philipashmore: March 2014

I put this in a seperate post to the previous one so that it could be referenced and commented upon by itself.

It struck me just last night (28 March 2014) that I get "the treatment" at my local SuperValue in Raheny and only notice it by its absence.

The treatment

Let me walk you through the steps

the introduction

A female member of staff walks up behind me, puts an empty cardboard box on the counter (the queue for the off-license section is along the counter) and starts tearing it up, getting my attention with the noise. She looked like Maggie Grace.

the rescue

The guy behind the counter - the one serving me, stops what he's doing, turns to her and asks her if she's "OK".

the reinforcement

A member of security walks straight at me, stops three feet away and continues "protecting the public and staff" until I complete my purchase and leave.

In summary

If I weren't such a regular patron of my local SuperValue I'd ask for the manager and let the chips fall where they may, but that might be construed as causing a fuss, and who among us likes a fuss?

I wonder if it's because I have a pony tail, but of course one of the key aspects of any unwritten policy is to not admit it.

A key aspect of any "treatment" is that each part, on it's own, looks reasonable, it's usually only the recipient of the treatment that knows they're being singled out.

It's easy for on-lookers to assume that the recipient somehow deserves it or that they missed something.

Maybe they're using me for practice.

Maybe I've got one of those faces.

Discrimination, or someone "fitting my description" caused a fuss before, what's the difference?

This incident took place on Tuesday night the 15 January 2013 (technically Wednesday morning).

I went back several times to see if this mess had been cleaned up to everyones satisfaction, but it would appear that my custom is no longer required.

As of 15 March 2014 I am still barred from Diceys because of "what happened last time".

Here's the text of the email I sent, to which I have yet to receive a response.

Hi there.

I was in Diceys last night and at about 3:15 pm I wanted change for the cigarette machine.

I handed over 20 Euros and got back one 10 Euro note along with five 2 Euro coins.

I asked the barman if he could change one of the two Euro coins for four 50 cent coins, which he seemed happy to do.

I waited at the bar (the end nearest the front door to Diceys main entrance) and watched as he served another customer - I assumed he was multi-tasking.

The next time I looked over he had gone.

I immediately looked around for a member of the floor staff to notify about this issue and ended up going out the front door to talk to a member of the door staff.

He recommended asking another member of the bar staff about it and get back to him in the event of a problem.

The bar man I talked to looks Indian and when I asked him if he knew where the bar man who gave me the change went, to which he responded "I didn't give you change". There was another barman with him who looked like the one who took my change, but this one looked a bit Indian with his hair sticking up with a bit of a slant.

Either wires were crossed or it was a wind up but I decided to go back to the door man - I had to finish my pint before he would talk to me, I couldn't take it outside.

I mentioned that the barman who took my change looked (for want of a better description) like Shrek - big head, short black hair sticking out the top.

There was a bit of a kerfuffle outside Krystals so he said to go to the hotel entrance in ten minutes to talk to the manager.

So that's what I did - by the time I bought another pint I had figured ten minutes had passed so I walked to the part of the bar nearest the entrance of Krystals and asked the bar girl if I could leave my pint somewhere safe.

I went out of Krystals entrance and up the steps of the Russel Court Hotel entrance where I talked to the manager.

The manager asked that I send an email to this address - here it is.

I had a cigarette outside the entrance to Krystals and when I wanted to go in to get my pint I was told by the same doorman I talked to earlier that the manager had decided not to let me back in.

I hope camera recordings can confirm that I handed over a two Euro coin and didn't get change back, and I don't know why I wasn't let back in but to my mind the cost of the pint - another 2 Euros, is also owed to me.

In summary: money owed to me - 4 Euros.

I can collect it next time I drop by, but in the mean time I'd appreciate it if you could keep me in the loop about the progress of your enquiries.

I'm also interested in what I might do (or not do, or do differently) to avoid being unexpectedly refused re-admission, as it doesn't sit well with me.

Regards,
Philip Ashmore