A DISABLED cancer survivor says he felt humiliated over a mix-up at the till in Aldi’s supermarket in Newton Abbot’s Brunel Road.
Stephen Meekings was buying a few items for Christmas with his carer son, Jamie, at the time.
The salted caramel truffles he thought would make a good gift were flagged up as ‘Challenge 25’. According to the store’s protocol it meant they contained alcohol and the person buying them should be age checked.
‘Because of my cancer and treatment I have been left disabled and with a urostomy bag,’ says Stephen. ‘I need help when I go shopping.
‘Jamie is my carer and I passed him my card so he could pay for the shopping.’
As Jamie, aged 25, did not have any proof of identity Stephen said the till operator said they could not sell the truffles to them.
Stephen asked for the manager to be called.
‘I was hoping for some common sense, but he just backed the till person.
‘I explained that Jamie is my carer and that I was paying for the truffles for myself.
‘I told them I was disabled as a result of my cancer and ended up showing them my urostomy bag, which is used for drainage. I felt humiliated.
‘People behind me were looking on fed up and I had done nothing wrong.
‘I am so cross about this. It’s the disability discrimination that upsets me.
‘I have spoken to customer complaints and they said they’d send me a few vouchers but that’s not really an apology. I wouldn’t want another disabled person to go through this ordeal.’
Ironically, Jamie went back shortly afterwards to buy the truffles when he had ID and the truffles, made by Moser Roth, went through the till without being challenged.
Stephen said he had checked and found the truffles did not contain any alcohol.
‘What an absolute kerfuffle over a truffle,’ said a furious Stephen.
An Aldi spokesman said: ‘We are sorry that on this occasion we incorrectly applied our Challenge 25 policy after mistaking a product for a similar item that contains alcohol.
‘We have apologised to Mr Meekings for any upset the incident may have caused.’