OAP humiliated by Tesco staff for '˜being Scottish' wants apology '˜not vouchers'

A grandmother who claims she was thrown of Tesco for being Scottish after being mistaken for a banned shopper with the same accent, has refused a compensation offer from the supermarket firm.

Aileen MacKellar, 65, popped into the supermarket to buy a pint of milk and a ready meal but was stopped at the till.

The cashier accused her of being banned from the store and when she asked why, she claims she was told: “Because you’re Scottish”.

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It has since emerged another customer with a Scottish accent was escorted from the same store last month, after swearing at staff.

Aileen MacKellar, 65. claims she was thrown of Tesco for being Scottish - after being mistaken for a banned shopper with the same accent. Picture: SWNSAileen MacKellar, 65. claims she was thrown of Tesco for being Scottish - after being mistaken for a banned shopper with the same accent. Picture: SWNS
Aileen MacKellar, 65. claims she was thrown of Tesco for being Scottish - after being mistaken for a banned shopper with the same accent. Picture: SWNS

Mrs McKeller, who is originally from Greenock, had originally demanded a public apology, saying the incident left her “utterly embarrassed and humiliated”.

She has since been offered flowers, chocolates and restaurant vouchers by Tesco.

Mrs Mackellar told the Norwich Evening News: “I didn’t want their flowers or their chocolate, I wanted to confront the two women who had humiliated me and ask them why they thought they could make me feel this way.

“They tried to give me vouchers for a restaurant but I didn’t want them. What I want is to confront these two girls but the manager told me I couldn’t do that. They were allowed to confront me and treat me that way in front of other customers but I’m not allowed to confront them?”

The 65-year-old added: “I felt partly they were trying to bribe me to try and make it all go away. The manager told me I’d be welcome to go back into the store but I’ll never set foot in there again. I can hardly even go into other stores because I’m looking around at other people, worried that they’ll do something wrong and I’ll get the blame again.”

She added: “If I was of an ethnic minority they would’ve had the police banging on their door, but because I’m Scottish no one seemed to care and they didn’t take it as seriously.”


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Mrs Mackellar’s daughter Ashleigh Smith, also said in the interview: “As soon as she walked into the meeting with the manager, my mum told him she didn’t want these chocolates or flowers they tried to give her.

“We left in a rush because mum was so upset and they asked me to take the restaurant vouchers for mum in case she was feeling better in the future. I returned them to the manager today with a letter explaining that we don’t want the vouchers, they won’t make what happened go away.”

A Tesco spokesperson said: “We are sorry for the experience Mrs MacKellar had visiting our Wroxham Road Express. Our store manager has called to apologise directly and we would be delighted to welcome her back to store.”