Helpful member
Good morning. I thought I would share this lack of customer support from JYSK with you. My wife and I are in our mid 50’s and have a holiday home out here on the Costa Blanca for the past 19 years. We went to JYSK at Punta Prima Thursday morning last to have a browse and to buy a few things. On approaching one of the aisles, a tall box, which was on a bottom shelf, fell over hitting my wife’s shin and left an enormous bruise. She was not looking at the item, nor did she touch or disturb it. It was merely a misfortunate accident. For any of you that got hit on your shinbone you know the excruciating pain it causes. A male shop assistant was there when it happened. He casually picked up the box and walked on. We went to the counter to pay for our items. My wife mentioned to another male shop assistant that perhaps the boxes could be secured, to prevent it happening to somebody else. She was still in pain. Nobody offered her a chair or ice. He questioned her statement and insisted that she show him where it happened. He shrugged his shoulders, saying “it never happened before” and walked away. She told him it most certainly did happen and that his colleague was there when it happened. She reiterated that it was mentioned so that that the boxes could be secured. The other male shop assistant then barged in and said “I saw nothing. Sue us, call the police, make a complaint - do what you like lady”. To say we were flabbergasted is an understatement.
Now comes the final straw. While waiting to pay for our items, the other male shop assistant continued to reiterate that it never happened before, while smirking and shrugging his shoulders. At that point I told him to stop talking - enough was enough. At that, the female shop assistant, who was attending to customers at the till, launched a barrage at us. She shouted at us, spittle flying everywhere in a rage, to stop ‘abusing her colleague”. She then told us that we ‘were nothing. You British are nothing over here. Take your laws and go home - they mean nothing here - you are nothing”. I informed her that we were Irish, not British, not that it made any difference. She fumed back: “Irish, British - you are all the same - you are nothing. I am not going to speak English to you. You speak Spanish or go home”. She continued to attend to her customers while doing this.
In disgust, and flabbergasted, we left our articles there and left the store, with one of the male attendants still shouting at us as we left.
We have spent 19 years coming over and back to this area and love it here. The people are lovely, our neighbours are lovely. We have never been spoken to in such a derogatory and racist fashion by anyone, anywhere. We have the utmost respect for the Spanish people and their culture.
I have contacted the JYSK customer complaints dept. over this matter and also the Spanish tourist board. It would have been remiss of me not to do so. I’m sure the Spanish authorities would take a dim view of tourists being subjected to such racist abuse. There is no intention to sue, nor was there ever. The incident was mentioned to staff to protect others. Nothing else.
So perhaps you might bear in mind the attitude that JYSK employees have towards the Irish and British who visit their store.