Neil Herridge boycotting Asda after being falsely accused of stealing from Gravesend store twice
Published: 00:01, 14 December 2018
A single dad says he's boycotting a supermarket for life after staff accused him of stealing for a second time.
Neil Herridge says he will never step foot in the Asda store in Gravesend again.
This comes after he was stopped by a security guard and questioned about his shopping.
Mr Herridge, of Hampton Crescent, Gravesend, says he’s fed up with the way staff have treated him in front of his son and friend which left him embarrassed and upset.
The 51-year-old said: “Last Friday was the final straw, I am going to shop elsewhere from now on as I am not being made to feel like a criminal.”
In the summer last year, Mr Herridge was accused of not paying for a carrier bag by a member of staff at the store as he shopped at the self service tills.
He said: “It was the way she accused me, I wouldn’t have minded if she’s asked nicely but she accused me of not paying for it.
"I made a complaint to the store at the time and I was told the staff member would be retrained in such matters and I was given a £30 voucher and some flowers to make up for it, so I let it go.”
However, when Mr Herridge was stopped again last Friday on the way out of the store despite having his receipt for his shopping in his hand.
He added: “I was fuming with the way I was spoken to on the way out just because I had not put my shopping in a carrier bag.
"I had forgotten my bags and left them at home, so I had just put my shopping in the trolley and had my receipt in my hand as I walked out of the store.
“I was stopped by the security guard and it was the way it was said to me - I was insulted.
"He was rude and abrupt and so I went to complain to the manager, who just said it was store policy to check people who didn’t have carrier bags.
"I was embarrassed in front of my son, Billy who is 11 and the friend I was with.”
A spokesman for Asda said they are investigating.
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Lynn Cox