Winery apologizes after turning away visitors from long-term care facility in Indiana
An activity director at a long-term care facility said she traveled about an hour to an Indiana winery only for her group of residents to be turned away because they arrived in a “bus.”
“I’ve never felt like my residents have ever been more disrespected and discriminated against than I have today,” Emily Babbs said in a Jan. 23 Facebook post. “I made sure I had a reservation, and that the building was handicap accessible. We did not have a large group or want a tour.
“My residents just wanted to buy some wine, maybe some food, and either way were prepared to spend money at your facility,” she continued. “In all my years working in activities and participating in outings, I’ve never had such a negative experience. Shame on you, TWO-EE’s Winery.”
Her post, which has been shared more than 7,000 times in less than 24 hours, prompted an apology from the Huntington winery.
“It’s with sincerity that we apologize to the group who visited today and to all those affected by this situation who felt the same embarrassment and hurt they undoubtedly felt this afternoon,” TWO-EE’s Winery said on Monday evening. “This exchange is not how we want our guests to feel or be treated.”
The winery explained that it has a “no bus without private reservation” policy to prevent legal issues. This policy ensures the groups sign a contract agreeing not to show up intoxicated or with outside beverages.
“We’ve held a blanket ban on these vehicles to ensure we treat all groups equitably,” the winery said. “However, these concerns clearly do not apply to the nature of the group visit today.”
The visitors from the long-term care facility showed up in a transport van, according to the post. Babbs said her group also had a reservation.
While the reservation was made for eight, she said the group arrived with six people.
“I explained to the manager that they were only in a ‘bus’ because we had a lady in a wheelchair that we had no other way to transport,” she said. “They still refused my residents because they have a ‘no bus tours/large group’ policy.”
Her driver offered to drop off the group and leave, but they were still turned away, according to the post.
“In our efforts to uphold the law, we unintentionally made a lovely group of people feel unwanted,” TWO-EE’s Winery said. “We welcome people from all walks of life and with all abilities and are deeply embarrassed by how the lack of clarity in our policy and processes has played out.”
The winery has reached out to Babbs to apologize, offering to “try to make it right,” according to the post. The owners are also rewriting the policy and training team members to ensure a situation like this does not happen again.
“We’re sorry, and we’re going to do better,” the winery said.
Babbs confirmed the winery has reached out to her.
“Two-EE’s can handle this however they see fit, again my only goal was to share the experience on behalf of my residents,” she said. “They have reached out privately, which I appreciate, but I have nothing else to say. My narrative is out there and now the ball is in their court on how they choose to rectify the situation.”