A 60 YEAR-OLD mum has vowed never to shop in Waitrose again after being challenged for ID while buying two bottles of wine.
Abigail Pritchard says she was left feeling belittled and humiliated after being refused the bottles of claret while shopping at the supermarket in Stroud with her son, 23, and daughter, 16.
Abigail visited the shop at midday on Sunday, November 20 to buy items for a Sunday roast, plus two bottles of red wine and three bottles of beer.
“My 16-year-old daughter had come along to help, and bought herself some Fanta,” said Abigail.
“She waited outside the alcohol section whilst I got the wine, but upon checkout I was shocked to be asked for ID - I am 60 years old - and they asked for my daughter's ID as well.
“We were then surrounded by staff and humiliated in front of the entire shop as they refused the sale of alcohol to me, stating it is the law.
“I think it is blatantly obvious to anyone that expensive wine bought with a Sunday lunch by a 60-year-old woman and her daughter is very unlikely to be a proxy sale.
"The staff seemed to enjoy this refusal, enjoy embarrassing and humiliating us and wasting our time, they smiled as they flat out refused the sale.
“It was a case of a jobsworth wanting to exercise some sense of power over me, who enjoyed the humiliation in front of our local community.”
Abigail said she has been a regular customer at the store for over 20 years - but she will not be shopping there again.
“I will have to go further afield for my weekly shops now, as I cannot show my face in that shop again.”
After being refused the sale of claret at Waitrose, the family went to Tesco instead, where they had no problem buying the same items.
“I hope other people find this as ridiculous as I do," she said.
“If I was buying vodka and alcopops and nothing else then I may be more understanding too. But this seemed completely unreasonable and designed to belittle me and disrupt my day.”
A Waitrose spokesperson said: "We've apologised to Mrs Pritchard for the upset caused.
"Like at any retailer, if one of our cashiers believes alcohol could potentially be purchased for a minor, they are always encouraged to take a precautionary approach and check the ID of both customers."
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