Tesco customer 'humiliated' after staff 'accuse him of shoplifting (2025)

Tesco has apologised after a customer told of being humiliated when staff wrongly accused him of shoplifting and demanded he paid twice for his items.

Political consultant Andrew Kennedy went viral online after sharing posts on X, formerly Twitter, shaming the retail giant for staff's actions at a branch in Surrey.

Mr Kennedy described being called back by employees at a Tesco outlet in West Moseley who suggested he had not paid for his shopping at a self-checkout.

This was despite his mobile phone banking app demonstrating a transaction worth £75.92 at the self-service till he had used.

Mr Kennedy described how after the dispute with staff on Good Friday, in which he was urged to pay the bill again, he abandoned his trolley and left.

He told how 6,000 X followers that he was then informed, five days later, he must make a 120-mile round trip to the branch from his Kent home for a refund.

Mr Kennedy, who was previously field director for ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss’s Conservative leadership campaign in 2022, has since asked for an apology from the supermarket firm.

He also requested they make a goodwill donation of the £100 to the mental health charity Young Minds.

And now the retailer has backed down, saying sorry to Mr Kennedy for his treatment and agreeing to donate.

Mr Kennedy originally posted on the social media site, directly addressing Tesco: 'On Good Friday I experienced the most awful and humiliating experience in your Hurst Park (Surrey) store.

'I popped in to pick up groceries on my way to visit friends. I used "scan as you go" as I always do, and paid £75.92 for my groceries, using my Apple Pay

'As I left the store, an assistant ran after me and said "I am afraid you haven’t paid for your groceries, and I must ask you to accompany me back into the shop". She did this quietly and discreetly and thinking there was an error I happily went back inside.

'My banking app which evidenced the payment had been made and I showed this to your assistant. She was apologetic and called her supervisor, who was busy.

'Another Assistant came over, and I again explained the situation and showed the payment. At this point things went wrong.

'The second Assistant than shouted across the self-checkouts, "This guy hasn’t paid for his groceries."

'The supervisor came over, and for a third time I showed the payment on my phone. She then turned to the other Assistant and said, “you need to watch out for this.....

'...quite often they do two identical shops, pay for one then use the payment to avoid paying for the second."

'I don’t know if this happens, but in this case, there was no evidence to suggest I had done such a thing and your assistant was openly inferring that I was a shop lifter.'

Mr Kennedy went on to tell how he agreed to pay again because he was 'angry, humiliated and running out of time'.

But his bank blocked his card, apparently suspicious about the attempted second transaction, and he was advised by Tesco staff he would have to pay another way.

He added: 'At this point I was so angry at how I had been treated I just walked out, leaving my full trolley behind.'

The money later went through via his card but he then urged the retailer for a refund, since he did not have the items he had bought - only to be told he must return to the store in Surrey to do so.

Mr Kennedy wrote: 'So to summarise: (i) you accused me of shoplifting, (ii) you humiliated me in front of other people, (iii) you wasted my time and forced me to be late for a reunion, (iv) your incompetence led to me card being blocked, (v) you took £75.92 from my bank account...

'...and now you are expecting me to travel three hours and spend £35 on petrol to get back the money you took from my account in the first place. At every level on this Tesco you and your staff have comprehensively failed.

'Had I been emotionally vulnerable or had some form of learning disability, or being old and confused, this appalling treatment could have resulted in trauma. You should actually be ashamed of yourselves.'

He urged the company to 'redeem' themselves by refunding his money, writing to apologise for his treatment, retraining staff at Hurst Parkon 'how to treat people with respect' and donating £100 to Young Minds.

Mr Kennedy has since shared an update online with his followers, thanking people for their support and revealing Tesco had called to say sorry while also pledging the charity donation as well as providing him with a gift card.

He wrote: 'So at 7.30pm the CEOs office emailed to apologise for what happened. It was a proper apology, not one of those "we are sorry if you were offended" apologies!

'Whenever something like this happens I ask myself how I would feel if it happened to my mum.

'She was of a generation who were deferential to authority and would have accepted what she was told, even when she knew she was in the right.'

People responding Mr Kennedy's online posts included wildlife campaigner Dominic Dyer, who said: 'Always get a receipt even for online payments.'

Sympathisers included one commenter who wrote: 'Terrible treatment by @Tesco. One of the many reasons I always use cash in supermarkets. "Use it or lose it" is the main reason I use cash, though.'

Another said: 'I'm sure it has caused you emotional distress and defamation by shouting across the whole shop on top of many other reasons.'

Mr Kennedy was also told: 'Shocking story. I do hope you get restitution, an apology and compensation.'

A spokesman for Tesco said: 'Unfortunately, a fault with a scan as you shop handset at our West Moseley Superstore meant that it incorrectly indicated that Mr Kennedy’s payment had not been completed.

'We are really sorry that this happened and have reached out to Mr Kennedy to apologise for how the matter was handled as it fell below the high standards that we would expect.'

MailOnline has approached Tesco for further comment.