On Tuesday, May 6, a customer entered a Mercedes-Benz dealership expecting to be greeted. This wasn’t the case.
TikTok user @broskisavageg30 not only owns a Mercedes-Benz but also a BMW. He posted a video saying he waited nearly 40 minutes in the dealership, making eye contact with multiple sales associates in the facility. Still, no one approached him.
One of Mercedes-Benz’s pillars of success is exceptional service to guarantee every customer receives a premium experience. So why did no one approach @broskisavageg30?
Why was he ignored?
Numerous users in the comments made the correlation between the lack of service and race.
@broskisavageg30 is a Haitian with long full wicks (a particular type of locs). The notion that black patrons might be denied service or ignored is nothing new, especially at high-end or luxury stores and dealerships.
One user commented, “Walk out. They know you are there and judged that you couldn’t afford it. I need my people to stop spending money with places that disrespect them.”
Racial profiling in retail remains a significant problem amongst giant retailers and department stores like CVS, Macy’s, Walmart, and Zara. In a survey conducted by DealAid, about 90.2% of consumers who identified as Black or African American experienced racial profiling.
The act of racial profiling is not limited to ignoring or denying service to consumers.
In the same survey, 75.5% of respondents reported that they were followed around the store and/or watched with scrutiny. 27.5% were asked for additional ID, and 22.6% were berated with intrusive questions while shopping.
Racial profiling is a microaggression
DealAid’s survey also reported that the two most common types of racial profiling and microaggressions amongst Black individuals while shopping were:
- Being treated differently from other races
- Being ignored or made to wait exceedingly longer than customers of other races
While the bias is not always a reflection of the company, but the biases of individual employees. However, the company is liable for the actions of its employees.
For example, in 2020, a Black man who was followed around a Walmart in Wood Village, Oregon, was awarded 4.4 million dollars in a settlement. The man, Michael Mangum, filed a lawsuit for being followed by one of the store’s ‘asset protection associates’ and for threatening him if he did not immediately leave the store.
@broskisavageg30 been walking walking around for 45min now (prefer bmw anyways ) #fyp #fypppppppopppppppppppppppppppfyp ♬ original sound – broski_savage_G30
Additionally, a more recent incident in H&M was posted to TikTok as well.
Two young Black girls, Noela and her sister, were denied service by the store manager and escorted out of H&M by mall security. The manager provided no reason for denying them service other than her belief that she had the right to do so. The sales associate has since been removed from her position, and H&M issued a statement on Noela’s TikTok apologizing for the incident.
The Daily Dot reached out to TikTok user @broskisavageg30 via TikTok DM and Mercedes-Benz via email.
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