A Danger to Us All?

Stuart Coverley was interviewed by BBC TV Norwich regarding a ban which had been imposed on a customer by a branch of a supermarket. The customer had apparently committed no legal offence. It seems she had entered the store with parcels from other shops which she placed in her wire basket. She then had a tube of cream in her hand which she states she did not put into the basket because she did not want to be accused of hiding it away in her other packages. When she got to the till she still had it in her hand when she opened her handbag to get out the money to pay. After she passed through the checkout she was confronted by staff who imposed a ban of three months on her from entering the shop on the stated grounds of "bad shopping habits" (their words, he was told).

It would appear that the security staff thought she had taken the tube out of her handbag when she thought she was under surveillance. Even this would not be an offence as the contract to buy only takes effect when the offer of money is made at the till and accepted. If the information had been communicated elsewhere or a total ban on entering the firm's stores enforced, she would have had grounds for a legal case. Tesco have been offered the chance to state their side to NfCG on two occasions.

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