Myer CEO has apologised in the wake of comments made yesterday in which he described Medicare levy as “something they would have spent with us”, he told a Macquarie Investment conference, as reported by Fairfax.
Bernie Brookes also went on to say Julia Gillard’s proposed 0.5% Medicare levy increase to fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme would mean less business for his retail chain, was ”not good for our customers and may have an impact.”
Myer was even trending on Twitter today, #boycottmyer also did the rounds and a Facebook petition proposing to boycott the department store was set up.
“I apologise to those who may have been offended or hurt by the comments I made” Myer CEO Bernie Brookes said in a grovelling apology issued today.
“To clarify and give substances to comments perhaps taken out of context” he added, “Myer supports the introduction of an NDIS”
However, the retail boss stuck to his guns, saying, “Ideally we would like any government initiative to be funded within the revenue stream it has, rather than through a new or additional tax take. “As a business, we are sensitive to imposts on the consumer by the government as this adds to negative consumer sentiment and that adversely impacts sales, profit and jobs.”
One cheesed off consumer tweeted:
“there’s no other store like David Jones!!! Changing my shopping habits after that slur.”
“I wish I hadn’t already dismissed Myer as an overpriced, poorly stocked hell hole with no customer service so I could boycott it again.” another said.
Yet another tweeted: “How about instead of Myer, shop at smaller, local retailers? If they won’t support their community, don’t support @Myer_MyStore!”
Myer also tweeted a separate apology several hours ago to appease the Twitterati:
“We are very sorry to those who have been hurt by our comments & want to make it very clear that we support the introduction of the NDIS.”
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