Livid with cleaner and staff member at b and q

No. YANBU.
Talk about callous and unfeeling. Whatever has happened to common human kindness?
It would have served them right if your daughter had just let go and peed on the floor.

I suspect it will be a company policy, possibly to do with insurance or a previous customer complaint/accident. The cleaner and assistant may not have felt they had the authority to override it.
It does seem very unhelpful and not at all a polite way of talking to customers! I hope your DD was not too uncomfortable and you found alternative loos!

YANBU - that’s shocking!

If you didn’t tell them immediately you wanted to speak to a manager then I would suggest writing a letter to the store manager and copying in head office. Alternatively, if you use Twitter then tweet your thoughts to them.

Oh dear! That’s not v helpful. There may well be rules & regulations around it, I suppose.

Your daughter should have said ‘in that case, I’ll just go and use one of the loos in the bathroom display!’ I suspect they’d have changed their minds then.

In the circs, if the door was open I think I’d have gone in anyway and said, ‘Sorry, but unless you’d like me to pee on the floor I need to go now.’
What could they have done?

I’d certainly put in a complaint to the manager. It was a case of officious jobsworth-ness too far IMO.

I agree. A case of "stop me" !!
And I'd take the store's consequences.
I'm sure local radio would love factory like this.

In a similar situation I would have used the gents! Recently in a holiday resort in Devon, on a beautiful day at the beach, lots of families were enjoying the sunshine after some very wet weather. The council run "ladies' was locked shut but the "gents" was not. Another desperate lady and I used the gents! I called out as we went in "ladies coming in guys, adjust your dress". Fortunately, the gents was empty so we spent our penny in peace. Frankly I have no compunction about using the gents providing there are cubicles available. As for B&Q staff in this case ...words fail me!

Newspapers would love this story. Plenty of photos of your daughter with a big bump and a sad face. ? They always stick up for the victim. You will get lots of sympathy and the store then looks foolish and has to apologise (if you can be bothered) ?

chestnut

It would have served them right of you had found an alternative toilet like one of my young Grandchildren once did whilst her mum was being distracted by an in store Shower salesman, she quickly pulled down her pants and sat on one of the Bathroom display toilets, then tried to flush it bless her, before her Mum spotted what she done and apologised profusely to the Salesman, who by this time was laughing at the situation and told my Daughter that kids do that often when they spot the display, some even climb into the bath and try and turn the taps on, thank goodness they are not connected to the mains water supply!

Definitely complain. If the cleaner was in the Ladies why couldn't your DD use the Gents. Would have been the obvious thing for them to let her do.

YANBU. and I would write a letter of complaint.
Also how long does it take to clean them for heavens sake.

BTW haven’t many of us often used public loos where cleaning was in progress. They often have a sign saying Caution, wet floor, or to warn you that there may be - shock horror! - a male cleaner.

So I really don’t see B&Q’s issue.

Worst I’ve known, though, was when meeting a couple of friends at a garden centre where we were going to use the cafe - only to find that the water was off in the whole area, so not only cafe and loos closed, but no use going to nearby pub, either - one friend was already desperate for a wee and it was a good half hour on buses to anyone’s house.
She did make it, just!

I would complain about that. They may have health and safety 'rules' about wet floors etc. but should have offered you the use of the gents. The checkout assistants need some staff training in politeness too!

My guess is in a B&Q store someone slipped on a wet floor and sued the company, so now no-one is allowed in whilst cleaning is in progress. However, in the circumstances I think they could have allowed your DD to either use the gents or use the staff loo.

I have a story to pipe up with in their defence. The company I previously worked for, a lady asked to use the toilet a cleaner was cleaning, cleaner said no, woman pushed past and used it anyway, slipped off the seat (it was wet with cleaner) fractured her spine, and attempted to sue the company.
Unfortunately there is a risk until the cleaning is over and dry which is why they said no.
Working in a customer service industry myself, we don’t enjoy saying no and I often have customers yelling at me for things that were put in place for their safety, please do not complain to the store and make their lives harder.
Saying this as a woman who has been pregnant twice and understands it is hard to hold in!

Its not so much the fact that the toilets were out of use until the cleaner had finished work.
It's the rudeness of the staff to the customer !

I hope if this ever happened to me I'd barge in past the cleaner and use the toilet.

Thanks for the lovely replies. We left without buying anything

There are safeguards the company could use re cleaning toilets.

There should always be large absorbent towel things the cleaner can immediately apply to wet areas if a customer is desperate. If necessary their might also be a prominent disclaimer notice.

Alternatively there might be two sets of toilet so there is always one available.

Until shops make shopping more fun the high street will keep on losing custom
B and Q have plenty of money for improvements to the shopping experience, including staff training, toilets and cafe.
It is a useful but dreary place and needs to be smartened up.

YANBU. I would complain, in writing, to the head office.

What a charmer of a sales assistant, letter of complaint on the way to head office if it had been me, I hope you found a alternative store that was more obliging

But if she’d slipped on the floor and lost the baby?...
However I can see your point if you gotta go you gotta go
I d have gone in the gents and had you stand as watch out