Rita Seymour, a 79-year-old great-grandmother, has been barred from every Sainsbury's and Argos outlet in the UK after a row at a Hook store over a Euromillions ticket. She says the Sainsbury's branch is a five-minute stroll from her home, and the nearest Tesco is a 20-minute trek.
She received a letter telling her she could no longer shop at the chains nationwide. Sainsbury's said the decision followed a number of incidents over time at the Hook store and said the action was not taken lightly.
Rita Seymour and Hook
Seymour said she has lived in Hook since 1981 and used the nearby store once a week for her shopping. The change is wider than a single local ban: it removes access to every Sainsbury's and Argos outlet in the UK, not just the branch where the dispute began.
Her account of the dispute centres on a request for a Euromillions ticket. She said she had to ask four times before staff responded, and then a worker accused her of being rude and summoned management.
Sainsbury's letter
Seymour said the worker tried to take a picture of her, and she pushed the camera out of her face. She 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'.”
The next day, she said she returned to the shop and was prevented from entering before receiving the ban letter. Sainsbury's spokesman said: “We want everyone to feel welcome when they shop with us and our colleagues work hard to create a positive in store experience.”
Nationwide ban
The company also said: “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.” It added: “This action was not taken lightly, but the safety and wellbeing of colleagues and customers always come first.”
Seymour denied that there had been any prior incidents and 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.” She also said: “I'm not interested in money, but I live five minutes away from the shop and I would like this ban lifted.”
For Seymour, the immediate effect is practical and local as well as nationwide: the store closest to her home is now out of reach, and the alternative she named is far less convenient. The remaining question is what led Sainsbury's to treat the Hook dispute as part of a longer pattern serious enough to trigger a UK-wide ban.
