JB-HI-FI - Guy with down syndrome gets denied entry to Mount Ommaney store.

barginsarelife on 22/09/2015 - 11:00
Last edited 03/10/2015 - 20:26

Absolutely disgusting JB.

Victoria Milne (Guy's sister) - (Facebook)
https://www.facebook.com/victoriaa.milne

I have never been so disgusted and mad in my life. Today at JB HiFi Mt Ommaney, when my dad and my brother (who has Down's syndrome) entered the store the security guard immediately stepped in front of my brother and said that he wasn't allowed in the store.

My dad, confused, asked "Why not?" and the security guard said that he had my brother's photo and he wasn't allowed in. My dad asked to see the manager and while he is being called, the security guard goes through his phone to find a photo of the young man that they think is my brother. When my dad and the manager are shown a photo of a white male who also had Down's syndrome, my dad says it's clearly not James, who has olive skin, and the manager replied "well they look the same".

Despite the evidence that my brother had been mistaken for another young man, the manager still refused to let him in. By this stage James, the sweetest boy who is still in love with The Wiggles and Ben 10, was visibly upset at what was happening and my dad took him home.

Mum called up the manager of the store, demanding that he apologize to her son, to which he replied that "he would never, ever, ever get an apology" from him and that he had "the right to stop anyone he pleased from entering the store".

Please, if you are also disgusted by the discrimination shown to James, share this and take a stand against bullying and ignorance.

JB-Deny-Fis apology

JB Hi-Fi apologises for any distress caused to James and his family.
We take feedback from our customers very seriously. We are investigating this matter.
JB Hi-Fi is seeking to make contact with the family involved.
Richard Murray, CEO JB Hi-Fi

This is trending on Facebook and is shared by the media (7news, Brisbanetimes, News.com.au.)

Electrical & Electronics

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JB Hi-Fi
JB Hi-Fi

Comments

      • T1OOO on 23/09/2015 - 14:13
        -1

        yeah, my tats weren't "epic" enough, their words,.. not mine,.. "come back when you get atleat a full sleeve or something on your face just so we know you are serious about the job and your career"

        • StewBalls on 23/09/2015 - 15:00
          +4

          Did you try using a beard & man-bun…that should have gotten you at least a trial period. ;)

        • T1OOO on 23/09/2015 - 15:20
          +1

          @StewBalls:

          yes i did, but good thinking mate, i was line ball till i failed the last mandatory entrance criteria, couldn't stick a dope 180 kick flip in the store on my broad ;-(

        • StewBalls on 23/09/2015 - 16:12
          +1

          @T1OOO: Ok, you've certainly tried your best…my fedora's off to you! Debrief over Appletinis?

    • johnno07 on 26/09/2015 - 02:09

      And out come the crazies…

  • GameChanger on 23/09/2015 - 13:58
    +4

    This story will be forgotten in a week, 0 effect on that particular store and the JB franchise.

  • Herbse on 23/09/2015 - 14:18
    +6

    Slow news day is slow

  • Guilty Flamez on 23/09/2015 - 14:47
    -5

    Sorry JB Hi Fi you lost one valuable customer beside they are freaking expensive I can easily get better deal somewhere else

    • rompastompa on 23/09/2015 - 15:09
      +4

      You just contradicted yourself.

      How did they lose you as a "valuable" customer if:

      they are freaking expensive I can easily get better deal somewhere else

      • ProspectiveDarkness on 23/09/2015 - 15:10
        +8

        Because s/he is looking for an excuse to express their moral outrage. Why else would one boycott an entire store chain over the actions of one store?

        • tonyjzx on 24/09/2015 - 16:51

          falsehood there

          JB has no customers that it considers 'valuable'

  • [Deactivated] on 23/09/2015 - 14:50

    I'm not against store security, but it takes a special kind of moron to treat all people with Down Syndrome the same, to the point that they can't tell two people with down syndrome apart because of their similar down syndrome appearance despite glaring differences in their other identifying marks. What's next, Asians banned from the store because they can't tell two Asian people apart from each other?

    • sobes on 23/09/2015 - 22:33
      -2

      I think it's quite clear that the guard did not intentionally make the mistake, especially when they only have a security image to go off. Isn't this outrage over the manager refusing to apologize?

      A bit of common sense shows that your absurd hypothetical has no relevance to this story, and is either a very poorly thought statement or an attempt to incite more irrational anger.

      • [Deactivated] on 23/09/2015 - 22:53

        I think you replied to the wrong comment mate, that made no sense to what I said.

        • geoffellis on 24/09/2015 - 01:38
          +4

          I think it makes perfect sense.

          Have you seen the picture the security/manager was referencing? I haven't. So how do you know that there were glaring differences? How do you know that down syndrome were the only obviously similar traits between the two people? You don't

          You're making an uninformed assumption that they treat all people with down syndrome the same. They denied entry to ONE person with down syndrome because they believed he was someone else.

          Your hypothetical situation of asian people is also absurd. It is a very real possibility that 2 asians may be confused as the same person. 2 white people as well. Or black. That doesn't mean they are banning all asians. It means that the person working security believes that the two people look the same. That doesn't mean all asians look the same or that they're banning all asians.

          Your lack of basic logic is astonishing.

        • [Deactivated] on 24/09/2015 - 01:45
          -2

          @geoffellis: Your presumption that the other person who was banned from that same pecific store who also happen to have down syndrome, and also happened looked exactly the same otherwise (except the skin colour, which can be attributed to lighting) is quite an unlikely co-incidence. If the banned person's ID is known, why didn't they check this person's ID when offered to compare? If the banned person's ID was not known, why didn't they call the Police on their suspicion that they found the shoplifter? You can't have your cake and eat it too. The security guard and the manager are both clearly in the wrong and it's fairly obvious that they used the person's Down Syndrome as the major identifying feature to deny access to the store because Down Syndrome is the only feature in common that has been confirmed.

        • geoffellis on 24/09/2015 - 01:59
          +1

          @The Land of Smeg:

          Where does it say that the other person was banned from that specific store? I haven't seen this written any where. Corporations like this share security bulletins between all their locations in a region. All that's been stated was that security had a picture of this guy and that he was banned from jb-hi-fi. It doesn't say he was caught shoplifting at this specific location.

          And it's not worth the time nor the effort to call the police over every matter. He may have stolen a 5$ CD for all we know. Maybe they didn't call the police initially. Maybe they just told him not to come back. Maybe they only verified the theft after he left the store via surveillance.

          And down syndrome is a major identifying feature. theres no doubt about it. Your argument is like saying they shouldn't use 'asian' as an identifying feature of a shoplifter. It is definitely an identifying feature. Doesn't mean it was the only one used however. Unless you believe the information stated by the family. And in my experience, customers/people lie. All the (profanity) time. Just so they can get the attention they want.

          Either way, you simply don't have enough information to determine who was in the right or wrong. You're taking the word of one person on facebook. It might be true. It might be half true. It might be mostly false. You don't know. You're making assumptions. Assumptions are not facts.

        • [Deactivated] on 24/09/2015 - 02:08
          -1

          @geoffellis: Security Guard 101 is that they don't have the power to detain someone unless they actually witnessed the crime itself (and even then company policy is not to do so, so they don't take that risk for a unlawful detention charge) but they do have the power to ask nicely if they could please stay while the Police arrive. Why wouldn't the call the Police to investigate if they truly believe that this person has committed a crime to the point that they won't even allow entry. How would a security guard remember all faces from across the region? If the security guard had that good of a memory he should be rain man not a security guard. You're making pretty big assumptions about assumptions, assuming that they did look the same. I am making assumptions based on the balance of probabilities. If there was a legit reason to confuse the identity aside from Down Syndrome the manager could have said so. As far as we can tell, DS is the ONLY major feature they looked at aside from being a male.

        • geoffellis on 24/09/2015 - 02:41
          -3

          @The Land of Smeg:

          You really are daft aren't you.

          Detention? Who said anything about detaining anyone? You're really reaching at straws. Half of that response was completely irrelevant to anything that has been said anywhere. Security can kick you off the property. They can prohibit you from entering the property. This man wasn't detained. He was simply not permitted access to the property. On the grounds that they believed he looked like someone else.

          You've clearly never worked in management for a place like this. Nor have you worked in security. Security bulletins will have been distributed to each store management and the security staff expressly for the purposes of this action, to prevent known people from entering. If a security guard can't keep a look out for a bunch of people that have been causing issues recently, he shouldn't be in his position.

          As far as we can tell, DS is the ONLY major feature they looked at aside from being a male.

          That's just it, those are really the only 2 features you've been told about. As such, YOU SIMPLY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO MAKE A JUDGEMENT.

          If you still don't get that, you're (profanity) retarded too.

        • [Deactivated] on 24/09/2015 - 04:01
          +2

          @geoffellis:

          you're (profanity) retarded too.

          Sums up your attitude perfectly.

        • SlickMick on 24/09/2015 - 15:13
          +1

          @geoffellis:
          If you were going to use a photo to treat that subject as undesirable, would you expect that photo ought to be sufficient to distinguish this person from, say , I person of a different skin colour but with the same disability?

        • SlickMick on 24/09/2015 - 15:15
          +1

          @geoffellis:
          wow

        • Ughhh on 25/09/2015 - 21:34

          Re: calling the Police comment

          Banning is probably be the easiest, least time consuming, low key (both for the business and offender as no criminal record) and least costly (for business and tax payers, Police have better things to deal with than this simple problem that the business can help prevent) preliminary method.

          I can imagine people calling the police when they see a car making a turn without indicating. lol

  • chachi on 23/09/2015 - 15:38
    +10

    I love all the heroes saying that they won't shop at JB again, give it a few weeks I say.

    • glam77 on 23/09/2015 - 15:52
      +5

      … and a 25% off deal

      • chachi on 24/09/2015 - 07:31

        They're not even that cheap any more.

  • Valdious on 23/09/2015 - 18:17
    +1

    Hey if you guys aren't happy with the service at Mount Ommaney then go to indroopilly one that's where I go. JB has always looked after me so I will keep shopping there

  • Lancerx on 23/09/2015 - 19:02
    -8

    fairly disgusting act from that JB. Funny thing is it's usually Indian who man the security, wonder how he figured out everyone look the same without looking himself in the mirror too.

    • barginsarelife on 23/09/2015 - 19:05
      +1

      Ohhhhhhhhhhwwwwwww

      • tonyjzx on 23/09/2015 - 19:59

        lol, why did you have to bring that up

        ive been to a few JBs and they have all sorts as guards, pretty sure its MSS… as long as they can see your bags they're ok

    • sobes on 23/09/2015 - 22:38
      +1

      It's strange to see someone condemning those involved, yet in the same sentence make a racist remark that's just as offensive.

  • TRENT86 on 23/09/2015 - 20:06
    +1

    Yeah was totally disgusting!! The security guard should be fired and manager stepped down. This won't stop me shopping there as it's not Jbhifi's fault, it's the ignorant manager and security guard

    • mooboy on 25/09/2015 - 15:09

      If I was a local, it would probably stop me from shopping from that particular store (assuming the same manager is still there and not fired)

  • save my dollarydoos on 23/09/2015 - 21:34

    A bad situation handled poorly by individual staff members thats all.

    If it was a quiet average unassuming individual no one would give a toss

    Pitchforks down people.

  • jason101 on 23/09/2015 - 22:37
    +1

    On December 31st 1999 a police man grabbed me while I was walking down the street, thumb cuffed me (with my hands behind my back) then searched my wallet noting down my ID in his book. I asked him what the hell he was doing and he replied "we've been advised of asians coming to this area to cause trouble tonight".

    As much as this post sounds like a Today Tonight beat up - vilification does suck.

    • T1OOO on 24/09/2015 - 12:24
      +1

      LOLs. We're u up to no good or not ?

  • Stevecro on 23/09/2015 - 23:29
    +4

    Another first world problem completely blown out of proportion by people who don't have much else to do in life but complain and whinge…just about summarises the incident.

    • T1OOO on 24/09/2015 - 12:25
      -3

      I'll pay that. And we wonder why our economy is getting eaten alive by the Chinese.

  • tetsuma on 24/09/2015 - 06:43
    +3

    I don't have an issue with what happened. Mistaken identity is unfortunate but the manager was well within his rights to deny entry. It's private property! I also question the second hand information posted on Facebook from the Daughter. They got their five minutes in the spot light and i'll continue to shop there.

  • [Deactivated] on 24/09/2015 - 10:58
    +2

    It's unfortunate that this has happened.

    We obviously don't have all the details- ie what the picture looked like….the JBHIFI managers side of the story etc…
    Essentially there are two different scenarios here:
    1) The security guard is a moron and the manager is a plain (profanity)-head . This is the most likely story, and the OP is super pissed because his brother has been discriminated against because of his appearance- which absolutely sucks. My only reservation is that this manager and security guard would both have to be complete idiots to act the way they did. But they are human beings- and we know that at least 50% of the human species is moronic/clueless.

    2) the second and more unlikely series of events is that the OP's brother is known to the staff/security guard/manager and has been a bad boy in this JB hifi store before. Maybe the OP knows this and is changing the story because he's super pissed that the JB Hifi guys are 'overreacting' to his brother's behavior- and feels that they aren't giving him enough rope/compassion given his mental capacity- which would actually be pretty understandable from JBHIFI's point of view, if this were the case. OP is now angry and has turned to shaming JB Hifi for refusing access to their store for a flagged individual.

    Most likely, the security guard and manager are both tossers and have a self guided 'no down syndrome' policy after one or two bad experiences.
    Just the thought of the poor kid not being let in with his family there would be humiliating- and if you've ever had experience with mentally disabled people before, there's often an obvious self realization that they aren't the same as everyone else or a hindrance to those around them such as the OP's case which is simply horrible.

    Just remember that one idiot manager and security guard don't represent an entire company/brand.
    They'll investigate this and appropriate action will be taken.

    JBHIFI can't control the actions from all of their 1000's of employees- there are (profanity) working everywhere.

    • T1OOO on 24/09/2015 - 12:23

      Jbhifi are the only store with a security guard. They don't need to be there. Useless mofos

      • [Deactivated] on 24/09/2015 - 12:43

        well they have it for a reason…they wouldn't waste the money for no reason.

        I guess it makes customers feel safe and also stops/deters theft.

        Expensive items are so small nowadays that they must feel it saves them money/time from theft….

        • tonyjzx on 02/10/2015 - 18:32

          So why doesnt DSE or HN or Good Guys have guards? They sell the same kind of crap as JB. The reason is JB attracts a certain kind of client that requires guards.

        • [Deactivated] on 02/10/2015 - 19:39

          @tonyjzx:

          If by client you mean bogan/scumbag client that's not true.
          They hire security guards because they sell CD/DVDs and smaller media products and a large percentage of that customer base is made up of teenagers and kids who are far more likely to shoplift than adults.

          It's also part of their advertising strategy (much like a supermarket playing certain music to make you buy more things) and that's why way the stores are set up for a more crammed, claustrophobic'market' feel. It's much harder to keep an eye on everyone as a staff member at JBHifi with so many people crammed into a small space.

          They try and market themselves as a bit of a free for all warehouse style set up, and to achieve that feeling in store it requires that kind of set up. The security guards are part of that set up to make shoplifters think twice before taking advantage of that set up.

  • T1OOO on 24/09/2015 - 12:22

    He was with his family anyways under supervision. Why make a big deal about it?

    Also. Did this kid have any money ? I doubt it. Prob didn't wona be there anyways :-)

    • Ughhh on 24/09/2015 - 12:31
      +1

      The "kid" is 21 years old…

      • T1OOO on 24/09/2015 - 14:09
        -4

        21 going on 12 though

        • MynyMouqe on 24/09/2015 - 14:35
          +1

          That is a pathetic, uninformed, and frankly idiotic comment. You should be ashamed of yourself.

        • T1OOO on 24/09/2015 - 14:55
          -6

          @MynyMouqe:

          Let's get the CEO out to apologies for me

          Sheesh grow up!

          Has the kid even spoken a word ?

        • Tal_Shiar on 24/09/2015 - 18:44
          +1

          @MynyMouqe: just scroll past, your sanity will thank you

  • Reverse Snorkel on 24/09/2015 - 12:33

    I think this article is getting way too much publicity. I'm sure somehow it was taken out of context. He was mistaken for somebody else.

    • rompastompa on 24/09/2015 - 13:28

      Thanks, a little more insight into what happened..

      Still such a weird response from JB Hifi. The way I saw that apology was 'I'm sorry your son looked like someone else.', not that they're sorry the incident occurred but in a vague way..? or 'I'm sorry I'm not sorry'.

      • Davo1111 on 26/09/2015 - 04:16

        an apology can be taken as an admission of guilt. QLD doesn't have the act that protects companies from litigation as a result of an apology

  • mightyfes on 24/09/2015 - 20:57
    -1

    oh brisbane you've done it again

  • ghoulie1 on 25/09/2015 - 08:56

    #

  • shaybisc on 25/09/2015 - 09:33
    +1

    Two sides to every story.

    Mum called up the manager of the store, demanding that he apologize to her son, to which he replied that "he would never, ever, ever get an apology" from him and that he had "the right to stop anyone he pleased from entering the store".

    What is the manager's version of that? I doubt it tallies with the mother's.

  • imcold on 25/09/2015 - 19:18
    +1

    I don't need to see a photo to compare the difference.. By listening to the very argument by the family, I would say he looked very similar to the person in the photo, if they could only point out the difference is hair color and skin tone which can be easily be faked.

    Harder to fake is body shape, height, shape of nose, shape of lips, shape eyes, shape of chin, and ears. They never mentioned any of these more obvious differences.

  • Zondor on 25/09/2015 - 20:34

    I can't take these seriously anymore since this incident below.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Kj8mlJK38w

    Until hard evidence is provided I just cant trust people. They will make up lies to milk company of their money.

  • Diji1 on 25/09/2015 - 20:56
    -1

    Oh no someone got offended because they expected special treatment due to their relative having a disability (because everyone's equal of course!) and now the whole internet has to be told about it.

    • [Deactivated] on 25/09/2015 - 21:40

      Special treatment? They didn't expect special treatment. They just wanted to be treated with respect like everybody else.

      • tonyjzx on 26/09/2015 - 00:53

        They didnt even get normal treatment.

  • imcold on 26/09/2015 - 19:23

    Here are 3 articles about mistaken identify. Happens a lot to different people.

    http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/2014-03-20/article-3657…
    http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/quarmby-w…
    https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromTheCustomer/comments/347vq…

    I guess in most of these situations the stores did apology once it was determined it was mistaken identity.

  • Davo1111 on 26/09/2015 - 19:41

    Sometimes people ask if my brother and I are twins. We're born years apart… and we believe we look completely different… so different we're kinda shocked/insulted when it happens*. I suppose to the untrained eye we look the same, but to us, family and friends we're completely different.

    It looks like in the case of the JB hifi situation it's unfortunate that the guy has down-syndrome.

    *we don't go on "The Project" or make a post about it on Facebook though.

    • glam77 on 28/09/2015 - 10:10
      +1

      I have that as well, even though we're a couple of years apart.

      Once this woman at a gig asked me and my brother if we were twins. All i could reply with is "We're not, but we can be if you want us to be"

    • ProspectiveDarkness on 28/09/2015 - 16:14

      Sometimes people ask if my brother and I are twins. We're born years apart… and we believe we look completely different… so different we're kinda shocked/insulted when it happens

      If you think that's bad, my boyfriend and I have gotten this about a dozen times from complete strangers. We don't even look that similar…

      • Davo1111 on 28/09/2015 - 18:03
        +1

        ahahahahaha :) If you kiss that'll freak them out

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