Karnataka: Decathlon Bengaluru Outlet Refuses to Sell Products to IAS Officer Without Contact Details, Draws Flak
The customer, who chose not to share the details happened to be an IAS officer from Karnataka. According to a report by Indian Express, the incident was reported from Decathlon's Chikkajala outlet in Bengaluru. The IAS officer, who was denied the product, took up the matter with the company.
Bengaluru, December 22: Decathlon, a French sports frontrunner that has many outlets in India, faced ire from one of its customers for refusing to sell its goods without contact details. In one such incident, a customer, who happened to be an IAS officer from Karnataka was denied goods after he chose not to share his contact details. According to a report by Indian Express, the incident was reported from Decathlon's Chikkajala outlet in Bengaluru. The IAS officer, who was denied the product, took up the matter with the company and informed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) about the incident.
The report adds that the outlet declined to sell items to Captain P Manivannan, secretary, labour and information departments, who declined to provide his contact numbers at the store. Anguished over the ridiculous behavior, the IAS officer then took up the matter with Decathlon, the consumer affairs department and the local civic body BBMP. Taking to Twiter, Manivannan, who goes by the handle @mani1972ias said, "Hope @BBMPCOMM takes action not to allow such restrictive and discriminatory trade practices in our Bengaluru". Decathlon Faces Threats Over Controversial Item ‘Hijab De Running’, Decides to Stop Selling Sports Hijab in France.
Manivannan was quoted in the report saying that shops cannot refuse service to the customers for just not sharing our contact details, adding that it’s not legal to deny service to anyone. In its reply, Decathlon gave excuses including the consumer court judgments that have gone against sellers on grounds of deficient service. Defending its move, the sporting goods retailer said that the company’s firm stance that they will not take the risk of selling to a customer who we cannot contact for any emergencies.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 22, 2019 09:59 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).