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| - August 8, 2012
Meadows Mall Management/Owners
c/o 4300 Meadows Lane #10
Las Vegas, Nevada 89107
RE: ADA Customer appalled by treatment at Meadows Mall
To the Meadows Mall Management:
On August 8, 2015, approximately 3:30pm in the afternoon, my husband, father and I were exposed to appallingly poor treatment at your Meadows Mall in Las Vegas. We had been at the Mall for several hours making back-to-school purchases, attending the Back-to-School Fair, and selecting birthday gifts for my son.
My husband was in charge of pushing my father's wheelchair. My father has severe dementia. My husband has back problems and IBS. I was using a walker. I have cancer and MS. The wheelchair was loaded with bags from our Back-to-School Fair, Dillard's, and the shoe store we patronized during our visit. It was OBVIOUS that we were not vagrants. We were not dressed like vagrants, we did act like vagrants, and we were quite loaded down with packages from purchases showing we were NOT vagrants. We had parked on the upper level near Dillard's, so my last stop was the Claire's boutique across from upstairs Dillard's.
The Claire's store is NOT ADA accessible (check it out for yourself and imagine it being over run with at least fifty or more shoppers in addition to the tight aisles) so my husband remained outside the front of the store with my father in his wheelchair and my walker beside him. They were NOT blocking the store front in ANY way, and they were NOT blocking the walkway. My husband pulled my father's chair and my walker up closely along side of the wall away from the door and seated himself on the ground between the walker and the wheelchair, feet tucked tightly. We are ALL three disabled to some degree and we were ALL very tired. There were no benches close to the Claire's store, I only intended to be in the store for a few minutes, and we were carefully NOT blocking anything. My husband sat down to wait for me. For a few minutes!
A security guard told my husband he had to get up, because the mall policy stated he could not sit on the ground. He told my husband to stand or find a bench to sit on. My husband explained that he was not bothering or blocking any person or business and was just waiting for me, and the benches were some distance away. He was waiting for only a few minutes! The guard emphasized that the policy is "no sitting on the floor anywhere." The guard suggested the benches half way down the Mall in the opposite direction from the area of our parked vehicle. Interesting -- because no where is the "NO SITTING ON THE FLOOR RULE" stated in their CODE OF CONDUCT. Also interesting is that the woman just across from my husband, about four feet away, standing with a double stroller and two young children who were SITTING ON THE FLOOR, was NOT told the same. It's okay for children but not the elderly, nor disabled elderly, to sit and rest for a few minutes on the floor. Hmmm. Interesting.
How should I perceive this? Did the guard view my husband and wheel chaired father as nuisances? Homeless? Vagrants? Security problems? Safety problems? I think not. We viewed the situation and none of those labels fit us. We were no different than the woman with the stroller and children but we were treated differently. We feel appalled, discriminated against, and greatly saddened by the treatment. What started out as a nice slow day of necessary shopping turned into a depressing, unhappy event for us. We left the store with no intention of ever returning. I would suggest you add some more benches through the mall, rather than continue this type of discrimination and bothering of people who do not deserve it.
POST NOTE: On August 8, 2015, I posted a complaint about poor treatment of ADA customers at the Meadows Mall in Las Vegas. I'd like to say that the Mall Management responded and was very apologetic. They responded in a timely and positive manner which pleased me very much. I would happily change from one star tO five stars for their appropriate and pleasing response.
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