A woman says she was labelled " aggressive " and banned from Boots after she tried to return a hairbrush.
Sophie Kyei visited the store in London in October to get an exchange or a refund for a broken hairbrush which she bought at the shop.
When staff refused to take the brush back, the 37-year-old emailed Boots to complain about her experience - only to later be told she was banned from the store.
She was accused of "unacceptable behaviour" by the firm, despite her claim that she did not even raise her voice at staff, MyLondon reports.
Sophie, a customer service assistant for TfL, originally contacted Boots by email to ask whether it would be possible to exchange her brush without a receipt as she lost it.
A email on October 23 from a Boots customer care representative read: "If you return the faulty item to us, we can arrange a refund or replacement.
"You can return your item to any Boots store - unfortunately, I cannot provide another receipt, but please just present this email."
On October 24, Sophie entered the store with the email ready.
She told MyLondon: "I brought the brush to the till and showed the email. She didn't even look at it then took me to a lady in the back.
"[She] then said 'no, you can't get a refund without proof of purchase'. That was the whole reason I contacted customer service was that I didn't have my receipt and they said it would be fine."
"The woman started questioning whether I bought the brush from somewhere else and I was so confused and started accusing me of things," she claims.
"Do you think I would come into the store to try and steal? She kept saying I won't be given a refund until I show proof of purchase or a bank statement.
"I showed them my bank statement showing I had paid for it but still they refused. I told them that I'm going to make a complaint about their behaviour.
"Not once, did I raise my voice and even if I wanted to - there was no need."
Sophie emailed and lodged a complaint about the staff's behaviour and the fact she did what Boots said and still wasn't able to get a refund.
A few weeks later, she received an email from Senior Customer Manager, Tom Reeve saying: "I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the service received in one of our stores, but I appreciate you taking the time to bring it to our attention.
"We have reviewed this matter and we have decided that we will not be taking any action.
"This is due to information from the store regarding your conduct on this visit, and previous visits.
"I apologise for any disappointment this causes, but we will not be taking this any further."
Sophie then later received an email saying she was banned from the store.
It said colleagues had the "right to work in a safe and secure environment and there has been a number of incidents between yourself and colleagues and members of the management team in the store where unacceptable behaviour has been shown by yourself".
Sophie said: "I asked them, show me evidence of this behaviour.
"You are going to label me as making people feel unsafe so show me when I did that.
"This was the first time my conduct had ever been mentioned and if you are saying there have been a number of incidents, surely you can show me when it happened.
"I wanted dates and times and they never provided them.
"This whole ordeal has been distressing because I didn't do anything wrong. It would be so nonsensical of me to go in there, in my work uniform, and kick up a stink.
"It makes no sense. The logic of people and the easiest thing to say is to say I'm aggressive because people automatically believe you.
"Being a Black woman, you always have to be on your best behaviour. Even if I wanted to raise my voice in the situation, I didn't because I knew automatically they'd have the upper hand and label me aggressive but then it happened anyway.
"I feel like I'm being punished for saying I'm going to complain and they've flipped it on me. I've worked in the area for eight years and have never had a problem in that store.
"Now, all my emails are being ignored by Boots. You can't just say these things about people and expect them to take it lying down.
"They are using the rhetoric of the angry Black woman to paint me as such yet you've not shown me any proof of this supposedly unsafe and aggressive behaviour."
Boots told MyLondon they uphold their decision on banning her from the store.
Sophie wanted to appeal the ban but was told there is 'no appeals process' and the ban would be final but only applicable to the store.
"If my behaviour was so bad then surely you'd ban me from all your stores," Sophie said.
"If it was that bad you would have complained to my workplace as they knew where I worked but none of that was done.
"To accuse me of being this violent person with no proof is wrong."
Boots also said that staff had called the police on Sophie.
When MyLondon questioned the Met Police, the force said it had no reports of attending the store on that date.
A spokesperson for Boots said: "We never take a decision to ban a customer from our stores lightly.
"If an incident is reported by a store team, it is reviewed centrally at our CCTV monitoring centre to assess the level of aggression or violence and then decide on an appropriate course of action.
"Having reviewed this specific occasion, we support the decision to ban the customer."
