TV retail guru Mary Portas has publicly attacked GAME after the specialist chain refused to sell her son 15-rated software - as he didn't have any valid ID.
Portas took to Twitter to explain that staff at GAME's Oxford Street store recommended the titles for her 17-year-old son, but then refused to serve him.
She wrote at yesterday morning: "STILL holding on after 8mins to spk to a human at GAME Ox st where they refused to sell my 17 yr son a 15 + game. Now they've cut me off."
She later added: "So now the mngr of GAME has hung up on me after another 10min phone wait. I believe Ian Shepherd is the CEO. Are you out there? Want to talk"
After explaining that her son provided proof of age in the form of "his 16+ Oyster card" Ian Shepard did get back to Porter.
He wrote on Twitter: "That's appalling. I'm very proud of our focus on age verification but also of our service. If that's gone wrong, we'll fix it"
He later added: "I'm very proud of our brilliant team in GAME [Oxford] St. and also committed to every customer being delighted. We will sort with [Mary] - I'm sure we will clear up any misunderstanding."
Although Oyster Card ID is not legally recognised as official proof of age, Portas remained adamant.
She said: "He doesn't have a [driving] licence! He is 17. How many kids go out with their passport. We are not talking drink, but a 15plus video!"
To back up her point, she qualified: "My son did have valid I.D. They would not accept it. End of."
A GAME rep told Portas that the chain would be in touch today to straighten out the matter.
[Update: Portas has Tweeted this morning: "Spoke to CEO of GAME. Impressive and bright. Agreed good customer service is worth fighting for and how tough the regulations they face are."]
And for those of you wondering, Portas' son returned to the store with his passport and was sold the games. Now we can all rest easy.
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/28 ... gs-policy/