An Asda shopper says his seven-year-old son was able to buy a £2 scratchcard in the supermarket, despite being nine years below the legal age limit.
James Fletcher-Retallick said son Ronnie walked up to the cigarette counter and was able to make the purchase with his pocket money while the pair were out on a shopping trip in August. James, 47, claimed a male worker first offered his son sweets, before allowing him to buy the National Lottery scratch game at the Asda store in Folkestone, Kent.
James was shopping at the time and said he didn't realise his son had made the purchase until he came over and gave him the scratchcard. "I thought he'd picked it up off the floor then I saw it wasn't scratched. It just seems impossible," James said.
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"We go there to shop weekly and I've always felt he's safe to spend his money while I shop - but I don't feel that now. I don’t really agree with gambling. I’m not into smoking and I don’t drink alcohol."
James said his son probably picked it up because it looked "interesting". He said: "It was pink and sold at a counter with lots of sweets." He added: "Sure, this doesn’t immediately feel as dangerous as say selling a child fireworks. But in the long term it could be just as bad for him."
Asda apologised and said an investigation has been launched following the incident. However, James said he is unsatisfied with the supermarket's actions and wants a clear explanation. The minimum age to buy National Lottery scratchcards in the UK is 16.
He said: "I'm disgusted that they've failed to properly acknowledge my complaint. I feel very, very let down by them. I just wanted to know it had been taken seriously, and how and why it happened. It's a serious offence." He added: "The store mustn't be training staff properly if they don't know to refuse to sell restricted items to minors. Honestly I'm still pretty shocked."
James said there was a big queue on the evening of the incident so he made his complaint at their next trip on August 29.
The full-time dad said he is unsatisfied with the supermarket's complaints process. James said he doesn't think the incident is being taken seriously enough and claims he didn't hear from the supermarket for over three months at one point.
"I was told it would be taken incredibly seriously by the manager who called the day after I made my complaint," he said. "He said it would be a couple of days max before I heard back. I just wanted to know how this could have happened."
James said it would be "very, very rare" for him to buy a lottery ticket in front of Ronnie. "I've never bought one in front of him - I don't like him to get the idea," he said. "He had no idea that he shouldn't have bought it or that it was wrong. I've explained it wasn't his fault."
An Asda spokesperson said: "We would like to apologise and reassure Mr. Fletcher-Retallick that as soon as we were made aware of this incident, an investigation was launched within the store to understand how his son was able to purchase this product despite our robust policies surrounding age-restricted sales."
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