Malaysian photographer Stefen Chow says he was ‘racially abused’ at The Body Shop in Paris
Photographer says staff at the cosmetics outlet surrounded threatened to call the police even though he was asking for a refund after being overcharged
By Jessica Lin
Malaysian-born photographer and film maker Stefen Chow has accused the staff at a Paris outlet of The Body Shop of racial discrimination.
Chow, 37, wrote in a Facebook post that he would not be buying anything from the British cosmetics and skin care company in future, despite having been a regular customer for the past 20 years.
According to Chow, who grew up in Singapore but now lives in Beijing, he was at the 68 Rue de Rivoli outlet of The Body Shop on November 12 to purchase some items for his wife.
While the experience was pleasant and he described the staff as “courteous” at first, he was later overcharged by five euros (US$5.84) due to a mistake on the staff’s part. At the time, the store was unable to provide a credit card refund as its manager was away at the time.
The staff then “apologised profusely and asked me to come back the next day”, Chow wrote.