Chris Moffet, manager of a furniture shop in the south coast town has banned international students from his shop, Perfect Homes. Putting up a rather uncouth sign, Mr Moffet cites damage to stock as reason for the outright ban.
The “polite” notice – pictured – on the front of the shop informs students not to enter, blaming the actions of a minority group of foreign exchange students.
Mr Moffet claims that damage was caused to his stock by international students spilling drinks on the tables and leaving rubbish on the floor. However, in contradiction to Mr Moffet’s account, owners of several language schools in the area do not believe foreign students would behave in such a way.
“They will go to sports shops and internet cafes and spend hours and hours there, where they are welcome because they are spending money. But a furniture shop is not an attraction for students anywhere in the world that I know,” said Jergen Matthes, owner of a language school in Eastbourne.
International students are an important part of the local economy and international problems such as this should be avoided at all costs. With 25 language schools and 25,000 foreign exchange students in Eastbourne every year, you’d of thought that the local business and people would be well aware of any cultural differences that may exist. And with international students contributing £12m to the local economy, perhaps Mr Moffet should reflect on his handling of this international student problem. Why not simply put up a sign banning food and drink, instead of foreign students?
And even if he doesn’t have a change of heart, he is falling foul of new race relation laws and is leaving the store open to prosecution. Paul Gilbert, a solicitor, told us the award of damages would be unlimited should a prosecution ever be brought.
We hope it doesn’t come to that as it would benefit no one. What’s needed is a bit of common sense from Mr Moffet.
We don’t know what really happens… But I think it is not fair to ban all international student just for the fault of the few (if it is a correct accusation). I have seen a lot of misbehave students but not in a furniture shop. Maybe there is just a little misunderstanding. This has to be resolve because the ban is not god to the image of international students.
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there should be a strict action taken as i dont believe that international students would ever get involved into all this therefore they are not to blamed.
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I am wondering if it is not in fact a violation of the law to discriminate against a section of the public in this manner. Also I am suprised at the reaction of the local council who might remind local buisnesses of the 12 million pounds added to the coffers yearly and demand a certain level of sensitivity.
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Why not a bit of common sense from the students? Quite clearly a furniture shop is NOT the place to eat a takeaway. It’s not rocket science is it?
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While I agree MJ, I do think that the whole situation was handled without tact. Rather than take an aggressive stance, put up an offensive notice and discriminate against a key segment of the local community, steps could have been taken to politely notify people that no food or drink can be taken into the shop.
After all, we see these signs everywhere and they seem to work fine, so why so fast to blame the students?
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