A furious mother has slammed a popular toy store after they refused to take her two-year-old son's pocket money so he could buy his own toy. Emily White recalled the 'disgusting' moment Smyths Toys Superstore knocked her toddler back to pay for his new toy airplane and tea set with the change he had saved up, the Mirror reports.
The outraged mum says the store at Portland Retail Park in Mansfield in Nottingham informed her on November 24 that the cash payment would not be accepted either from her or the tot and it would need to be paid for by card or with a bank note. The 26-year-old, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, said staff told her and her mother who were shopping together that there is a £10 limit for customers wanting to pay with coins.
Even when Emily explained to staff it was her son's loose change from his money tin and she wanted to help him learn the value of money, she was told it was a store policy. She also added she went to the trouble of separating all the coins out beforehand to make the cashier's life easier and the money mostly consisted of £1 coins and 50ps.
Emily said: "My mum pulled out the bag with the money in and the worker is like 'I can't take that'. We said 'what do you mean?'.
"She said it again and said she'd get someone over to explain it to us. So someone came over and said 'sorry, we can't take that but there's a cash machine at the Sainsbury's'."
The family were left baffled by this advice as they said the supermarket was a significant journey away from the toy shop. The mum said: "They [Smyths staff] said 'come back, pay for the toys, and then it's all sorted'.
"We were told there was a £10 limit in how much you can spend in pound coins. So I just got my card out and paid for it on my card, as you would because I didn't want my child to go without.
"I just think it's a bit disgusting that my child is three in February and he needs to learn the value of money and that's how they dealt with it." Emily's shocked stepdad, Peter Kirk also claimed that the cash machine they were told to visit was 'some trek' away and the way the situation was handled was 'disgusting'.
Smyths chain has been contacted for comment.
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