M’sian Photographer Shares How He Was ‘Racially Abused’ at The Body Shop in Paris

Racism is everywhere in the world, as this acclaimed Malaysian-born photographer, Stefen Chow recently experienced when he was shopping at The Body Shop in Paris. The experience left a bad taste in his mouth and he said that he will never buy anything from them again as he was allegedly “racially abused”. 

Source: facebook

Based on his Facebook post, he shared what he went through when one of the store employees accidentally overcharged him by €5 (approx. RM25) on his bill. Stefen said that he has been a loyal customer of The Body Shop for more than 20 years and had visited the Paris branch at 68, Rue de Rivoli when he was there to buy some items for his wife.

The 37-year-old photographer who had worked with prestigious publications such as The Smithsonian and Time magazine, visited the store on November 12. At that time, the employees were pleasant to him and he had no complaints other than the overcharged amount. 

Source: facebook

The employees admitted that they made a mistake on the bill but because the manager wasn’t around, they could not refund the purchase and asked him to come back the next day. The staff also apologised profusely for their mistake.

He said, “I was about to forget the 5 euros. It wouldn’t affect my day if I lost 5 euros. However, this was in principle the shop’s responsibility, so I went back the next day.”

That was when things started to take a turn for the worse, as the store’s assistant manager answered him in a very passive aggressive manner and said,

“You’ve got your bargain, what else do you want?”

Source: mappy

Stefen was understandably shocked and said, “I explained that yes, there was a discount over the items, but I am still overcharged 5 euros – this was clear to me and the staff from the day before; that’s why I was asked to come back.”

“At this moment, the staff who served me the day before denied all recollection of what happened yesterday, saying it was all my fault. The staff started surrounding me, and I must say that I have never felt threatened in a hair and body care shop – until today.”

They even threatened to call the police!

Source: facebook

He continued, “I knew at this moment that it wasn’t about the 5 euros anymore. I felt very confused. The assistant manager then wanted to know my details, to know who I am.

When I told her I live in Beijing, China (even though I am from Malaysia), she rolled her eyes and gave an audible sigh.”

Wow, how rude!

In the end, Stefen decided to exit the shop but he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed, angry and confused. “As I was feeling calmer, I realised at no point the manager offered any form of compromise. I had the products with me, and I was even happy to return everything for a full refund. I thought the least she could do was to solve a customer issue. In the end, I was verbally abused, racially profiled by your staff. Don’t you think this is rather unacceptable in today’s world?”

Source: facebook

Stefen’s post has since garnered over 800 shares and gone viral on social media as several users shared similar experiences on his post and they even bombarded the outlet’s Facebook page with their dissatisfaction. Sad that racism still exists in 2017!

However, several hours after Stefen’s post went viral, The Body Shop – Rue de Rivoli branch replied twice in the comment section and asked Stefen to private message them with his details and apologised for the incident.

Source: inside retail asia

In another comment, they said, “Hi again everyone, here at The Body Shop we take this issue very seriously and we’re working with our team to understand what happened. Racism, discrimination and abuse of any kind are unacceptable at The Body Shop, and we’re distressed to hear that a customer has felt uncomfortable in a The Body Shop store. We look after our people, from our ingredient farmers to our customers, and we are looking into this to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Stefen Chow, we are looking forward to receiving your message to speak further about this situation. The Body Shop team.”

Let’s stop racism, people! 

Also read: The Body Shop Malaysia Gets Backlash From Netizens For ‘Racist’ Job Ad