‘It’s a new low’, says Asda worker as shopper tries to return already eaten Turkey because ‘it doesn’t taste right’
AN ASDA shopper tried to return a half-eaten turkey claiming it didn’t taste right – an incident a staff member called “a new low”.
Samuel Bownes, 31, became accustomed to strange Asda return requests after a seven-year stretch working there but was left shocked when the turkey carcass was thrown on the counter.
Samuel, from Woodbridge, Suffolk, relived the bizarre moment in an intriguing chat with The Sun.
He said: “The customer carried the half eaten Christmas turkey through the store and plonked it on the counter.”
The customer demanded his money back, complaining that it didn’t taste right, Samuel said.
The former staffer added: “I was used to the odd tricky customer but bringing back half-eaten food was definitely a new low during my time working on the checkout in Asda.
“‘I’m sorry, you can’t half eat something and bring it back, it doesn’t work like that,’ I calmly told him, but it was no good.”
These days, Samuel is a paramedic and proud father of young twins alongside partner Clare.
But his Asda stories are unforgettable.
The Turkey customer exploded into range, he said, and it wasn’t a one-off.
Samuel told The Sun: “Customers were always trying to bring things back that couldn’t be returned.
“It was a regular occurrence that at Christmas we’d get half eaten turkeys back.
“Sometimes people would even bring back half eaten chickens.
“They’d complain it didn’t taste like they expected – even though thousands of other customers were happy.”
Telling customers they couldn’t get their dough back for already-eaten items would “really upset” them, Samuel said.
And the bitter battles weren’t limited to returning items or even inside the store.
Samuel said he also “had a row” with a customer in the car park who accused him of carting a bunch of trolleys into his car.
“I said, ‘No I didn’t you were going so fast.’ I told him he shouldn’t be going over 10mph in the car park.
“He went in and complained but luckily managers didn’t pay him any notice.
“People would complain about nothing all the time.”
But Samuel said they weren’t even the worst customers.
The real pain came at 4pm on Sundays, when shoppers would ignore staff telling them the store was closing.
According to Samuel, they were “the absolute worst kind of shoppers”.
He said: “It would get to 4pm on a Sunday and people would just act like I was invisible.
“I’d go around the store telling people it’s closing and to make their way to checkout.
“People would just give no reactions, totally ignore me and carry on doing what they were doing almost as if I wasn’t there. It was frustrating.
Asda refund rules
If Asda customers are unhappy with a product, they can return it within 30 days of purchasing.
The receipt, of course, will be needed to ensure a smooth refund or exchange.
This applies to both online and in-store purchases.
The caveat is that certain products can’t be returned if they’ve been used or spoiled from their original condition – like a half-eaten turkey.
If shoppers bought their product online, they can either take it in-store or mail it back.
“And then they’d go mad when they’d get to the checkout and there were none open.
“If they did make it to the tills, then customers could be extremely snobby.
“I once had a customer say to me after handing me £500 ‘I bet that is the most money you have handled’.
“I couldn’t stand customers like that. I wouldn’t expect comments like that in Asda.
It was those interactions that left Samuel rarely bothering to speak with shoppers at the checkout.
But Samuel’s Asda days weren’t all bad, he said – especially when the 10 per cent staff discount came in handy.
“The store I worked in was one of the largest in the UK at the time and we sold so much which was a positive if we needed anything personally.
“Every so often the store would run the staff double discount day which meant that staff would receive 20% off instead of 10%.”