The next episode of "Eurostar doesn't really like wheelchair users"...
The good news is that they changed this ridiculous website text telling wheelchair users they must give up their own wheelchairs when boarding and deboarding the train. See my previous posts if you don't know what I'm talking about.
The new text changes the topic; it's now about the repair state of the passenger's wheelchair, something they never mentioned before:
"If you’re travelling in your own manual wheelchair without a companion and you need assistance boarding or getting off the train in London, you are required to ensure that your wheelchair is in a good state of repair and working normally."
And then: "If you require assistance, if the condition of your wheelchair means that there is a risk of injury to yourself or our employees/partners, we reserve the right to refuse assistance or to ask you to transfer to a station-provided wheelchair if you are able to do so."
As if wheelchair users love to travel in wheelchairs with only three wheels and a broken footrest, the message is, again, alienating disabled customers. Why is it okay to threaten customers with a service refusal for such an unusual problem? It's the opposite of welcoming. What's the solution then after assistance refusal? It makes no sense whatsoever.
Disabled people complained AGAIN to the regulator that the text doesn't reflect their Assistance Travel Policy (ATP).
I don't know how often they will play this game now. The reputational damage is done already, months before the Paralympics in Paris. Many wheelchair users who read this might not feel welcome; the regulator seems unhappy, and it all makes no sense. It looks like doubling down out of principle instead of saying the only word that is needed here: sorry.
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