Rogers Employees Accused of Racism After Refusing to Let Customers Inside

CHATHAM, ONTARIO – Rogers employees are being called out and accused of racism following a recent event at a Rogers location in Chatham, Ontario.

Anthony Engelbrecht says he was recently working and living in Chatham doing construction work for a few weeks. He says that some of his coworkers don’t speak English very well and he had offered to help them sort out a bill with Rogers. He said that he gave his coworkers a ride to the store, but once they arrived, employees of the store wouldn’t let them inside, which he captured on video.

Customer Accuses Rogers Employees of Racism

Anthony says that he showed the employees his photo ID, but they still wouldn’t let him enter the store. He told The Brandon Gonez Show that he feels the employees, one of which identified herself as Victoria, wouldn’t help him because of the colour of his skin.

“They said it was a policy of the store and higher-ups. We left that day not paying a bill. Chatham is a small town, there are not many places to do things, if I need to pay my Rogers or Fido bill – I can’t do it in the town unless I’m from here,” Engelbrecht said. 

“But also, I’m Black, the other guys I was with were Mexican… this policy makes no sense,” he continued.

Executive says the “Policy” Does Not Exist

Following the incident, Anthony says an executive from the store gave him a call and apologized for the incident. Anthony says that they also confirmed that the policy to only help Chatham residents or only allow them in the store doesn’t exist. They also mentioned the employees in the video will undergo retraining.

The Brandon Gonez Show reached out to Rogers to find out more about this situation and inquire about this alleged policy. 

“The safety of our team members and customers is of the utmost importance to us. We have implemented a number of security protocols in our stores, including a policy requesting that customers show government issued identification before entering some of our locations,” Rogers wrote to The Brandon Gonez Show.

“We apologize to the customer for his experience at the Chatham location last week, and understand the retailer has also apologized directly to the customer. We will work to further enhance the training provided to our employees,” the statement continues. 

However, the statement also confirmed that there is no such policy requiring customers to be from the area of the store they are visiting. 

Rogers Customers Voice Their Upset

Anthony went on to say that some bystanders who witnessed the incident sided with him and said they won’t be doing business with Rogers anymore. 

“I’ve been in Chatham for the last 2 months, I can’t explain the level of covert racism, energy, body language, and looks that I’ve been getting here. But this was just the most overt incident,” Anthony told The Brandon Gonez Show.

While online, others are calling out Rogers for the confusing incident and threatening to cancel their Rogers subscriptions. 

“@rogers dumb question….when out of town and want to pay bill at any local Rogers outlet. Will that be a problem ? Asking for a friend,” wrote one person. 

“@rogers those employees need to be fired or me and my family are switching to Bell,” said another. 

“I honestly can’t wait to leave Rogers. Bell has been so welcoming. I dealt with a similar issue too in London, ON,” added another woman.

Meantime, many people have voiced their discontent with the idea of the employees being retrained. 

“Retraining? They need to be fired, as much as I wanna purchase a home & know I can’t afford in Toronto, small town living won’t do it for me,” one person wrote on Instagram.

“Welcome to 2022 where being colored is still a problem! Of course, retraining, let’s protect the system at all cost. What kills me is where they truly believe that,” wrote another.

Others Share Similar Experiences

Looking over at Google Reviews, it seems that this experience at this Rogers location isn’t uncommon. 

“Long time subscriber, whose phone was still not working after Rogers outage was apparently fixed, was refused entry to store because his OHIP card was not considered a valid ID. RIDICULOUS! Your so-called “enhanced security” just lost you a customer,” wrote one woman over a month ago.

“Very poor customer service, we been there yesterday July 29 2022 around 2pm.. we don’t allowed us to get inside because we don’t have specific ids posted in the door. They don’t even advice us what we going to do…because we just arrived here in Canada we try to show our passport but he doesn’t give us a chance.” posted another person.

While another woman shared her husband’s experiences at another Rogers store in Welland, Ontario.

“If you are an African-American be prepared for a confrontation as the store manager, Jordan, refused to service my husband who came to return a phone. They locked the doors and this seemed like a complete racial issue!” said a woman named Karrissa who reached out to The Brandon Gonez Show. 

She continued on to say that her husband was looking to return a cellphone within the 30-day policy and was “treated like a criminal”. She added that when they reached out to the district manager, they were told to return the device to a different location. 

“My husband was denied service, denied store entry, and denied the product he was seeking all because he ‘looked sketchy’,” she wrote, adding that they have been Rogers customers for 20 years.