23/10/2009 - 'Under age' boy refused wine gums
A fifteen-year-old boy from Cambridgeshire was left speechless when an "overzealous" shopkeeper refused to sell him wine gums because he was "under age".
Jaz Bhogal was forced to hand back the Haribo sweets at the 99p shop in Wisbech when he was incorrectly told they contained alcohol. The shop assistant called him back to the till and gave him a 99p refund for the item.
Hussein Lulani, commercial director at 99p stores, agreed the cashier's actions had been "over zealous".
He said: "These things happen - we serve millions of people a week. Fortunately, it was taken in good spirits."
Jaz, of Leverington, said he was left speechless after visiting the store on October 10 with a friend.
He told the Cambs Times: "He asked me how old I was and when I said I was 15 he said he couldn't sell me the sweets. He said they had wine in them and pointed to the word wine on the packet. I was speechless."
His mother Sue told the paper the shop's actions were "ridiculous".
A 99p Stores spokesman added: "Because the Wisbech store opened fairly recently there seems to have been a very unfortunate glitch. We have rectified this and are sure it will not happen again at any of our UK stores.
"To show that we have a good sense of humour we would like to offer Jaz a nine-item voucher to spend in the store on condition that at least one of these products are wine gums."
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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