Mum left ‘absolutely fuming’ after son, 11, charged £8 for bag of Cheetos at shop

Charlie Dearing said her son was charged £8 for a bag of Cheetos, five times the £1.50 he expected to pay

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A mother has been left “absolutely fuming” after her 11-year-old son was charged £8 for a packet of Cheetos crisps.

Charlie Dearing visited Northampton town centre with her son on Sunday (23 January) because he wanted to spend his birthday money at the American Candy store in Abington Street.

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However, the young lad came away from the till with £2 in change after giving the shopkeeper a £10 note to pay for the bag of cheesy treats.

Charlie Dearing with her 11-year-old son and the bag of £8 CheetosCharlie Dearing with her 11-year-old son and the bag of £8 Cheetos
Charlie Dearing with her 11-year-old son and the bag of £8 Cheetos

Charlie, who was also in the store, was told what had happened by her son and she immediately demanded for a refund, but the shopkeeper said there was no receipt and therefore he could not return her money to her.

‘For one packet of crisps...are you serious?’

The mother took to Facebook to report what happened.

In her Facebook post, which has been shared nearly 700 times, she wrote: "Absolutely fuming. All the crisps were labelled £1.50.

"As I was still shopping, my son rushed to pay and was charged £8 for a packet of crisps. He ran over to me and said, 'I only got £2 change'.

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"My son was not given a receipt but I had not left the shop so I walked back to the till and spoke to him.

"The bloke said, 'I do not offer refunds, and they are £8'.

"I said, 'for one packet of crisps, are you serious?'

"He said, 'yes, the labels are for something else'.

"I said, 'well why are they in front of these crisps?'. He shrugged and said, 'no refund'.

Charlie said: "My son was extremely upset so I had to replace the money.

"He was really annoyed. I'm frustrated as well. I'm just absolutely disgusted. No receipt, no refund.

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"I would love to get a refund or something for the trouble we have gone through. I've replaced my son's money but he's still upset."

Reacting to her Facebook post going somewhat viral around the county, Charlie said: "I'm absolutely gobsmacked by the way social media has worked."

NationalWorld’s sister title the Northampton Chronicle & Echo went into American Candy on Tuesday afternoon (January 25) and showed them Charlie's Facebook post.

The shopkeeper declined to make an official comment. However, the man was asked if a bag of Cheetos cost £8, he replied saying yes.

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Charles Elmer Doolin invented Cheetos in 1948. Indonesia is the only Cheetos market that sells Roasted Corn flavor of Cheetos.

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