Tesco has apologised after a mum left a store in tears, feeling she had been publicly humiliated.
The mum-of-two was embarrassed after a store in Stoke-on-Trent did not accept her £50 school meal voucher - provided by her children's school to help her during the six-week holidays.
She says she had to return almost £50 worth of items from her trolley in front of a large queue, as StrokeonTrentLive reports.
The mum, 25, from Stoke-on-Trent, said: "There was a massive queue at the time, and I was standing there, I felt so gutted. I had to pull some items out of my trolley in front of strangers.
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"I had to put almost £50 worth back so I can afford to pay my bills. It was heart-breaking, embarrassing and left us short on things for the week."
She added: "I left crying my eyes out because I felt so embarrassed at the time. It was very humiliating, to have to pick through our shopping and see what we could put back was very demoralising. My sister had to give me some money to see us through the week.
"I felt unworthy of being there, like I wasn't wealthy enough to shop there and I felt not welcome being on Universal Credit. But a lot of people are on it."
Parents claiming Universal Credit with children who receive free school meals can claim vouchers to use in supermarkets during the summer holidays. The mum says she had the e-voucher on her mobile phone, but was told by staff that the e-voucher must be printed off.
However, Tesco say they do accept the e-vouchers, but were unable to process this e-voucher as the code was only partially visible on her mobile phone screen. Tesco says they suggested either changing the phone settings to make the code fully visible or printing off the code to allow it to be processed.
The supermarket has issued an apology to the mum and invited her back to the store so they can apologise in person and ensure she has the food her family needs. A Tesco spokesman said: "We're really sorry this happened and for the upset caused to the customer.
"E-vouchers are accepted at our stores and we would like to welcome the customer back to the store so that we can apologise in person and ensure that they have all of the food that they need."
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