Trouble in Iceland

Thu, 23 Feb 2006
 
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A retired local government officer went to his local Iceland store in Halesowen, West Midlands, to buy some groceries which should have taken only a short time instead he was kept there for over two hours.

Mr Lewis, 63, was detained by staff, had his credit card confiscated, and then the police arrived. All this took place before chip and pin was made compulsory on 14 February.

His problem started when he went to the checkout, he said, "I bought £5 worth of food, paying with my HSBC debit card and I asked for a £50 cash-back. The cashier swiped my card and called the assistant manager to authorise it. He then disappeared for 15 minutes, along with my card.

"He then asked me for personal details including my full name, date of birth and address. As this was in front of a store full of shoppers, I refused to divulge these details as they could have helped anyone listening to steal my identity."

The store manager appeared after Mr Lewis’ refusal. She asked for the same information, and again he refused. However, he asked to discuss the matter in private but this was refused. He also offered to pay by cash and forgo the cash-back or to put the goods back.

The manager was not prepared to act on any of the suggestions. He said, "The store kept my card, which annoyed me as I thought anyone would be able to use the details to go on an internet spending spree."

Mr Lewis tried to defuse the situation by going to his local branch of HSBC where he has been a customer for 25 years. He said, "It is very near the Iceland store. The assistant manager, who knows me, very kindly came back with me to say he knew me, and that my account was more than good enough for my groceries and cash-back."

It was then that Mr Lewis, the store manager and the person from HSBC went into a private office.

"I took my card. But the store staff asked for it back, which I refused. As I went to walk out, staff tried to stop me."

The store then called the police when tempers were running high. It took five police officers just five minutes to arrive. Mr Lewis said, "It was a farce. Five policemen for a local government pensioner, all it needed was words and music from Gilbert and Sullivan."

By this time he had been at the store for two hours, his card had been cut up and then the store wanted to keep the pieces.

The only explanation Mr Lewis can think of is that his card must have triggered a warning by asking for cash-back as it would have been his second £50 that day.

Cardwatch, the advice service for retailers from Apacs, the banking body who says, "There is no way to tell with absolute certainty if a customer is a fraudster, but there are some things you can look out for."

This can include "buying a large number of the same item", "a customer not bothered to try on clothes" and as in this case "a low value buy with a big cash-back."

But Cardwatch added, "If you become suspicious of a customer, it is important to treat the cardholder as you would wish to be treated yourself.

"Remember that, despite your suspicions, the cardholder may be genuine. Try to diffuse the situation and be polite."

Cardwatch offers £50 for card ‘captures’. They say shop workers will ‘receive a £50 reward for each card that you retain. And there is no limit to the number of rewards you can earn."

Iceland admitted the situation "had got out of hand. Mr Lewis should have been allowed to talk privately somewhere in the store. This was not handled as well as we would have wished. We are looking at better ways of dealing with card procedures and we will take this episode into account in future staff training. We are sorry."

Mr Lewis has received a written apology from Iceland and a case of wine will be delivered by way of a further apology.

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