Guwahati: IKEA, which sells ready-to-assemble home appliances and furniture is under fire after journalist Nitin Sethi alleged that his partner faced racist treatment at its Hyderabad store.
Sethi took to Twitter to share the incident and tweeted, “Racist treatment at @IKEAIndia store in Hyderabad. Only my wife, from Manipur got frisked for goods she bought. No one else before us. And then all supervisory staff came to defend the racism. Great show from an ‘international store’. Cheers to another usual day. #racism,”
Responding to Nitin Sethi’s post, which has created an uproar over alleged racist behaviour by its Hyderabad store staff, IKEA said that it regrets the inconvenience faced by the journalist and his wife following a “mandatory billing protocol”.
The allegation by Nitin Sethi has sparked strong criticism against IKEA and even Telangana minister and Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s son, KT Rama Rao condemned the incident in a tweet.
“This is appalling and absolutely unacceptable IKEA India. Please ensure a proper apology is issued and more importantly educate, sensitise & train your staff to respect all your customers graciously Hope you will make amends asap,” he tweeted.
Sethi further stated that when they confronted the staff, they quickly replied, “call police if you want, we will deal”.
Nitin Sethi’s wife Akoijam Sunita tweeted, “I was one of the many who bought stuffs at @IKEAIndia Hyderabad today. but i was the only one whose purchased items were checked one by one. if this is not #racism then what is it? the senior staffs there were far from helpful. does @IKEA endorse such behaviour?”
IKEA India quickly responded with a tweet stressing that they condemn all forms of racism and prejudices as the tweets by the journalist and his wife sparked angry responses from netizens across the country.
“As a process, customers who self-checkout are requested for a final check before leaving the store to ensure the billing is correct and customers do not face any problems regarding double charging, repeat scanning of products etc,” IKEA India tweeted. “We remain committed to creating a better everyday life for the many people,” the furniture major added.
Sethi responding to IKEA’s statement wrote, “So @IKEAIndia staff singled out to check only @akoi_Jam for her purchases, passed sarcastic comments and then its supervisors (muscle, security officials) told us off and dealt on side with the police only to ensure we do not face problems of double charging! Slow clap.”
Akoijam Sunita said that she wouldn’t have complained about the matter if it was just about random checking. She tweeted, “Kindly refrain from responding without reading properly. makes your company look more irresponsible and insensitive.”
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