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Opinion : A visit to a DIY store where some things can’t be done

| April 19, 2016

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A few days ago I happened to be out in my trusty motor with some friends. We were planning on visiting the gardening section of a large DIY store in the London Road.

As we passed the traffic lights at Micklefield Road one of my passengers announced that they urgently needed to make a call of nature. Indeed my good self was feeling the same way too.

Of course yours truly informed my passenger in need that as we were nearly at our destination they could avail themselves of the facilities at the shop once we arrived.

Parking quickly, but safely, both of us rushed into the shop quicker than a sprinter in the 100m Olympic final.

We looked around for the signs to the WC but alas we could not see any directions. A member of staff happened to pass by, naturally we asked for directions to the conveniences they have for customers.

Unfortunately they pointed us in the direction of the plumbing section where there were plenty of WC’s but sadly they were only for display rather than for use.

You can imagine the look on our faces when the shop assistant told us that the don’t have any such facilities for customers to actually use.

I can understand that smaller shops may not have customer facilities but surely large shops should have them especially if the shops are some distance from town.

Modern building regulations and the like cater for customers with disabilities and many shops have baby change facilities so a humble WC should be basic equipment for all should it?

What would have happened if a disabled person needed to go? Or perhaps if a mother needed to change a baby? I would have thought that large national chains of shops would have provided such facilities to be family friendly irrespective of legislation.

As for our good selves, well, we rushed out of the shop as quickly as we could go and got back in my trusty motor. We drive to Beaconsfield and pulled into the garden centre on the outskirts of the old town where they had the most wonderful facilities to the relief of my good self and my passenger.

Naturally we did our shopping at a garden centre in Beaconsfield rather than the shop we had planned to visit in London Road.

I wonder how many more people have been caught out by the lack of facilities in large shops in Wycombe?

If the shops open to the public then they should have facilities either on site or nearby that are clearly signposted to cater for the needs of the public, after all do they expect us to wander around making purchases while wearing incontinence pads?

Next time you go shopping in a large store take a look to see if they have full facilities for the needs of the customers, it’s amazing that in this modern age some of the older shops don’t.

What do you think?

*My blogs are published every Tuesday and Friday evening around 8.00pm here on the WycombeToday.com website.

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