North London mystery shopper survey – How accessible is your high street?

In 2011 Livability revealed the results of its ‘’mystery shopper’’ snapshot survey of 3 North London high streets: over 50% of surveyed outlets fail to provide a fully accessible and friendly environment for disabled people with mobility issues.

In addition to access problems and unsuitable facilities, in some instances disabled customers are faced with shocking levels of hostility and indifference when asking for help.

A mystery shopper, who uses a mobility scooter, visited a variety of outlets such as shops, banks, coffee shops, newsagents and restaurants on the high streets nearest to some of the charity’s residential care homes. The high-streets visited were in Barnett, Harrow and Borehamwood.  The locations were chosen because the charity has three care homes in these areas and high streets facilities are regularly used by its residents. The findings relating to the mystery shopper experience include:• Being ignored by staff or/and being made to feel unwelcome

• Staff failing to help when prompted, even when the mystery shopper was the only customer on the premises
• Many premises being totally inaccessible to disabled people with mobility issues because they lack ramps and because entering the outlet involves negotiating several high steps
• High street banks that fail to answer the specially installed bell at their entrances which should allow disabled people to call for assistance in entering the premises
• Staff not knowing whether their premises have disabled toilets or accessible changing rooms when asked
• Goods inside shops being displayed in such a way that they are out of the reach of someone who uses a wheelchair or a mobility scooter
• Goods being left on the floor in the aisles preventing people with wheelchairs or mobility scooter to be able to navigate the shop floor
• Owners and staff dismissing feedback from our mystery shopper when problems with facilities were pointed out to them, such as light bulb in disabled toilet needing replacement or existing ramps being unsuitable and hard to negotiate or even dangerous
• The doors of accessible toilets in shopping centres being too heavy and therefore hard to open and close
• Accessible toilets being used by the general public as outlets fail to fit toilets with ‘’Radar’’ keys/locks that would ensure that only disabled people have access to them
• Tube stations that have accessible lifts and platforms but still cannot be used by disabled people with electric wheelchairs and scooters because the gap between platforms and trains is too wide to allow them to get on the train.

In total 68 outlets were visited: 18 of them provided a completely negative experience; 19 failed to meet some of the shopper’s expectations and only 31 provided a fully positive experience. The survey focused on: accessibility; help and support provided by staff; quality of facilities such as accessible toilets and accessible changing rooms.

The mystery shopper exercise was also an opportunity to praise shops and other outlets that offer excellent service and access to disabled people and award certificates to star performers. The three outlets that performed best in the survey were branches of: the Body Shop, HMV and Superdrug.

As well as the shop floor being fully accessible, staff at these outlets pro-actively asked our mystery shopper if she needed help, picked up goods for her and put the goods in her mobility scooter once she had completed her purchase.