A disabled woman was told she’d have to pay for help at IKEA to collect an item she couldn’t get herself.
Olivia Cole, 23, made a 40-mile round trip to the Warrington branch of IKEA on Friday to return some faulty hinges for her wardrobe.
After being offered a refund, customer services staff told her to go and get a new bag of hinges from a shelf in the store.
Olivia asked if someone could fetch the item for her because her disability means she can’t walk very far.
Olivia Cole (right, with mum Caroline, left) was told she would have to pay for someone to bring her hinges at the IKEA in Warrington even though her condition means she can’t walk far
However, she was told if a sales assistant got something from a shelf in store for her she would be charged £10 for their help.
Olivia was left ‘gobsmacked’ by their response and had to ask her mum Caroline to retrieve the hinges for her.
Caroline Cole, 49, said: ‘She has Recurring Compartment Syndrome which she has had twice in her leg, having left her with damage to her muscle and she can’t put her foot flat flat to walk.
‘She does have a wheelchair as she can’t walk far but wasn’t using it at IKEA as she didn’t think she’d need it as we parked in a disabled space right outside the door of customer services.’
Olivia’s condition has meant she’s had to have large cuts to her arms and legs to relieve the pressure on her swollen limbs.
Mum Caroline said you can see the signs of her daughter’s condition ‘quite clearly’ and was shocked staff at IKEA demanded payment to help Olivia.
Caroline, who lives in Middlewich, Cheshire said: ‘She was really upset. I had to go and do it for her. She’s really upset, just livid.
Mum Caroline said you can see the signs of her daughter’s condition ‘quite clearly’ and was shocked staff at IKEA (file pic) demanded payment to help Olivia
‘She said she was just so gobsmacked at what they said. It’s discrimination really – they should be able to help disabled people.’
An IKEA spokesman said: ‘At IKEA we want to make it easy and convenient for all our customer to shop with us. For visitors with disabilities we offer a range of services, including assisted shopping, which can be requested at the customer information desk or by telephoning the store in advance.
‘We are sorry to hear that on a recent visit to the Warrington store a customer was not offered the assisted shopping service as expected.
‘We are investigating this incident with the store to understand why this happened and welcome the customer to contact us directly so we can discuss her experience with us and apologise for our mistake.’