Natural Food Pantry - Ottawa, Ontario K1Z 8P8 (Westboro Village)

beware | by kelly on May 13, 2017

Be prepared for a frosty reception if you don't look like you make an annual income over $100,00. i was treated like a thief when I was last in there by one of the employees who followed me to the back of the store while I was browsing then made me give her the item I was carrying because she wanted it at the cash while I was completing my shopping. All under the guise of helping me out. I was doing just fine until her intervention. The message was loud and clear that she didn't trust me and I had no choice but ot hand over the product I was carrying. Unsettling, totally inappropriate and humiliating to be singled out despite other customers doing exactly what I was doing. It seems changes in the neighbourhood average income of residents over the last several years may have staff believing only certain types of people should be in the store spending hard-earned money and providing them with employment. I clearly did not make the grade as a desired customer when wearing cycling clothing, wet from cycling there several kms in the rain and perhaps slightly disheveled from the ride. Wear your Gucci cycling gear or be prepared to be treated with suspicion and disrespect. She did it politely but the intent was obvious. Very unsettling as well as unacceptable. After many years shopping there I will be taking my cash down the street to a competitor.