Shop refuses to sell bread to 94-year-old woman because she only has cash

A 94-year-old woman who lived through the Second World War was was told she couldn't buy bread from Birds bakery because she didn't have a bank card.

Former hosiery worker Edna Dalchin, of Basford, has never owned a bank card and prefers to pay "the old fashioned way" with cash.

She was left shocked and embarrassed when staff at Birds Bakery in Bulwell told her to put essential items back because they could not take her money.

Mrs Dalchin said she has used cash for all her shops during the coronavirus pandemic at stores including at Tesco and Morrisons.

Birds said it has asked customers to only use debit cards and contactless payment "because notes and coins are not clean".

Mrs Dalchin is not the only pensioner who has been refused essential items at a Birds store unless she pays on card.

Grandma Glynis Kirk, 86, of Basford, was also told she could not buy some pork pies at the Arnold store without paying on her card.

She has described the situation as "disgusting" as she only uses her card for her big shop at Morrisons and not for small purchases.

Mrs Dalchin told Nottinghamshire Live: "I went into Birds because I wanted a loaf of bread and some potted meat. She said to me 'have you got a card?'

"I did not know what she was on about. I said 'Oh I have never used a card in my life. I always pay the old fashioned way, which is how I was brought up.

"I felt like I was being treated like a small child and being talked down too.

"None of the other shops have ever refused my money.

"There is a virus, I understand that, but a lot of elderly people do not use cards and are not into that technology."

Mrs Dalchin said she usually gets her money from the Post Office each week, which allows her to pay for her essentials including food....(Read more)

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