A man has said he is ‘totally disgusted’ after being banned from Sainsbury’s for life after getting into a dispute about how staff park.
Garry Frost, 62, went into the Sainsbury’s local in Middleton Park, Beeston, to enquire about cars parked on the road outside.
Garry said cars would regularly be left there all day, despite the one hour no return policy enforced by Leeds City Council, between 8:00am and 6:00pm Monday to Saturday and when he mentioned it in store, was told the cars belonged to staff members.
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Garry says he told staff that they shouldn’t park there as it could prevent access for disabled people who want to visit the shops. He also pointed out there was a car park nearby.
But on Saturday (30 July) Garry was sitting in a cafe over the road from the Sainsbury’s store when a member of staff arrived, handed him a letter and told him he was ‘banned for life’.
Garry told LeedsLive: “I opened up the letter and I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was a joke at first and we had a good laugh about it. But they’re serious. It says if I go into one, they will call the police and I will be treated as a trespasser.”
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The letter handed to Garry from Sainsbury’s Total Loss and Security Team states: “Dear Garry Frost, I confirm that the invitation to enter and shop at all Sainsbury’s stores, including car parks, is permanently withdrawn due to the incident in which you were involved in. Should you enter any of our premises, you will be treated as a trespasser and the police will be called as necessary.
“We do not tolerate threatening, abusive or violent behaviour. Under these circumstances we have a statutory duty to protect our colleagues and customers from such behaviour whether it is face to face, over the telephone or in correspondence. This includes the discretion no to serve any customer that they feel is causing them alarm or distress.”
Garry insists he’s 'done nothing wrong' and has since attempted to appeal the ban, which he has branded ‘disgusting’.
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He said: “I wasn’t discourteous, I wasn’t rude or aggressive. I merely pointed out that it was morally incorrect what they were doing.”
He went on: “It’s a vendetta. It’s totally over the top what they’ve done. I’m honestly really annoyed about it. Plus, it’s the principle. The wording of the letter and everything. They need some bad publicity about it and I need an apology, it’s just wrong.”
Garry has since received a response to his email appealing the ban that informed him: “We have a duty of care to protect our colleagues as much as we have to protect our customers, due to this, we would not be looking to uplift your ban from the store and therefore no further action can be taken.”
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A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told LeedsLive: “We do not tolerate abuse or threatening behaviour towards our colleagues and are in touch with Garry to explain this.”
Topics: UK News, Sainsbury's
Claire Reid