A man has been banned from every Sainsbury's store for life despite protesting he had done nothing wrong. Garry Frost, 62-years-old, said he merely criticised the staff's parking choices, out of respect for disabled people who needed the spots, only to be hit with the store ban.
He has since said that he will refuse to return to the store on principle, even if the ban is lifted unless he receives a sincere apology. The Leeds man said e’s “totally disgusted” by treatment from the supermarket chain and the staff at a Sainsbury’s Local.
“I’ve done nothing wrong!” Garry explained, who proclaims he’s an innocent victim caught up in all of this. “I wasn’t discourteous, I wasn’t rude or aggressive. I merely pointed out that it was morally incorrect what they were doing.”
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Garry explained how the lifetime ban was initiated after he visited the Middleton Park Avenue store and enquired about the staff cars parked directly outside the shop on the road. The bays were one-hour no return spots, between 8am and 6pm, which is enforced by Leeds Council, however staff were using the spots to park in all day.
Staff told him it was their cars on the street, Garry told Leeds Live. The 62-year-old said they shouldn’t park there all day as it hinders people who may be disabled from accessing the parade of shops along te road.
He added there was a perfectly good free car park close by, about 30 yards away. Garry, who works as carpenter and joiner, was astonished by what he said the staff said in reaction. He said: “They were quite rude about it actually and said ‘we’ll do what we want – blah blah blah’”.
About a week later, when Garry was in a cafe opposite the shop where he regularly visits for breakfast, when he was paid a visit by Sainsbury's staff. He explained one of the Sainsbury’s staff members “swaggered” into the café looking “smug”, on Saturday, July 30.
She placed a letter on his table informing him that he was “banned for life” from all of Sainsbury’s stores. He said: “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.”
The letter handed to Garry from Sainsbury’s Total Loss and Security Team says: ‘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Frost, I confirm that the invitation to enter and shop at all Sainsbury’s stores, including car parks, is permanently withdrawn due to the incident in which you were involved in.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 read the letter in disbelief and has been in touch with Sainsbury’s head office to appeal the decision. He said: “I find it just totally disgusting and I think it needs bringing to light.
“The staff are just flouting the law and it’s being condoned by the store manager. Their parking is hindering people who really need those spaces, it’s just being bone idle, for the sake of it.”
Before this incident, he used to have “banter” with staff when he visited to buy a can of pop and scratch cards. He even added one of the staff members as a friend on Facebook who has since unfriended following the lifetime ban. Garry said: “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.”
One of Sainsbury’s Executive Officers emailed him: “I am sorry to read of your recent experience at Middleton Park Local store. I can advise I have investigated this with the store, and we believe that our colleagues have acted in line with our policies and procedures.
“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.
“I appreciate this is not the response you were anticipating therefore I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for this.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson told Leeds Live: “We do not tolerate abuse or threatening behaviour towards our colleagues and are in touch with Garry to explain this.”
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