I was kicked out of ASDA because they didn’t like the way I shopped – it was so unfair
A CARER says he was booted out of Asda - because staff didn't like the way he was doing his shopping.
Matthew Scholes claims he was followed around the superstore in Thornaby, North Yorkshire after finishing a 12-hour shift at a care home.
The female worker, who was armed with a clipboard, reportedly told him: "I've seen you in here before - I want you to leave the store right now."
Matthew he was eventually forced to put his basket down and leave.
But when he contacted Asda, he was stunned by their response.
A manager replied in an email: "I have spoken to the store leadership team who have informed me they do not like the way you shop.
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"I appreciate this may not be the response you were looking for and I am sorry for any disappointment this may cause."
Bizarrely, Asda customers can be asked to leave at any time if staff suspect them of "suspicious shopping behaviour".
Matthew said: "I feel discriminated against and humiliated.
"I picked up a bottle of Ouzo and, at that point with a bottle in my hand, the woman said 'Can I have a word? I want you to leave the shop right now'.
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"I said, 'What's going on? I haven't done anything wrong, I haven't stolen anything'.
"She was repeating herself over and over again like a parrot.
"The only other thing she said was, 'We've seen you in here before'. I was just so stunned.
"After the fifth time she said leave the store I had no choice but to put my basket down and leave the store."
He said the email was "ridiculous" - adding: "I've not done anything differently, I've just shopped the way I've always shopped."
Matthew, who worked on the frontlines through the pandemic, said he "wasn't acting suspiciously" and is "baffled".
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"If they saw something in my manner and the way I do my shopping, I was completely oblivious to it," he said.
A spokesperson for Asda said: "While asking a customer to leave is always a last resort, if our colleagues suspect any customers of suspicious shopping behaviour then they can ask them to leave the store."
