Woman Given Lifetime Sainsburys Ban For Using Wrong Nectar Card

Fri, 13 Aug 2010

 
Get the latest prices, codes, vouchers & deals fortnightly.
A Sainsbury’s shopper has been banned from every one of the retailer’s stores for redeeming points on someone else's Nectar card .

Christine Turton, of Crosby, Merseyside, was arrested on suspicion of fraud and locked in a police cell for using another person’s Nectar card to buy groceries at her local Sainsbury’s supermarket last month.

The 48-yer-old care worker had her fingerprints and DNA taken, underwent a drugs test and was also interviewed by police, before being released on bail. She was also banned for life from Sainsbury’s.

But despite the case being dropped by Merseyside Police, Sainsburys bosses have refused to lift the nationwide ban on Mrs Turton.

She said the whole episode was down to accidentally being handed the wrong Nectar card by a cashier on a previous shopping trip, which had been reported lost by an elderly man.

She also insists that she never received a letter from Sainsbury’s stating she was banned, and therefore continued to visit the store almost every day.

Mrs Turton, who shopped at the store since it first opened more than 20 years ago, said: "I would never use someone else's Nectar card . It's preposterous. I would have nothing to gain."

"It must have been a mistake at the check-out weeks earlier. Like everyone else I didn't check the back of the card for the signature. All the cards look the same and I can understand that a mistake was made, but to have me arrested over it was just ridiculous."

"I was treated like a common criminal. It was a terribly frightening and something that I would not wish on anyone."

"I've been a loyal customer of Sainsbury's for two decades and think I'm owed an apology. But instead of that they've banned me from every store in Britain and now I have to go through an appeal process to get allowed back in."

"I'm not prepared to let them blacken my name so I want them to overturn this unjustified ban."

A spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said: "We want to serve our customers, so we never take this kind of action lightly or without investigation."

"Mrs Turton can appeal the ban but at this stage we stand by our decision."