A mum has shared how she was “absolutely disgusted” when staff at a White Stuff store refused to let her daughter, who has a bowel disease, use the staff toilets.
Emma Byrant, from Southampton, explained her 13-year-old daughter suffers with Ulcerative Colitis, one of the two main forms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
Byrant claimed staff in Southampton’s West Quay branch of White Stuff refused to let her daughter use the toilet, despite the fact she had a ‘Can’t Wait Card’ - as shown below - that tells others why she needs to use the toilets immediately.
“Absolutely disgusted with your Southampton store after they refused to let my 13-year-old daughter, who suffers with Ulcerative Colitis, use their toilets even after she bravely explained she had the disease, showed them her ‘Can’t Wait Card’ and asked to use their staff toilets urgently,” the mum wrote on Facebook on 23 July.
Byrant continued: ”[The staff] refused as they said they had stock out the back and suggested she used the nearest public toilets.
“She therefore had no choice but to dash to the nearest facilities in John Lewis, but sadly and very embarrassingly she had an accident as she couldn’t hold on.
“She was beyond mortified, as anyone would be, especially as she was only just building up her confidence with going out to public places as she is still struggling with a flare up.
“This huge knock-back is the last thing she needed and her confidence has been destroyed.”
The mum went on to explain that all the other shops her daughter has been into have been extremely sympathetic and understanding of the situation and have shown her to their staff facilities without hesitation.
Byrant’s Facebook post had nearly 8,000 likes within four days of being posted.
“Absolutely disgusting,” one person wrote. “I have Crohn’s and have similar issues. Hard enough to deal with as an adult but as a teenager it must be horrendous. Shame on this company.”
A spokesperson for White Stuff told HuffPost UK: “We would like to say how sorry we are for what happened to Emma’s daughter and the embarrassment she must have experienced. We strive to be a welcoming and personable retailer and apologise that, on this occasion, we let one of our customers down.
“We spoke to Emma the following day and apologised for the upset caused. We have also been in contact with Crohn’s and Colitis UK to discuss thorough training for all of our shop staff.
“A training document is being collated on invisible disability and medical cards to educate our teams and ensure this does not happen again. In addition, we have also made a donation to the organisation.”