KT Rama Rao asks IKEA to apologise

Nitin Sethi, a customer at the store on Sunday tweeted Racist treatment at Ikea store in Hyderabad. Only my wife, from Manipur got frisked for goods she bought. No one else before us.

Hyderabad: Taking serious objection to the alleged racist treatment for a customer at Ikea store in the city, Industries Minister KT Rama Rao wanted the store management to apologize to the customer.

Nitin Sethi, a customer at the store on Sunday tweeted “Racist treatment at Ikea store in Hyderabad. Only my wife, from Manipur got frisked for goods she bought. No one else before us. And then all the supervisory staff came to defend the racism. Great show from an international store. Cheers to another usual day”

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This is appalling and absolutely unacceptable @IKEAIndia

Please ensure a proper apology is issued & more importantly educate, sensitise & train your staff to respect all your customers graciously

Hope you will make amends asap https://t.co/l84GimoIrM

— KTR (@KTRTRS) August 29, 2022

Responding to Nitin Sethi‘s tweet, the Minister tweeted “This is appalling and absolutely unacceptable Ikea. Please ensure a proper apology is issued and more importantly educate, sensitise and train your staff to respect all your customers graciously. Hope you will make amends asap,”.

Hej, at IKEA, we believe that equality is a human right, and we condemn all forms of racism and prejudice. We regret the inconvenience caused to you while following the mandatory billing protocol. (1/3)

— IKEAIndia (@IKEAIndia) August 28, 2022

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. (2/3)

— IKEAIndia (@IKEAIndia) August 28, 2022

We remain committed to creating a better everyday life for the many people. (3/3)

— IKEAIndia (@IKEAIndia) August 28, 2022

After facing a huge backlash Ikea responded to the customer and tweeted, “Hej, at IKEA, we believe that equality is a human right, and we condemn all forms of racism and prejudice. We regret the inconvenience caused to you while following the mandatory billing protocol. 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. We remain committed to creating a better everyday life for the many people.”

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