Aldi wouldn’t sell me booze - because my 26-year-old daughter was with me...
FURIOUS DAD SLAMS STAFF FOR ‘HUMILIATING’ INCIDENT AT STORE
ALDI refused to sell alcohol to a man in his sixties – because he was shopping with his 26-year-old daughter.
Ken Deeks, 66, wanted to buy a bottle of whisky and packs of lager and bitter with his weekly shop at the Didsbury branch.
But when he got to the till, the cashier refused to sell it to him because his daughter was with him and she didn’t have any ID.
Ken says that when he asked to speak to a manager, they backed the member of staff and refused to sell him the drinks.
He eventually went back to the store alone several hours later and was allowed to buy the alcohol, but says the policy is ‘ridiculous’ because he was the one buying the shopping, not his daughter. Aldi says it has apologised to Ken for the inconvenience, but stands by its Challenge 25 policy.
Ken said: “I’ve been there with my daughter many times and this is the first time it has happened.
“I’ve been going there since it opened. I told them she wasn’t the one who was buying it.
“My daughter was extremely upset. She went to the car in tears.
“She was humiliated and embarrassed because the whole shop had heard what was going on.
“If I go back there again can I go in with her?
“What about parents with children in trolleys? If someone was going to buy alcohol for a minor, they wouldn’t exactly do it with them there. “I’m absolutely incensed by this. I understand they have to stop people buying alcohol for children, but I’m 66 – I’m clearly not under 25. “Coupled with the fact that my daughter looks at least 20- yearsold, they should have used some common sense.” Ken, an exercise therapist from Withington, says he was particularly annoyed about how the store treated his daughter as she has an anxiety disorder and was extremely upset about the incident. Shopper Ken Deeks
He says that a member of staff announced to a manager that his daughter – who does not wish to be named – had anxiety ‘loud enough for everyone in the shop to hear,’ which left her in tears.
Ken added: “I wanted to take this up because of the offence caused to my daughter.
“I’m not bothered about me, but I’m fuming about what they did to her.
“What I want from this a public apology and for them to review their policy.
“I’d also like them to give my daughter a £50 gift token or something like it, to say sorry.”
An Aldi spokesman said: “We operate a Challenge 25 policy at all of our stores and staff can apply this if they think alcohol may be passed to someone underage.
“We have apologised to Mr Deeks for any inconvenience caused.”