Woolworths apologises for yelling at mum

WOOLWORTHS has been slammed after an employee “yelled” at a pregnant mother whose two kids were “being cheeky”.

Woolworths has apologised after staff told off a mother. Picture: Peter Parks/AFP

WOOLWORTHS has been slammed after an employee allegedly yelled at a pregnant mother whose two young children were “being cheeky”.

Melbourne woman Nancy Iemma, 30, complained to the supermarket about the treatment her sister received at the Moonee Ponds store on Sunday.

Ms Iemma said her two nieces, aged three and one-and-a-half, were “being cheeky as children usually are, running around picking up items and throwing them into the trolley or just picking up items and throwing them on the ground”.

“We both were aware and trying to pick up after them,” she posted to Woolworths’ Facebook page. “It was difficult as they were also running around being cheeky, as I said kids usually are, it’s their nature.”

Ms Iemma said an employee then confronted her sister, telling her, “Your kids are making so much mess and throwing things everywhere! You should clean up after them!”, leaving her sister “in shock”.

“Yes, they were being cheeky but to be approached like they was absolutely out of line,” she wrote. After her sister asked for the manager, she said another employee defended the first one, embarrassing her in front of another customer.

Nancy Iemma, 30, said she was ‘disgusted’ by her sister’s treatment.

She said the second employee “being very rude ... butting in and trying to tell us off” even as they were discussing the incident with the manager. “What kind of customer service is this, Woolworths? What on earth,” she wrote.

“We then proceeded to the checkout and left the store in disgust. We have been shopping at Woolworths for a very long time, we are just doing our Sunday night shopping — how dare your employee make us feel so uncomfortable in the store?

“Kids are kids, they are going to be cheeky. We chose to spend money in your store, we did not appreciate the customer service to be that disgusting.”

Ms Iemma told news.com.au it was “important that a mother can walk into a store and be able to do her Sunday night shopping and feel supported”.

“It is not right that a female to female did not understand and chose to yell at her,” she said. “They should have recognised that her hands were full, she is heavily pregnant and she had two young children running around and it is hard — that was the reason I was, there to help her shop.

“There are many ways to approach a situation. If we were approached with good manners then [it would be a] different story, but the employee scolded my sister and said she had three of her own kids and can handle [them] better.”

Ms Iemma said large organisations like Woolworths needed to get the message that “customer service is a total experience, not just there to buy goods and leave”.

In a statement, a Woolworths spokesman said the company “apologises for the unacceptable behaviour the customer received in our store”.

“We expect our staff members to provide the best experience for our customers by helping out and assisting with their grocery shop in any way possible,” he said.

“However, on some occasions we may not reach the high standards we set. We are currently reaching out to the affected customer to discuss her poor treatment and any requests she might have.”

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