Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Pizza Hut Lied About Giving Me A Good Place For My Wheelchair


PIZZA HUT MALAYSIA'S CLAIM in The Star today that the restaurant had chosen a suitable place for my wheelchair is a downright lie. How would able bodied people who have no experience of wheelchairs know what is best for us in wheelchairs?

And why do they have to choose places for disabled people to sit when we can do it ourselves? So patronising!

This is a pathetic and miserable attempt at damage control. I was "greeted" with unfriendly waiters who pretended not to see me and rudely told me that wheelchairs were meant to be outside the restaurant. They restricted me from sitting in a large empty area claiming that it was too small for my wheelchair when at least 10 wheelchairs could easily fit in the area.


How can one say sorry for discriminating a person in a mere text or phone calls? And why did the manager tell me, my friend and a Mid Valley staff regarding their wheelchair policy thingy and then deny it afterwards?

Shame on Pizza Hut in resorting to more lies!   


Published: Tuesday October 29, 2013 MYT 6:47:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday October 29, 2013 MYT 8:02:18 PM

Pizza Hut denies discrimination claim


PETALING JAYA: A fast food pizza chain has denied a claim that it discriminated against people with special needs, including those using the wheelchair.

Pizza Hut Malaysia said a recent incident of a wheelchair-bound customer who claimed he was turned away at the restaurant in Mid Valley was a result of a misunderstanding.

In a press release, its senior general manager Low Kang Moon said the company had apologised to the customer for the miscommunication and inconvenience that occurred between him and the staff.

He said action had been taken to investigate the incident and a meeting has been set with the customer to resolve the miscommunication.

The statement said that due to the setup of the outlet "which is narrow for wheelchair access, it would be most inconvenient and uncomfortable for the customer to have sat in the area that he had requested."

It said the staff had offered to seat the customer in an area where it was more comfortable, spacious and easy for him to enjoy his meal and have his meeting.

This was all done with good intentions to ensure that the customer would be most comfortable and would have no problems moving around in his wheelchair, it said.

"In response to claims stating that Pizza Hut has a policy of not welcoming guests on wheelchairs, we would like to reiterate that at Pizza Hut, there is no such policy in which we discriminate our customers with special needs," Low said.

He added that "a text message was sent to the customer to follow up on the time to meet but we have yet to receive any confirmation from him.

A blog post claiming that a wheelchair-bound customer was turned away from a fast food outlet in Midvalley Megamall had gone viral.

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