Major UK supermarket Morrisons’ decision to refuse wine to a shopper ‘the wrong side of fifty’ has been met with mixed reactions.
Customer Jackie Slater was told by the cashier – and later the store manager – that she could not buy the wine because she was accompanied shopping by two teenage family members, despite repeatedly protesting the wine was for her and her husband.
Mrs Slater, a management consultant, dismissed the encounter at the Merrion Centre, Leeds Morrisons as ‘the silliest bit of jobsworth nonsense.’
‘A mother can’t take her daughter shopping without being made to feel like a criminal,’ she said.
A spokesman from Morrisons said ‘enforcing the law when it comes to proxy purchasing can be difficult, and we would prefer to err on the side of caution.’
Gavin Partington, spokesman for the Wine & Spirit Trade Association (WSTA) told decanter.com ‘there would inevitably be odd examples of over-zealous enforcement.’
‘With a policy like this, retailers are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.’
‘Supermarkets are committed to operating sensible policies – overall the TASK 25 Scheme has been proven to reduce the sale of alcohol to people under 18,’ he added.
This comes a week after Asda apologised to Gill Power for being ‘over cautious’ in banning her 14 year old son from carrying the shopping to the car because it included alcohol.
Written by John Abbott
