A 37-year-old man had his entire food delivery blocked after he failed to provide ID for the purchase.
William Wilford, from Middlesborough, was left standing on his doorstep stunned when a Sainsbury’s delivery driver asked him to provide ID – even though he ordered no alcohol or cigarettes.
He even offered to show his birth certificate but the delivery driver said he would have to rearrange the order.
William, who suffers with cystic fibrosis and diabetes, was relying on his £68.65 food shop and said it had cost him the last of his cash.
Although the supermarket eventually provided him with a refund, at the time he was told it would take days to process.
This left him facing a ‘dangerous’ position of being both out of food and out of pocket.
William, who lives on his own and receives benefits due to his ill health, says the cost of living crisis is one of the things making it hard to get by right now.
He said: ‘On the day of delivery, the guy placed [the trays] at my door and asked for a photo ID for proof of age.
‘I was like, there’s no age-restricted items in there, no alcohol, no cigarettes or anything. He said it was policy and that he needs proof of photo ID.
‘They said they couldn’t make any compromise even though I explained to them, again, about my health.
‘They said the best thing for them to do was to give a full refund, which I was fine with – I thought it meant I’d get the full refund straight away and I’d be able to go shop somewhere else.
‘I then received an email the next morning saying it would take three to five days to process my refund, which meant I was out of food and pretty much just living on scraps for a couple of days.
‘The thing that saved me was the one-off payment from the government that they were giving out.’
William was forced to stay up into the night and wait for the government cash to come through so he could then order his food shop from Asda.
He added: ‘It was the last of my benefits money, so it’s not like I could go out and get some odds and ends before the refund came through. I should not have been put in a situation where I had to rely on [the government] money.’
The money has now been credited into his bank account.
Sainsbury’s has launched an investigation into the case. A spokesperson said it is standard policy to only deliver to those aged 18 and over – but if customers look under 25, drivers can ask for ID.
A statement reads: ‘We are reaching out to Mr Wilford to apologise for his experience and to arrange a gesture of goodwill.’
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