KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — Fast food operator Pizza Hut Malaysia insisted today that it has no policy of barring disabled customers from entry, contrary to allegations made by a local councillor.

It has also apologised over the treatment Anthony Thanasayan, a disabled Petaling Jaya councillor, allegedly received at one of its outlets in MidValley Megamall yesterday.

“In response to claims stating that Pizza Hut has a policy of not welcoming guests on wheelchairs, we would like to reiterate that at Pizza Hut, there is no such policy in which we discriminate our customers with special needs,” the company said in a statement here.

According to Pizza Hut, its staff had offered to seat Thanasayan in a more comfortable, spacious and easy space for him to enjoy his meal and have his meeting.

“Due to the setup of the outlet which is narrow for wheelchair access, it would be most inconvenient and uncomfortable for Mr Anthony Thanasayan to have sat in the area that he had requested,” it added.

The offer was made with good intentions to ensure Thanasayan's comfort and ease of moving around instead of a discrimination, it said.

Senior General Manager Low Kang Moon also explained in the statement that Pizza Hut has arranged several times for a meeting with Thanasayan to apologise and explain, but its offers were not reciprocated.

“The management is very much concerned about the incident that happened yesterday at Pizza Hut Mid Valley. Our immediate action during the incident was to extend an apology and explanation of the situation from our Restaurant Manager to Mr Anthony Thanasayan,” said Low.

“We have moved to investigate this matter and we will be meeting Mr Anthony at his earliest convenience to resolve the miscommunication that occurred. We can’t stress enough that we take all matters in regards customer experiences with us very seriously.”

Thanasayan claimed yesterday he was barred from the fast food outlet during a recent visit as Pizza Hut purportedly has a policy that disallows customers from entering in wheelchairs.

“Anthony Thanasayan, who is councillor for Petaling Jaya and an activist for disabled rights, was scheduled to have a lunch appointment with an able-bodied person,” a blog for the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (PetPositive), of which Thanasayan is president, posted today.

“When Thanasayan requested to choose where he wanted to sit with his friend in the half-empty restaurant, he was told point blank by Pizza Hut restaurant manager Niq Ribiya that her outlet had a strict and clear policy not to welcome customers in wheelchairs.”

MidValley Megamall’s management later confirmed the incident, attributing the cause to the Pizza Hut outlet manager’s poor training.

“The manager could not accommodate the wheelchair. She wasn’t properly trained,” Stephanie Tan, MidValley’s assistant public relations manager told The Malay Mail Online.

According to Tan, the restaurant was only half-full when Thanasayan visited it, but the way the tables were arranged, left no space to accommodate his wheelchair.

She added that Thanasayan had promptly left the outlet after being denied entry.