Highlight
- Furniture retailer issues clarification after customer alleges his wife faced racist behavior
- IKEA India clarifies that it condemns any form of discrimination
- IKEA clarified that they do not search customers in the store at any time during the shopping trip
Amid an uproar over alleged “racism” at IKEA Hyderabad, the multinational on Monday said it is “deeply sorry” over the unpleasant experience of its customer.
The furniture retailer issued the clarification after a customer Nitin Sethi alleged that his wife faced racist behavior at its store in Hyderabad.
Journalist Sethi tweeted that his wife from Manipur was searched for items purchased by her.
“Racist behavior at @IKEAIndia store in Hyderabad. Only my wife from Manipur was searched for the stuff she bought. No one else before us. And then all the supervisory staff came to defend racism. Brilliant from an ‘international store’ Demonstration. Cheers to another normal day. #racism,” he tweeted on Sunday night.
“The man who checked my wife’s shopping bag even said we had bought everything, didn’t even care to answer why we were kicked out. And the supervisors said yes to the police. Call us, we’ll deal if you want. And it did ‘doesn’t end there. The daily racism that our people face,’ he wrote.
Telangana Industries Minister KT Rama Rao also termed the incident as “horrific and absolutely unacceptable”. He asked the company to ensure that proper apologies are issued and that its employees are educated, sensitive and trained to respect all customers.
Hours after the minister’s tweet, IKEA India clarified that it condemns discrimination of any kind.
“At IKEA, equality is at the heart of everything we do, and we condemn discrimination of any kind. We work hard every day to ensure we treat our coworkers and customers fairly. We are deeply sorry for the unpleasant experience called by the customer and this is the kind of experience we never want,” IKEA said in a statement.
“We take this matter seriously and conduct a thorough investigation. Without exception, we have followed the same bill check process for all customers who choose to scan and pay themselves. to ensure that no billing errors may cause inconvenience to our customers,” it added.
The company also clarified that as part of the safety and security protocols, they do not search customers in the store at any time during the shopping trip.
“We learn from this event and will do our best to improve processes and communication towards creating a convenient, safe and inclusive shopping experience. We welcome everyone to IKEA.”
Earlier, IKEA had responded to Sethi’s tweet. “At IKEA, we believe equality is a human right, and we condemn all forms of racism and prejudice. We apologize for the inconvenience caused to you by following mandatory billing protocols.”
“As a process, customers who checkout themselves are requested for a final check before leaving the store to ensure that the billing is correct and the customers are provided with double charging, frequent scanning of products etc. No problem about it.”
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