Angry man turned up at store in dressing gown holding soap and loofah after faulty shower row

An irate customer arrived at the Wickes branch in Chippenham, Wiltshire, earlier this week wearing only his boxer shorts, dressing gown and slippers after being left disappointed by the store’s actions to fix his broken shower. John O’Malley, 62, of Rodbourne, took the drastic action after the new bathroom he bought from Wickes in September developed a fault on Monday, leaving him without the use of a shower. When John complained to the store, he claims the manager told him no one could fix it until Friday at the earliest but he could come down to the store for a shower.



So, on Tuesday, taking them at their word, he headed down to the store in his dressing gown, with loofah and soap in hand. However, on arrival John was told there was no shower available and was asked to leave. When he tried to argue his case, the police were called. “When I spoke with the store manager over the phone he said to come down and we could use the shower there so that’s what I did,” said John. “I came down in my dressing gown but the manager then told me he was only joking. He then called the police and threatened to have me thrown out of the store. I was not causing or looking to cause any trouble.

“I'm 62 and have heart problems so don’t need any of this but we should be able to have a shower. They suggested that we go to family or friends but that’s not an option for us. Not being able to shower for a week is not fair on me or anyone I work with. I travel to work by train every day and it isn’t fair on the other people if I haven’t been able to shower for days. No one at work wants to sit next to a guy who hasn’t showered for a week.” John says he had been having problems with the shower since it was first fitted by a qualified plumber and believes Wickes has a duty to repair the shower straight away. Although a refund for the £280 shower has been offered, John is angry at the situation he has been left in.



Gordon Mackenzie, head of customer service at Wickes said: “As soon as this case was brought to our attention, the team worked with Mr O’Malley to resolve the matter and he was offered a repair slot during the same week that he first contacted customer services. Mr O’Malley was unable to commit to this due to his work commitments, so it was re-scheduled for the following week. When he expressed his disappointment, a member of our team went to visit Mr O’Malley within a couple of days of him lodging his complaint. They discussed how Wickes could help alleviate the situation and he was offered generous compensation to cover the costs of showering. We do everything we can to ensure customer matters are resolved in a timely and satisfactory manner and while we appreciate the inconvenience of a broken shower, we feel we went to every effort to help Mr O’Malley to resolve this situation.”