Supermarket Lidl has apologised to a shopper who said he was "made to feel like a criminal" when he was wrongly accused of stealing jam. Mike Stubbs said staff put him through a "humiliating" bag search.
Mike, 70 and a diabetic, said he had been to see his GP and had stopped off at Lidl to pick up a low-sugar jam after finding it difficult to find it in other shops. He said he went to pick up the product and was carrying a shoulder bag.
Mike said they didn't have the jam he was looking for, so he headed for the exit of the Kidsgrove supermarket in Staffordshire, reports StokeonTrentLive. He said it was then that a member of staff stopped him and "aggressivel" asked to see inside his bag.
Mike claims he was accused of "lifting something from the shelf and putting it inside". Denying that he'd done anything of the sort, Mike agreed to open his bag to prove his innocence.
But he claims the experience made him feel like a "suspect". Lidl has since apologised for the incident, which happened on Tuesday, November 1.
Mike, from Scholar Green, said: "I was ready to explode, I was absolutely livid. I proved I hadn’t got anything and he still hadn’t apologised.
"I went to calm down in the car. I had a look through the brochure they gave and the customer service address wasn’t in there, so I went back in the store and made sure to get his name, but he didn’t tell me his surname and ignored me.
"It’s insulting behaviour. I didn’t get the jam either, so I was shot both ways.
"They are making every customer that enters the store a suspect. You're made to feel like a criminal. It’s totally unacceptable and one of the worst shopping experiences I’ve ever had. I would like a formal acknowledgement and apology that they’ve investigated the complaint."
Lidl issued an apology to Mike after StokeonTrentLive got in touch.
A spokesperson said: "We were sorry to learn of this matter as it is never our intention for a customer to have a disappointing experience in our stores. Following contact with our customer services team, the matter was escalated to senior regional management and feedback has been provided to the store."
