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TV celebrity and retail specialist Mary ‘Queen of Shops’ Portas directed her attentions at retailer GAME this weekend, and highlighted her lack of respect for the ratings system in the process.
Speaking on Twitter, Portas was seemingly outraged that the Oxford Street brand of the retailer was unwilling to sell an unnamed BBFC 15 title to her 17 year old son as he didn’t have any ID on him.
"Still holding on after eight mins to speak to a human at GAME Oxford Street where they refused to sell my 17 year son a 15+ game. Now they’ve cut me off," she tweeted on Saturday.
"He’s 16 plus Oyster card. My son did have valid I.D. He did provide proof with his photo and name on his 16+ Oyster card! They would not accept it. End of. Plus the sales assistant advised these games for him. The cashier then said no. How many kids go out with their passport?
"We are not talking drink, but a 15+ video!"
Portas then hunted down the Twitter profile of GAME boss Ian Shepherd, from whom she requested an email conversation.
Eventually communications boss Neil Ashurst intervened, and the pair have planned a conversation at some point today.
At the end of the day, though, Portas’ public outcry hits home one very important message – our leading games retailer takes age ratings very seriously. And this is great news for our industry.
UPDATE: Speaking on Twitter this morning, Portas confirmed that she has now spoken to CEO Ian Shepherd.
"Spoke to CEO of GAME. Impressive and bright. Agreed good customer service is worth fighting for and how tough the regulations they face are."
