A care worker was left ‘humiliated’ after being told to leave an Asda supermarket because staff ‘didn’t like the way he shopped’.
Matthew Scholes had just finished a 12-hour night shift at a care home in Thornaby, North Yorkshire when he went shopping.
But Matthew soon discovered he was being followed around by an Asda staff worker who was holding a clipboard on Saturday, March 5.
He was happily putting food and drink, such as cheese and energy drinks, into his basket.
It all then unfolded when the 49-year-old carer got to the alcohol section when the staff member said to him: ‘We have seen you in here before and I want you to leave the store right now.’
The staff worker then kept repeating herself even though Matthew said that he had done nothing wrong.
He then had no choice but to put down his basket and leave the store.
Matthew contacted Asda about the incident and said he was left ‘stunned’ by the response.
An email sent to him by the Asda Executive Relations team said: ‘I have spoken to the store leadership team who have informed me they do not like the way you shop.
‘I appreciate this may not be the response you were looking for and I am sorry for any disappointment this may cause.’
Matthew expressed his shock and said: ‘I feel discriminated against and humiliated.
‘I picked up a bottle of Ouzo and, at that point with a bottle in my hand, the woman said: “Can I have a word? I want you to leave the shop right now.”
“I said: “What’s going on I haven’t done nothing wrong, I haven’t stolen anything.”
‘She was repeating herself over and over again like a parrot.
‘The only other thing she said was, “We have seen you in here before.”
‘I was just so stunned. After the fifth time she said leave the store I had no choice but to put my basket down and leave the store.
‘The email said they have had a word with the team and they don’t like the way I shop and that’s it.
‘It’s ridiculous, there’s no explanation. I have not done anything differently, I have just shopped the way I have always shopped.’
For more than 30 years Matthew has worked in the care industry and he also worked throughout the coronavirus pandemic.
He has been left racking his brains all week wondering what he has done.
‘My coat was open and I had a baseball cap on,’ he continued. ‘I wasn’t acting suspiciously, it just makes no sense. I’m baffled.
‘If they have saw something in my manner and the way I do my shopping, I was completely oblivious to it.
‘I made a point of saying, “I’m a key worker during the pandemic.” I thought that may show my character but obviously it didn’t do any good.’
Matthew now constantly checks his back while shopping at other supermarkets, paranoid the same incident might happen again.
He added: ‘It is just wrong. I have been shopping there since that store became Asda.
‘Even when Aldi and Lidl opened I stayed loyal to Asda.
‘The other morning I went to Aldi, I thought I’m done with Asda now.
‘I have told a number of people and they are just as surprised and stunned. My family aren’t going to shop in Asda anymore.
‘I’m a full time worker, I have got no reason to steal. I have always paid for my goods.
‘I have tried to get the message across that I’m a genuine person and I have never had problems shopping before.
‘That is disgusting, it’s a bad case of mistaken identity. I’m shocked about the whole thing. I’m glad I’m not going in there anymore if they are going to treat people like that.’
A spokesperson for Asda said: ‘Whilst asking a customer to leave is always a last resort, if our colleagues suspect any customers of suspicious shopping behaviour then they can ask them to leave the store.’
The company did not comment on whether it had contacted the police.
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