A mortified mum has told of how she was refused a packet of energy drinks because she was with her teen daughter who then suffered a panic attack because of the ordeal.
Krystal O'Neill "felt completely humiliated" when the Food Warehouse cashier asked to see her 14-year-old daughter's ID as they believed Krystal was buying the Rockstar beverages for her.
Despite Krystal's protests that she was buying them for her partner, the employee refused to sell them stating that it was against company policy.
Sales of high-caffeine canned energy drinks to under 16s have been voluntarily banned by most major UK stores.
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Krystal, from Torpoint, in Cornwall, was buying the drinks as part of her weekly shop but has now vowed to never go back, reports Cornwall Live.
She said: “On Thursday evening I went to Food Warehouse and all was fine. I had my 14-year-old with me, she suffers from severe anxiety and doesn’t come with me often but this week she was feeling strong so decided to join.
“Every week I buy alcohol or energy drinks for my fiancé and never had any problems but when I put my shopping on the conveyor belt the assistant asked me for ID while I was holding the energy drinks.
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“I went red and said they’re not for her but she asked to see my daughter’s ID anyway.
“All the other people queued up were looking at my daughter and she had a meltdown. All the other people were saying just sell them.
“Strangely the shop assistant said if it was alcohol it would be fine, that makes no sense as surely that’s worse than an energy drink and if I really wanted to I could have just gone outside and given her the alcohol?”
Krystal says that she shop assistant then got her manager over who reiterated that they couldn’t sell the energy drinks due to company policy.
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Krystal added: “I understand if my daughter was buying them herself but they clearly weren’t for her. It was just crazy and now my daughter won’t go out at all.
“I spent £144 in there and my mum £180 but now we’re not going back.
"To make matters even worse I got home and my partner asked where his energy drinks were.
“By taking this stance they’re basically saying that we can’t shop with children and I’ve never been so embarrassed in my life. I felt completely humiliated and am devastated for my daughter.
"Everyone was looking at her, the whole shop came to a standstill and that is the very last thing she wanted.”
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A member of the Food Warehouse management team admitted the cashier was perhaps a "little over cautious".
He said: "What happened is that the cashier refused the sale as she wasn't sure if the energy drinks were for her 14-year-old daughter.
"The company policy is that we have to agree with the cashier's judgement even though it wasn't the 14-year-old herself buying them.
"All we could do was remain calm and tell the lady that this was company policy. Perhaps the cashier was a little over cautious but our policy is not to sell energy drinks to people under the age of 16."
