A great-grandmother banned from every Sainsbury’s in Britain following an incident while she was trying to buy a Euromillions ticket has asked to be allowed back in, adding she “wants to clear her name”. Rita Seymour was told she was not welcome by the chain following a “number of incidents over time” at her local store in Hook, Hampshire. However, the 79-year-old has claimed she is “not that sort of person” and wants the ban to be lifted, as her next closest supermarket is much further away.
She said the Sainsbury’s branch is a five-minute walk from her house – compared to a 20-minute walk to Tesco. Ms Seymour, a mum-of-one, grandmother-of-four and great-grandmother-of-two, said: “I’m not interested in money, but I live five minutes away from the shop and I would like this ban lifted.”
The pensioner, who has lived in Hook since 1981, used to visit the nearby store once a week to do her shopping. It was during a visit earlier this month that Ms Seymour, who worked in customer services, reportedly got into an argument with a staff member while trying to buy a Euromillions ticket.
Ms Seymour claimed she had to ask for a lottery ticket four times before getting a response from the employee.
When she answered, the staff member claimed the pensioner had been rude and summoned management, who accused her of insulting staff and ‘pinching food’, according to Ms Seymour.
Ms Seymour said: “She went to take a picture of me, and I pushed her camera out of her face. I said ‘I’ve done nothing wrong here, you’re not taking pictures of me’. She was flinging her arms about.”
When she next visited the store a day later, the pensioner claimed she was stopped from coming in and given a letter telling her she’d been banned from Sainsbury’s and Argos stores across the country.
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We want everyone to feel welcome when they shop with us and our colleagues work hard to create a positive in store experience.
“We take any form of abusive and inappropriate behaviour seriously, and following a number of incidents over time, a decision was taken to withdraw this individual’s right to shop at our Hook store.
“This action was not taken lightly, but the safety and wellbeing of colleagues and customers always come first.”
The pensioner, whose husband is disabled, strongly denied there had ever been any previous incidents.
She said: “I’m not that sort of person, I never cause trouble, I never do any trouble – they’re saying it to get out of everything. I want to clear my name.”