Mother's fury after Subway worker 'pointed and laughed at her autistic daughter...

[AGXStarseed]

(Not written by me)

Mother's fury after Subway worker 'pointed and laughed at her autistic daughter when she couldn't order the correct food'


An autistic girl was mocked by staff at Subway because she did not order a cookie properly, a mother has complained.

Kellie Rarity claimed a worker laughed at her eight-year-old daughter Brooke and shouted she 'couldn't read' during a trip to the sandwich chain at the Olympia Centre in East Kilbride, Scotland, on Sunday.

The 36-year-old alleged the comments came after her daughter was accidentally given a 'chocolate chip' cookie instead of a 'chocolate chunk' one around 3pm.

Brooke Rarity, who is autistic, was mocked by staff at Subway because she did not order a cookie properly, her mother has complained


Mrs Rarity, from East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, said the 'disgusting' situation has knocked her daughter's confidence as well as affecting her 12-year-old son Euan, who was also at the store.

The mother-of-three said: 'It was the most disgusting display of behaviour I've ever witnessed.

'I've barely seen Brooke since and she has just stayed in her room.

'I think both children deserve at least a full apology because it is a huge setback for Brooke and a huge setback for us all really.'

Mrs Rarity had taken the children out shopping to spend vouchers that had been bought for them as Christmas presents.

They went to Subway after Brooke and Euan asked whether they could eat in the food court and it was the quietest restaurant.

The children managed to negotiate the questions during the ordering process before Brooke ordered a 'chocolate chunk' cookie.

After being served, she discovered she had accidentally been given a 'chocolate chip' cookie instead.

Mrs Rarity urged her daughter to be calm while she went to swap the biscuit but her attempts to change the snack led to a row when the restaurant assistant insisted what she wanted was called a 'triple chocolate' cookie instead of 'chocolate chunk'.

He then allegedly responded to the fact she was autistic by pointing and laughing at the girl and shouting: 'Well that explains why she can't read then.'

Mrs Rarity, along with son Matthew, 16, and their father John, 36, is now hoping to show the children the incident is not representative of society's views on autism.

She has since written about the incident on Facebook in a post that has been shared more than 2,700 times.

She said: 'I want to show her that just because one person thinks that, it doesn't mean everyone does and almost 3,000 people have clearly agreed with me.

'I only meant to share it with my friends and family but it has gone crazy.'

She added: 'The problem is that, with two kids on the autistic spectrum, going out is so difficult.

'We take a lot of time to make a decision on where to go and I think this incident will affect Brooke terribly.

'It takes a lot for her to take that step and go out and she looked broken after he laughed at her.

'Whether it was about her autism or not, he still made an eight-year-old feel bad in a public place so I definitely think more training is necessary.'

Subway has contacted the family and offered a full apology as well as vouchers to spend at any of the fast food chain's restaurants.

A spokesman added: 'We're sorry to hear about Ms Rarity's experience at the East Kilbride store.

'The franchisee of this store has been in contact with Ms Rarity and will conduct a full investigation of the incident with the member of staff involved, taking appropriate action if required.'


SOURCE: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...tic-daughter-couldn-t-order-correct-food.html

 

[ancusmitis]

I know that customers don't want to hear this, but what happens a lot of the time is that the customer really didn't order the thing they wanted. Or even if they did, they mumbled or said it in a funny accent or simply were not loud enough to cover the general din of the restaurant, which can get significant. Employees know that they aren't worth very much to their employers, and that customers have a tremendous ability to make their lives hell regardless of if they actually deserve it, so I tend to side against the person holding the wallet. I have experience with customers'/consumers' general pattern of behavior and usually their complaints are not actually reasonable.

 

[Ylva]

I have experience with customers'/consumers' general pattern of behavior and usually their complaints are not actually reasonable.

But you draw the line at bullying children, right?

 

[unsurewhattoname]

I know that customers don't want to hear this, but what happens a lot of the time is that the customer really didn't order the thing they wanted. Or even if they did, they mumbled or said it in a funny accent or simply were not loud enough to cover the general din of the restaurant, which can get significant. Employees know that they aren't worth very much to their employers, and that customers have a tremendous ability to make their lives hell regardless of if they actually deserve it, so I tend to side against the person holding the wallet. I have experience with customers'/consumers' general pattern of behavior and usually their complaints are not actually reasonable.

An employee laughing at a kid because they can't read is a valid complaint in my opinion.

 

[ancusmitis]

But you draw the line at bullying children, right?

An employee laughing at a kid because they can't read is a valid complaint in my opinion.

That assumes that the mother is reporting the situation accurately, which may not be the case. Perhaps she was merely mistaken, or perhaps she chose to blame the employee for the inherent problems of a restaurant at peak business hour and is using her daughter as a weapon to gain sympathy. Or maybe she is telling the truth and this is really what happened. But in my experience, it's the customers who bully the staff, and not the other way around. I think I'm allowed to be skeptical of this story. There's not really any guarantee that it happened the way it is reported.

 

[ancusmitis]

I have also eaten at subway many times and I have never heard of a chocolate chunk cookie. They do have a triple-chocolate, and a chocolate chip. If a chocolate chunk is not on your menu, and someone orders it, what would you do? You can ask them to repeat their order, which makes them angry--trust me, it might not do you, but it does plenty of people. Or you can try and correct them--the same people who start yelling and complaining if you so much as ask them to repeat one thing they said. Or you just figure you heard them wrong in a noisy restaurant and give them the thing that sounds closest, and yes, you go on to the next customer. Because they are just as likely to become irate as the people before them.

 

[Ylva]

You can ask them to repeat their order, which makes them angry--trust me, it might not do you, but it does plenty of people. Or you can try and correct them--the same people who start yelling and complaining if you so much as ask them to repeat one thing they said

I got that when I worked in a book store, and I'll give that even teenagers can be nasty, but even I would make an exception for an eight-year-old. (Plus I don't make fun of handicaps, so I guess there is that difference.)

 

[Judge]

One thing for sure, this particular franchisor and their shareholders want no further negative publicity involving minors of any kind. Not to mention that customer satisfaction in general has steadily dropped for Subway for a number of years now.

I'm wondering if the employee was terminated if the franchisor could leverage the franchisee over such a concern. But being across the pond likely complicates things.

 

[Beverly]

The incident would not have been a big deal had the employee simply given the child a chocolate chunk cookie and kept his mouth shut. He had no reason to laugh at the girl but, the mother should not have gone off at him either. There is a polite way to deal with this sort of thing but, it involves both sides swallowing a bit of their pride and, their need to be 100% correct. Had that happened, it never would have made the news.