Guildford man with cerebral palsy accused Asda of discrimination after shopping delivery cancelled

Richard_Scope

Article from SurreyLive

A disabled man from Guildford has accused Asda of discrimination after a delivery driver cancelled his order just metres from his home. Daniel Jakus, 25, has cerebral palsy and was waiting patiently for his order at his flat on Epsom Road when he received a call from the delivery driver.

Describing his tone as impatient, Daniel informed the driver he was parked on the wrong street on Warren Road just around the corner following an error. He claims he informed the driver of his actual address and told him to bring the shopping to the door due to his disability.

After saying the driver hung up on him, Daniel then received a text 30 minutes later saying his order had been cancelled. Accusing Asda of discrimination, which the supermarket said there was no evidence of, he said the order was vital as it would supply him for the next two days.

Daniel finds it difficult to walk to the shops due to his cerebral palsy which causes issues with his muscles. After ringing up Asda following the incident on July 17, he says he was denied his request for his shopping to be redelivered, instead accepting an offer for £5 to be put on his account.

“I got quite upset about it,” he said. “If I walk to the shop it causes me quite a bit of hindrance, I suffer from a lot of muscle spasms which knock me off balance quite a bit. I try to avoid walking to the shop if I have to.

“I accepted it [the £5 offer] but I don’t think the price of discrimination is a fiver. There are issues in the world that get a bigger apology and it's not quite fair discrimination towards disabled people doesn't get the same treatment.

“You're customer-facing, there’s every chance you could come across someone with a disability. In general, I feel like any business should be aware of this.”

Daniel, who works as an IT consultant says he has experienced similar incidents in the past. He says he was once accused of being drunk by one takeaway driver, with his cerebral palsy causing his speech to be slurred, and he says he has been turned away by taxi drivers on nights out who also think he was too intoxicated. He has called on the supermarket to undertake further training for their staff when interacting with customers who have disabilities. In response to the complaints Asda said could not respond to the discrimination allegations as they had not seen any evidence of this.

A spokesperson added: "We successfully deliver 800 thousand orders every week and we apologise that on this occasion we didn't meet our usual high standards. We are pleased that Mr Jakus has accepted a gesture of goodwill and we look forward to delivering to him in the near future."