European friends of mine from Bedford's Star Rowing Club were understandably indignant when Bedford's M&S refused to sell them alcohol recently on the grounds that they didn't have acceptable UK proof of age.
Neither could in any way be mistaken for under 21 let alone under 18 (and will not mind me saying so), so what was the challenge about? The issues were:
1. Wiebke, a mid-30s German, had her German ID, which allows her passage across all borders throughout the EU, dismissed as if of inferior status, as did Aga, a Polish woman in her late 20s
2. While both women rightly asked for the matter to be referred to the manager, the manager proved as stubborn about the need for the proof of age to be a UK document. The women were not allowed to buy their bottle of alcohol.
I have two questions.
Firstly, to Stewart Rose, M&S's supremo: is this truly company policy?
Secondly, to Dave Hodgson, Mayor of Bedford Borough Council: what can you do to check this kind of xenophobic bureaucracy? I know that you're not in charge of trading standards officers or indeed any other staff at the Council, but perhaps you could use your statesmanhood to check out what's going on within one of the flagship stores on your patch?
P.S. I do mourn the days when M&S had its flagship store opposite Galeries Lafayette in the retail heart of Paris's 8th district and its sandwiches, shipped in daily from UK, were the Parisian office workers' favourite. That made me proud to be British. The above incident does not.
Have you experienced similar discrimination within Bedfordshire? I'd like to hear about it and to challenge it. Thanks for sharing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment