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Supermac's franchise apologises after Deaf couple refused service at Dublin drive-thru
The fast-food franchise in Spawell said the incident is being “fully investigated”.
A SUPERMAC’S FRANCHISE has apologised to a Deaf couple after they were refused service at its drive-thru in Dublin last night.
The fast-food franchise in Spawell said the incident is being investigated following a complaint by the couple.
They said they were told to “move on” when they tried to order at the window by writing what they wanted on a piece of paper.
“I hope no one has to go through the experience I’ve had to go through,” the woman told TheJournal.ie.
“We have been there several times, twice since the beginning of Covid. We would normally show a piece of paper at the window with our order and they would process it with no problem at all.”
She said when they tried to order at the drive-thru window last night an employee approached them “and would not serve us, told us to move on as she had orders waiting”.
In a video showing part of the incident, widely shared on Facebook, the couple is seen holding up a piece of paper with their order to the worker who tells them: “we are too busy to take the order through the window”.
The couple claimed there was just one car behind them in the drive-thru at the time “which built up to two or three” by the time they had moved on.
Repeatedly we stated we were deaf and she made no effort to even write back to us or even step back and pull down her mask so we could lipread.
“I am so upset to be writing this and never thought we would have to experience this. Supermac’s, you need to educate your staff on how to treat customers and most of all, train them about disability awareness as we will never ever use your service again.”
Top and Spawell Auto Stop management issued a statement confirming that the incident took place at its Supermac’s branch in Spawell.
“It is clear to us that the customers in question are accustomed to ordering via our drive-thru and we are very disappointed that their experience was not what it should have been on this occasion,” the statement said.
“We would like to apologise to the customers affected and commit that this incident will be investigated fully. We have been in direct contact with the customers to apologise to them.”
The management added that it will implement a customer service training review with staff.
