A SINGLE mum of four has said she will have to rely on food parcels this Christmas after an Asda IT glitch left her with no money and no shopping.
Shantell Jones from Gipsyville, Yorkshire, said she paid for £474.90 in her local Asda, but a glitch meant her card was declined and she wasn’t allowed to take the shopping home – even though the money came out of her account.
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The mega shop included Shantell’s Christmas groceries as well as presents and selection boxes, reports HullLive.
She told the newspaper: “I felt so embarrassed, I felt the whole world was looking at me and I had to show some woman my online bank statement.
“I put my card in and paid and the lady asked me to take my card out and wipe it and enter it again.”
“I got up my phone and showed them my bank statement that said it had taken the money and it was pending to leave my account.”
She says she also showed the manager at the store her banking app, which clearly showed the money had been taken.
Unfortunately she was still told she had to leave her shopping behind.
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She continued: “I was full of panic. I didn’t have enough money in my account to take it out twice.”
“The cashier said to the manger my statement showed that the money did go out but they were having none of it.
“I was actually raging – I was in tears.”
Shantell then went to the city centre branch of her bank to check what was happening.
The bank confirmed that the money had left her account when she initially paid for the Asda shop.
However, Asda failed to resolve the situation and Shantell couldn’t get either her money or her shopping back.
Now Shantell, who relies on Universal Credit to get by, says she has no way of providing for herself or her family over the festive period.
“I have nothing. I’m going to have to go to social services to get a food parcel,” she told Hull Live.
An Asda spokesperson told the newspaper: “We… are sorry that unfortunately on this occasion an error occurred which meant there was an issue with this individual card transaction.
“We would encourage Ms Jones to get back in touch with us through customer services so we can resolve this matter as quickly as possible.”
How do food banks work?
IF you’re struggling this winter a food bank could help you.
Families and individuals are referred to a food bank if they are identified as being in need of extra support.
This is usually done through a variety of different professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers and Citizens Advice.
Once referred, the person gets a voucher which can redeemed for an emergency parcel with a minimum of three-days worth of food.
The Trussell Trust is the organisation behind the UK’s only national network of food banks.
To find the nearest Trussell Trust food bank near you, use its online search tool.
You’ll need to pop in your city or postcode and the website will bring up your nearest food bank.
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Morrisons now selling boxes of unsold supermarket food for just over £3 across the UK.
