A mum has opened up on the brutal shaming she received during a recent shopping trip to Tesco with her toddler.
Taking to TikTok to express her devastation, Samantha Mary claimed she'd 'never been spoken to so badly and been so judged as a Mum'.
She told viewers: "I cannot tell you what a bad experience I have just had in our local Tesco, and I feel a mix of both really cross and really upset at the way I've been spoken to by one of the customer service representatives on the till that just served us."
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Samantha went on to explain that she and her son Jack - who hadn't been feeling well recently and had barely eaten for several days - were in their local supermarket last week doing the big shop.
In order to keep her son happy, she opted to bring some snacks along with her for Jack to eat whilst the pair did their weekly shopping.
But being that Jack wasn't interested in any of his mother's snacks, he 'took a shine to one of those baby pouches that I put in the trolley'.
Samantha went on to explain: "Because he's not eaten, I was like, if he wants it, he can have it. So, he had it.
"As we went around, there was yoghurt he wanted, I let him eat the yoghurt - put it in the trolley - and when we got to the till, I saved those things by and put them at the front."
The mum said she explained to the woman working at the checkout that the yoghurts had been eaten and that she'll still be paying for them, but claims she was instead met with 'the most disgusted look'.
"They weren't actually finished, I hadn't passed them to her to have them put in the bin - I passed them to her to try and be polite so they could be scanned," Samantha explained.
"I made a joke of it by way of apologising that he'd eaten them on the way round, so I said to her, 'I'm really sorry, but we hadn't finished with them, I just passed them to you to make sure they were scanned'."
Samantha went on to claim that the Tesco employee had 'tutted and huffed' at her before taking the products back out of the bin and putting them on the side.
The embarrassed mum claims she then apologised again for potentially upsetting her by giving her the opened food products, before the worker allegedly told her: "I just don't think it's right that people let their kids eat stuff from the food shop on the way around the shop."
Samantha continued: "You know that moment when someone really pushes your button, she pushed my mum-button right there and it was fight or flight mode, and I said to her, 'I don't really think it's your job to be giving your opinion on what you think'."
Samantha added that the Tesco server once again huffed at her without saving a word, after which the understandably emotional mother burst into tears.
The story has since sparked a colossal wave of debate over who was in the wrong, with many TikTok followers siding with Samantha and expressing sympathy for her.
"You should file a complaint," one wrote, "I work at Tesco’s, and I have had plenty of parents give me empty packets to scan. Doesn’t affect my wages."
While another advised: "I used to be a manager at tesco and you can absolutely take the receipt back and they can trace the log in to find out who served you".
Others, however, believe the Tesco worker wasn't at fault, with one writing: "It’s 100% her job to let you know you’re NOT allowed to eat or drink anything before you’ve paid for it. I use to work at Tesco and you are the worst."
And a second added: "A Tesco employee told me to eat or drink something before you’ve paid is classed as theft regardless of if you pay at the end !!!"
LADbible Group contacted Tesco for comment.
Rhianna Benson