A mum was horrified after her 2-year-old son was banned from paying for a toy with his pocket money at Smyths Toy Store - despite having more than enough money to pay for the purchase. When she tried to buy a toy set for her toddler using his pocket money, the store told them they needed to go to a Sainsbury's cash machine to withdraw cash.
Emily White, a 26-year-old from Nottingham, says she found the experience 'disgusting'. Emily claims staff told her she was not able to purchase the toy airplane and a tea set at the Portland Retail Park in Mansfield, Nottingham, with her toddler's pocket money.
According to the 26-year-old, when she went to the store on November 24 and tried to pay with the change the boy had saved up, she was told she needed to pay by card - or with a note. She went on to say that staff at the store told her and her mother - who was also there - that there is a limit of £10 for people trying to use coins to buy items.
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This, according to Emily, was the store's policy. After the issue arose, the 26-year-old explained to staff that she had taken her son to spend money he had saved in a money tin, and wanted to treat him.
She added that she had gone through the tiring job of separating the money out beforehand "so it wasn't just small change". Emily told Nottinghamshire Live : "I took [my son] to Smyths to pick what he wanted. We were walking round, he was fishing what he wants, we get to the till.
"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'."
Emily was left completely stunned at this statement, as she said that the supermarket was a fair distance away from the toy shop. The mum said: "They [Smyths staff] said 'come back, pay for the toys, and then it's all sorted'. Well obviously at that point my mum was questioning what was happening.
"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 stepdad Peter Kirk, 52, who also lives in Sutton-in-Ashfield, went on to comment on the incident. He said that the money the young boy had saved consisted of mainly pound coins and 50ps, adding: "The Sainsbury's where the cash machine is in Mansfield is some trek. It's so far, I couldn't believe it. It's disgusting."
Manchester Evening News has contacted Smyths for comment.
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