While shopping

“Urgent” need was denied to customer

Customer toilets are only available in larger stores

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/leomalsam, Polina Tomtosova – stock.adobe.com)

It's embarrassing enough for her as it is: a woman from the Salzkammergut region with a severe bowel condition was repeatedly turned down when she asked to use the toilet in stores. This denial of "service" is a relatively delicate matter, as a consumer toilet is only mandatory for stores of 1000 m² or more.

"For me, this is almost a crime against human dignity," Regina W. vented her anger in a letter to the "OÖ-Krone" newspaper. She suffers from Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease that manifests itself in chronic diarrhea, among other things. "I was repeatedly forbidden to use the toilet in a store. A healthy person can't imagine how embarrassing it is to have to ask for it alone," says W. angrily. The explanation in the stores in question would always be the same: "We don't have a customer toilet."

A question of "good will"
"This is only mandatory for stores over 1000 square meters in size," says Martin Sonntag, Head of Retail at the Upper Austrian Chamber of Commerce. If there is a customer toilet, customers are not permitted to use the staff toilets. That is all that is regulated by law. The rest is up to the goodwill of the respective retailers. "Everyone tries to make it as pleasant as possible for customers, but it's not always possible to use the staff toilet. For example, if customers have to go through many corridors or the social room. It would be necessary for an employee to be present at all times," says Sonntag, who himself runs a retail company in Linz.

"Is it so expensive to provide a customer toilet with a coin-operated machine?" Ms. W. wants to know. The fact is that a sewer fee has to be paid for each toilet installed. Whether this is used regularly or only very sporadically is irrelevant.

Krone-Kommentar

Laute Frage nach stillem Örtchen

Mothers of small children, pregnant women or people suffering from certain illnesses know this: sometimes a human need simply cannot wait any longer. Fortunately, many retail companies allow the use of employee restrooms under certain circumstances.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel, adobe.stock.com, Krone KREATIV)

The fact that employees have to accompany customers to the "quiet room" and sometimes have to wait in front of it is probably not very pleasant for either side. As a customer, you can only hope for the understanding of the store owners. Because you would hardly ask if it wasn't urgent.