Asda delivery driver refused to hand over Gillingham family's weekly shopping after ID dispute

Published: 00:01, 31 July 2015

A family was left without any food in a bizarre exchange which saw a supermarket delivery man refuse to hand over their shopping.

Hannah Robb placed her weekly family food shop order with Asda for her husband Reece, 21, and three children, as she has most weeks for the past two years.

But when the delivery man came at 2pm on Wednesday, he would not hand over the food to the 27-year-old.

Reece, Riley, 4, Lulu, 11, Freddie, 9, and Hannah Robb. Picture: Steve Crispe

Mrs Robb, of Beatty Avenue, Gillingham, said: “Reece answered the door and the delivery man asked him for photo ID.

"Reece didn’t have any, as we leave our passports with my parents, so the man refused to hand over the shopping.

“We had nothing to eat. The money had already been taken out of my account and we couldn’t afford to reorder, so we ended up all having to go to my parents’ house” - Mrs Robb

“I came and told him I was the account holder. I had my bank card there and account details which he could check against the order.

"But he completely ignored me and carried on telling Reece that without ID he couldn’t give us the food, and left. I was shocked, to be honest.”

The £48 shop was to last the family through the week, and did not contain any items that normally require ID, such as alcohol, cigarettes or knives.

Mrs Robb said: “I’ve never been asked for ID before. The man saw I had my kids in the house. My eldest who’s 11 was shouting, ‘Yay, food is here’, because we needed the order to give them their lunch.

“Even after hearing that, he took the food, leaving three hungry children upset in the house.”

Mr Robb rang Asda in Sittingbourne – where the order had come from – and the staff were initially apologetic. They said they would contact the driver immediately and arrange re-delivery within half an hour.

Mrs Robb said: “Then we got a call back saying they could not re-deliver – as there was nobody over 18 at the house, even though we were there – and that I would have to place the entire order again and claim back the money I’d already spent, which could take three weeks to be refunded.

“We had nothing to eat. The money had already been taken out of my account and we couldn’t afford to reorder, so we ended up all having to go to my parents’ house.”