Discrimination by shops and services - what can you do about it?

What can you do?

You can vote with your feet by not using that shop or service provider again. But, this won’t always be possible. What if you were discriminated against by your GP surgery, for example, and there isn’t another surgery in your area that will take you? And, anyway, why should you have to avoid places because of someone else’s behaviour?

So, what are the alternatives? You could:	complain informally to the person that dealt with you
If that doesn’t work:	make a formal complaint to the organisation in writing, following their complaints procedure, if they have one
If you don’t get a reply, or you’re not satisfied with the reply:	complain to someone else responsible for upholding the standards of the service (for example, a regulatory body, membership organisation or an ombudsman)
Or, as a last resort:	take the organisation to court

What do the anti-discrimination laws cover?

The anti-discrimination laws cover a huge range of shops and service providers, for example:

entertainment venues, like pubs, restaurants, cinemas, and football grounds

businesses, like shops, banks, and estate agents

public service providers, like council housing departments, housing associations, job centres, social services, and hospitals

If you decide to take action against a shop or service provider that has discriminated against you, you should generally follow the approach set out above. But there may be some differences in the process, depending on who your complaint is against. For example, some organisations will have formal complaints procedures and others won’t. Some will belong to a membership organisation or be controlled by a regulatory body and others won’t. And special rules apply to some services, for example, if you want to take a local authority school to court, first you have to give notice of your claim to the relevant government department.

If you’re in any doubt about how to complain about a discriminatory shop or service provider, talk to an adviser. See Get advice!.

For details of what shops and service providers should be doing, and what is illegal, see our other guide 'Is that fair? How to recognise discrimination' in Is that discrimination?

If a shop or service provider discriminates against you, you will usually only have six months from the time it happened to bring a claim in a county court (in Scotland, a sheriff court). So don’t leave it too late!