufficient. Safety procedures/policies that are a legal requirement are apparently not being followed, as in my case. It’s no use having such policies on paper when loyal customers like me are being treated so poorly. ASDA claimed to me that they had investigated my accident. This simply indicated that they had been seriously remiss with their customer care/health/safety policies, which should have logged my accident properly.”
OTS News asks:
“Have you had an accident in this or any other store that has not been properly addressed? Are health and Safety issues being ignored at a cost to the customer?”
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