A REGISTERED blind Armed Forces veteran has been frustrated by his attempts to get customer satisfaction.

Stewart Rogers, who has only peripheral vision, enjoys a bargain so when he heard about the Co-op’s steak ’n’ chips meal for two on offer he went to his local shop in Kingskerswell.

He was told they weren’t able to stock it but when he saw the same deal on offer in similar sized stores in Torquay and Teignmouth he tried to contact the retailer’s customer services.

He wanted to ask them to stock the deal at his local, but he was frustrated by the retailer’s new hotline system.

‘All I got was a recorded message, proudly saying they had good news... they had gone digital,’ said the 76-year-old ex- RAF man.

The message tells people the retailer will from now only handle queries online and offers to send a message to their mobile phone.

‘That’s no good to me or people like me,’ said Stewart. ‘I can’t read or write any longer, and I can’t text.

‘There must be hundreds of people like myself and I feel we’re being punished for our disability.’

The ex-serviceman pops into the shop in Fore street every day to pick up a paper, which he is able to ‘read’ thanks to a device which scans the text and converts it into speech.

Stewart, who suffers from macular degeneration, has nothing but praise for the workers in the Kingskerswell store, saying they help him when he goes in each day.

‘The staff in the store are wonderful. It’s just the new “customer care” system I don’t like.’

Happily, it seems the retailer with a social conscience has now had a re-think and is amending its message.

A spokesperson for Co-op, said: ‘Inclusivity and diversity is at the heart of Co-op and as a member-owned organisation, feedback is important to us.

‘The majority of our members and customers engage with us digitally or through our stores, and the ability to speak to a colleague over the phone was always in place.

‘However, we recognise that the pre-recorded wording did not make that clear, and we are very sorry about that. We are reviewing our phone messages immediately and, have since spoken to Mr Rogers to ensure he is delighted with the service he receives from the Co-op.’

Stewart hasn’t any complaints about the deal itself as he’s managed to get them from the other stores in Teignmouth and Torquay: ‘The steaks were lovely and very tasty, I can recommend them!’