Customers and shopkeepers erupt in brawl over faulty dryer in western Melbourne store
FIRST ON 7: A Melbourne white goods shop became a scene of chaos when a disagreement between customers and staff erupted into a brawl.
A number of people were in the Big Mamma store in Hoppers Crossing when staff and customers exploded in violence.
One western suburbs mother who did not wish to be named told 7 News she was in the store and was threatened after requesting a refund for a $279 dryer.
"He didn't want to listen to anything I had to say," the mother told 7 News.
"Basically, (it) was meant to be a quick simple thing. Go in, get my money back, walk away. That's it.
"But… he did actually escalating to a lot more than what it should've (sic)."
The mother entered the store with some friends and demanded a refund in lieu of repair for the faulty dryer.
Mobile phone footage shows the fight break out between customers and staff.
"Do you want a f***king busted head? Do you want a busted f***king head?" someone shouts in the video.
"Are you listening to me or not?" they say.
"Give us the money back now and you can have your dryer back," the mother then says.
The mother claims she was hit with a vacuum cleaner pole as violence broke out.
When contacted by 7 News, the owners of the store locked their doors and took the phone off the hook.
The storeowner, who has also not been named, told media it was the customers who started the fight, which he claims left him in a wheelchair and needing to undergo surgery.
"I was in a wheelchair for a couple of weeks, unable to take showers for a month, unable to stand on my leg for three months, I was off work for three months," he said.
Four people have been charged with assault and affray, due to appear in court in March.
