Some people still swear by cash and chat with the cashier, others no longer do anything other than use self-checkout. At least: if you can reach it. Payne, 55, is in a wheelchair and noticed at Albert Hine that the self-checkout there could not be used for her. “You tried turning on the screen with the option.”
At the beginning of last month, Ben contacted Albert Hein. Whether they can make the self-checkout process a little more convenient. “At AH where I go, self-scanning is really the norm. There's only one regular cash register left and it's usually not open. I prefer going to the regular cash register, but self-scanning is fine too.”
sad
If it weren't for the fact that the wheelchair propulsion system doesn't actually do what it's intended to do: make self-checking accessible to people who use wheelchairs. “The first time I came there I tried to turn on the screen with an option. But of course that didn't work. The screen didn't recognize it as a touch. The joke is that there's no barcode on the option and I 'to scan it you had to go through the whole menu, which is “It wouldn't have been possible, of course, if it hadn't been so sad.”
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Then Pien called the supermarket. “What was summed up in the call was that they said they actually installed the adjustable ATM only for wheelchair checkouts because otherwise there will always be someone who will have slightly different desires. In other words: there is always someone who has something to complain about.”
Do it yourself
While you think it's not asking too much. “I just want to do the shopping myself. I can do it too. Albert Hein also said that I should ask the staff for help. Don't get me wrong, they are all very nice boys and girls. But I can do it himself and so he wants to do it himself.”
Interest group ElkeIn told RTL News that it does not necessarily receive many complaints about Albert Heijn's self-checkout counters compared to other supermarkets. “It's true that this is a point of interest for us,” says Joely Vandenberg, spokesman for the umbrella organization that advocates for the interests of people with disabilities.
“If you have self-service checkout, make sure everyone can use it,” Vandenberg says. “For people in wheelchairs, but also for small people, for example. This means, among other things, that you install ATMs and places where you scan your products in a way that is accessible to everyone.”
New rules next year
If the place you put your groceries is in a bad location, Vandenberg says, “you'll drive into it in your wheelchair, and there won't be any benefit to you getting out of the wheelchair.”
Starting next June, new European rules will be implemented forcing companies to work on accessibility. “So our call to supermarkets and other places is not to wait any longer, but to start now,” Vandenberg says.
Albert Heijn said in response to RTL News that she was aware of Pien's case. “Our Special Care team has been asked to contact her again. To also inquire which store exactly is of interest and what the complaints are.”
“We always try to take our customers' wishes into account as much as possible,” a company spokesperson said. “We also try to make our stores as accessible to people with disabilities as possible.”
