Disabled pensioner is banned from using Sainsbury's home delivery service ...
 

....'for calling their driver a coloured gentleman'


A disabled pensioner claims she has been banned from using the Sainsbury’s home delivery service after describing one of their drivers as a ‘coloured gentleman’.

Marian Burke, 73, says she used the term entirely innocently to refer to a ‘lovely’ deliveryman who works for the supermarket.

But she says a manager at Sainsbury’s immediately branded her a racist for saying the word and said her custom was no longer welcome

Last night the supermarket insisted the ban was justified and accused Mrs Burke of using a ‘racial slur’ on three separate occasions while being aggressive towards staff.

But wheelchair-bound Mrs Burke, who has a Kenyan carer, strenuously denied the charge and said Sainsbury’s should be ashamed of its actions.

Mrs Burke, who suffers from osteoporosis and cannot leave the house, says she is completely dependent on the delivery service for her £80 weekly shop.

Being unfamiliar with computers means online delivery is not an option, so for the last ten years she has phoned the supermarket with her shopping list of food and household goods

After a string of mistakes in recent weeks with deliveries arriving without several essentials, she called the shop to inform them of their error.

She recalled: ‘When the manager asked me what the name of the delivery driver was, I had to tell him that I didn’t know. I said to him, “I don’t know his name, but he was a lovely coloured gentleman”.’
She continued: ‘Then all hell broke loose. The man on the other end of the phone called me a racist, and said they would never again take an order from me.’

Last night a Sainsbury’s spokesman claimed the company’s ban came after Mrs Burke had been ‘aggressive’ and used ‘racial slurs’.

He said: 'Mrs Burke's version of events does not reflect our experience of her. She was not solely banned for the use of the word 'coloured' but for a range of racial slurs on three separate occasions, used in an aggressive manner against our colleagues

'As you would expect we don't take action like this lightly but have a duty of care to protect our colleagues from racial and abusive language and any form of aggression.'
But Mrs Burke denied the firm’s version of events, saying: ‘That’s absolute lies. How dare they call me a racist? They should be ashamed.’

Last night one of Mrs Burke’s two carers said: ‘I heard the phone call. She was not rude and she was not racist at all.’

The Sainsbury’s telephone ordering service – which is not offered by her other local supermarkets – had previously been a lifeline for Mrs Burke, who is separated and does not have children.

She says she wept after the staff member’s outburst earlier this month and is now relying on a friend who lives nearby for her shopping needs. She said: ‘There’s not a racist bone in my body. What’s wrong with referring to someone as coloured? It’s political correctness gone mad.’

The retired secretary, who lives in Highgate, North London, was dependent on her weekly delivery from the nearby Finchley Road branch which processed her order from a call centre – although not always correctly.

‘They were always forgetting things, and it’s so hard for me to get out,’ said Mrs Burke.

‘Also, the delivery costs me nearly £10, so I felt that I wasn’t getting the service I deserved.’

She went on: ‘As a loyal customer, I had had enough, so I rang my local store, not to shout at them or anything, but because I wanted to tell them that I’m very frail and if they could try to remember everything I order, I’d be very grateful.

‘Sainsbury’s was my lifeline, and now it’s been taken away from me.’

Using the term ‘coloured’ to refer to black people is considered to be offensive because it dismisses everyone who is not white as the same

I bet she is a right bitch.

I'm guessing there's more to the story than the pensioner is admitting, no store no matter how big or small turns down regular custom for no reason especially over such a slight misunderstanding plus they wouldn't want to risk a backlash for being seen going after a sweet old lady. My guess is that she's a horrid racist hag who probably said a lot worse then she stated in the article.

Quite right too.

Well no source but I'm guessing the mail.

I believe her

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...gentleman.html

'She used racist language on three seperate occasions.'

'She became aggressive and abusive.'

The bitch can get her own shopping asnd I hope she falls in the street and bust up her hip

..yeah, I definitely don't think that this can be the whole story, ...it is the DM...

Age isn't an excuse for racism (I mean the other remarks, not 'coloured')

She should just order from another supermarket

Yeah, they wouldn't just ban her and brand her a racist for using the term "coloured" innocently especially if she was just a polite old lady. I mean my nan still uses the term even though we remind her not to but it's just a term she grew up with.

The fact she was ringing after they buggered up the order several times makes me think she was probably calling them in anger and frustration. Definitely more to it.

A Good Ban , then

I'm shocked that the top rated comment is someone saying there's more to this than she's letting on

Calling people 'coloured' is considered offensive now? Honestly

:rolleyes: Which gives you the moral high ground how exactly?

Who mentioned moral high ground? To hell with her.

Obviously no one but her and whoever was on the other end of the phone knows what was really said, but I have to say, her version of events doesn't really stack up...

She called to complain about the service, almost certainly after getting herself worked up about it, and claims that she referred to the delivery driver as "lovely"? ... ... ..... OK. I've dealt with countless customer complaints in my time, in various jobs, and NO ONE has ever complained with a level head. It just doesn't happen. People complain when they're feeling "wronged", and they are, as a rule of thumb, pissed off enough to complain. It's one of the first things you're taught in customer service; tread lightly with complaints, because it's a minefield.

I simply don't believe that she called up sweet-as-pie to complain. Also, complaining to supermarkets (and other large companies) is a frustrating process, they'll give you the runaround all day with excuse after excuse. And with those two things in mind... it seems very possible (if not probable) that she said a few things in the heat of the moment when she was feeling flustered and annoyed at being fobbed off.

false racism isn't an excuse for ageism

I agree, definately more to this story than she's letting on.

You obviously felt superior to this "racist" woman and yet wished serious injury on a disabled elderly person. Which makes you better how?

Who mentioned anything about feeling superior? Not me. No I feel that as a racist this woman deserves exactly what I wanted to happen to her. She's clearly lying and thus I feel my words are entirely appropriate for this poor disabled elderly racist woman. Maybe if she started telling the truth I might alter my stance but I doubt it.

why is it offensive to say 'coloured'? she could have said much worse

I said something on facebook the other week about Hannah on x factor but I couldn't remember her name and I said the young coloured girl with the great voice. One of my friends told me you are not allowed to say that now as its racist. That is totally ridiculous IMO that the word coloured when referring to a black person is racist, that is what my mate said I should have said the black girl. Utterly ridic oh and Im only 46 and I didn't know it was racist, of that I most certainly am not I grew up playing with a Pakistani family or is that racist as well?

Because it categorises any non-white person into a humongous bracket when there's a lot of differing skin tones and ethnicities. It's basically inferring that 'there's white people and then there's the other ones...the coloured people', and that's offensive. It's just a word which makes me think of some little old lady living in a countryside town full of middle aged white people for a black family turn up and then refer to them as 'the coloured people down the road'...well white is a colour too.

My grandparents, who are immigrants themselves and vehemently non-racist, use the term "coloured" in a totally innocent way. Like most people have said, there's more to this than initially meets the eye.