Only the ground floor accessible to wheelchair users
Visit date:
This review is especially helpful for those who have or use the following: Powerchair
Overview
Only two and half stars because (i) Only the ground floor of this shop is wheelchair-accessible, the basement can only be reached by a staircase (ii) The portable wheelchair ramp used to give access at the entrance to the shop is too short (staff are aware and have said they'll obtain a safer, longer one)
Transport & Parking
Green Park station is 0.7 miles away and fully step free, but check before you travel, the lifts at this station are notoriously and disgracefully unreliable. Tottenham Court Road station is much closer, and fully step-free (contact staff at the ticket barrier if you want to travel on the Central Line as they have to deploy a ramp manually), but check before you travel, the lifts at this station are notoriously and disgracefully unreliable. Many buses serve Charing Cross Road and Shaftesbury Avenue. I don't know about parking in Soho.
Access
There is a big step at the entrance to the shop. Staff have thoughtfully acquired a lightweight portable aluminium ramp to permit wheelchair access into the shop. Unfortunately the ramp is too short, so it's dangerously and uncomfortably steep. I made them aware of this and they promised to get a longer, safer ramp. Only the ground floor of the shop is accessible to wheelchair users. The basement, which constitutes half the shop, can be reached only by a staircase. There is no doorbell. There is no way of alerting staff to the fact that you need the ramp. I had to wait outside for a long time, and eventually a kind random passing stranger offered to alert staff inside that I was waiting outside.
Toilets
This is not the sort of shop where you would expect to find a customer toilet.
Staff
The member of staff who helped me by deploying the ramp apologised several times for the fact that I had had to wait outside, and he immediately fetched the ramp and deployed it - the wrong way round at first, but I guided him in its correct use. He was sweet, courteous, friendly and helpful. Top marks.
Anything else you wish to tell us?
This shop will get a better rating if it (i) Gets a doorbell (ii) Gets a longer, safer portable aluminium ramp.
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