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**purplecat41877** · 08-12-2006, 06:34 AM

What a horrible lady! Sorry you had to hear all that.

**Erin** · 08-12-2006, 07:11 AM

You know...my mom is handicapped (bad knees)...and she's not that big a person. We've had problems with the scooters at most of the stores we go to. If the batteries arent charged, then the scooters are in such a state of disrepair that they are practically undriveable.

If some of the customers would take the initiative and plug the damn things in when they're done using them maybe the next person might be able to get their shopping mostly finished before the scooter craps out.

and if parents would keep their kids from joyriding on the scooters maybe they'd have enough power for people who actually need them.

as for the woman being a large person. If she's not able to move around much, then she's obviously not going to be able to get much exercise done. Plus, she could be on medications that cause her to gain weight.

Do you know how much a Rascal or similar scooter costs? Anywhere from $800 to $4000. Not all insurance policies pay that.

**RecoveringKinkoid** · 08-12-2006, 07:13 AM

It's funny, but people (usually, people who don't have to deal with the public) think the disabled are a bunch of saints. Truth is, they are subject to the same ratio of suckiness that the general population is.

There was a guy used to come into Kinko's in a motorized chair. I dont' know what his affliction was, but had a serious physical handicap and had slurred speech.

He was a thief, a liar, a pervert, and probably a couple other loathsome things I don't know even know about. And worst of all, he used his unfortunate handicap as a tool to gain sympathy so he could scam and steal.

He'd come in and try to find ways to get free stuff. EVERY time. When I told him he'd have to pay, people looked at me like I was the jerk. After all, I wasn't kissing the ass of a handicapped man, right?

**groceryslave** · 08-12-2006, 03:40 PM

rectify and disabled

LIke I said before, I didn't want to offend anyone by pointing out that the lady way heavy. It was just an important part of the story. Also, I never said she needed to move around and lose weight. I understand that she was disabled (she said it AT LEAST 5 times) As for the go get a rascal, if the FREE CARTS aren't good enough, she could use her own wheelchair. I see several people do it all the time. Sorry again if I offended anyone. Have a nice weekend.

**chainedbarista** · 08-12-2006, 05:55 PM

i didn't find it offensive; she was being a b* about the situation. the store can't control other people's actions, so those who decide to use them for their 'recreation' won't be stopped, because of workers being too busy handling store operation.

yes, the chairs are expensive, however, in store scooters see so much abuse (think of what regular shopping carts go through) that i'm surprised that any of them work. she should be grateful they have them in the first place and not complain like a selfish asshat because she can't whizz around the store at her desired speed. if she wants that kind of chair action, get your own scooter, or better yet, SHUT THE HELL UP.

**LostMyMind** · 08-12-2006, 06:11 PM

I doubt she was truly disabled. From that short outburst, it smells to me more like someone milking the system for all it's worth. I can't stand those type of people, disabled or not.

I could use the same "disabled" claim if I want to. But I'm not going to, because there is always someone worst off. The fact that she rather stand there and scream her head off, tells me she not in that much pain. I have several crushed disc and nerve problems that makes everything more sensitive at times. Just standing for 10 mins will put me in major pain (my feet will actually change color in that length of time). The last thing I'm interested in is standing longer for a maybe freebie.

To get right down to it, that lady should have tattooed on her forehead "I'm an a

"

**Erin** · 08-12-2006, 07:31 PM

Quoth RecoveringKinkoid View Post

It's funny, but people (usually, people who don't have to deal with the public) think the disabled are a bunch of saints.

Oh, I dont think disabled people are saints...my mom is an excellent example of a sucky customer. Something doesnt go her way, and she acts as if the world is out to get her.

I know a woman who has post-polio syndrome. She's in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the waist down. I'm totally scared of her. Everytime I've seen her in the places where I've worked (last time was when I worked for WM in 2001) she was constantly kvetching about something or another. She was recently on the news complaining about people illegally parking in the handicapped parking spaces in her apartment complex. (ok, that's probably the most valid complaint I've ever heard come out of her mouth) This woman is not that bad of a person when she doesnt have stuff to complain about. (I used to shop at the clothing store she used to work at...she was nice to talk to there)

I think a lot (not all) of handicapped people tend to overcompensate a bit when they're out in public. They come on strong because they're afraid that people will take advantage of them because some able-bodied people seem to think that if you're physically handicapped, then that must mean that you're also mentally handicapped.

I've seen that happen when I was shopping with my mom, pushing her in a wheelchair.

**Brighid45** · 08-13-2006, 01:26 AM

I've had occasion to use scooters in various places, and have had pretty much the same result. The biggest problem seems to be that whether there's a large selection of scooters or only one or two, the same ones are used over and over and never get the chance to charge up. Then if you put someone large (like me) in a scooter that isn't fully charged, it sure as heck isn't going to run at top speed.

Rather than bitch at the top of my voice about it, I'd rather go to the service desk and tell them about the problem in a friendly way. Most of the time the CS people are really great, and I've seen improvements afterwards. The one time I didn't was in a big name store where the CS people had been yelled at so much over stupid stuff they just didn't care any more. And how many stores have the time or personnel to do something as labor-intensive as rotate a fleet of scooters?

People need to remember that scooters are provided as a courtesy service by stores. In some places they might be required as a way to make the store more accessible according to ADA law, but for the most part, it's a nice thing for the store to do. Of course entitlement whores will never get that . . . oh well.

**Erin** · 08-13-2006, 06:45 AM

The problem is that most scooters are not rated for people larger than 250pounds to sit in them...you get a person who is close to the 250 pound mark on one of those scooters, and then they go load the basket up with another 30 pounds of food, it's going to suck the power out of the batteries quicker.

My mom's scooter is rated for people 350pounds or more (more than she needs, but it's battery gets more mileage than her old scooter did) I think just from looking at the scooters in the grocery stores, the motors and the batteries are a lot smaller than my mom's scooter. It's no wonder they cant hold a charge.

I complained about the scooters that the Kmart down the street has earlier this year. Their scooters were held together with nylon cord and duct tape. When you turned a corner, the seat would start spinning (the reason for the cord), and the duct tape was holding the control yoke and part of the basket together. I got an email back saying they'd work on the problem. Went to Kmart the other day (months after complaining), and all they did was add more duct tape and cord to the scooters.

Complained about some unsafe scooters (similar condition as the Kmart scooters) at one of the older local Walmarts last year, and I think they were replaced within a month or so.

Some companies just dont seem to want to pay for maintenance on their equipment sometimes I guess.

I can completely understand the woman's frustration (and the pain she was in). My mom has gotten all the way to the back of a store, only to have the store scooter crap out on her. I've had to abandon her and try to locate another working scooter (good luck finding one) and drive it back to her, or get a wheelchair (which sometimes are in use because the scooters are dead) in which case I have to get a regular shopping cart to take back to my mom so she can use the cart as a sort of walker. (painful solution)

I'm starting to develop knee and back problems myself (just recently had to start using a walking stick when my aunt and I go to walk her dog every night) I am not looking forward to having to use scooters or wheelchairs to shop. You can bet I'll be a seriously sucky customer if I end up in Frozen Foods at Kroger's someday and the only working scooter in the store craps out on me. I'll try not to swear at the employees...I promise. It'll be whoever is responsible (i.e. too cheap to pony up some money for decent scooters) who'll get lots of complaints from me and everyone I know.

**RogueOne** · 08-13-2006, 07:58 AM

I remember this one time, about 9-10 years ago, when I was working at Knott's, I came upon this little old lady whose scooter had crapped out on her. Now, this is an amusement park so just think of how much more use they get then the store variety. I call the rental kiosk and they tell me that it'll be at least ten minutes. Now, this lady has been very nice so I tell her how long it'll be and then suggest I try to push it as a test and that if I can push it without too much effort, I'll just keep going until we reach the rental place. It wasn't too easy, but I pushed and she steered from the back of the park to the front.

Needless to say, I needed my break after that.

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