'Are you really deaf?' Customer 'left in tears' following Costa experience

Pauline, who suffers from partial hearing and requires the use of a hearing aid, says she was asked the question after approaching the window at the drive-through Costa as she "couldn't hear the speaker."

Mrs Bibb, a mother of one and grandmother, said: "It was about quarter past nine in the morning, I was on the way to get my nails repaired and just stopped to get a coffee and tea, it was the first time I had ever been there.

"I hadn't put my hearing aids in as I didn't want to forget them at the salon. The man who served me said I had to drive around to the back of the queue as the other server didn't take my order at the order station."

Pauline, a retired teacher, said that she had avoided the speaker after having trouble hearing the voice.

Pauline said: "When I got to the counter and said I couldn't hear him as I am deaf, he looked at me and said 'Are you really deaf', I was so shocked.

"He looked at me and said 'You aren't really deaf are you, you talk perfectly'. I really couldn't believe what I was hearing, I was so angry. The manager came forward and offered to help me and apologised and said she will be speaking to the man."

The manager gave Mrs Bibb the order for free, but the retired-teacher said this wasn't enough and that more training needed to be in place to stop this from happening.

The 60-year-old said: "I stayed on the car park after because it really hit me, the tears just started flowing, I was a mess honestly.

"What shocked me was that the manager didn't ask my name at all. She could see that I was visibly upset but didn't even ask my name. It's the first time as a person with partial hearing that I had ever experienced anything like that."

Pauline, who has a disabled husband and friends, said that more needed to be done to safeguard those with hidden disabilities.

She said: "Disabled people really do have to put up with a lot, there obviously isn't enough training going on for the people who work in the front.

"It really opened a can of worms for me and showed me that more needs to be done. A formal apology would have been nice, or at least acknowledgement that they were in the wrong."

Costa Coffee responded to the incident, saying that it has been investigated and reassured that the staff member has been re-trained.

A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: "At Costa Coffee, we pride ourselves in offering a friendly and welcoming environment to everyone, and are disappointed and sorry to learn of the experience the customer received when visiting one our stores.

"Our store teams receive Disability Awareness Training to help them provide the right service, and following this incident, the team member involved in this has been re-trained in how to deal better with sensitive situations whatever they may be for."

The coffee company went on to say that the team has also been retrained in the process for customers who may miss the order point at the drive-through.