Store's CD policy is voted top of the flops

They are upset over the store's refusal to give replacements or refunds for unwanted discs unless they are faulty. The ruling was branded a flop by 12-year-old James Matthews, from Queen's Road, Skilling, after he tried unsuccessfully to return an unwanted Christmas gift.

James, a pupil at Colfox School, had bought the £11.99 Craig David CD, Slicker than Your Average, as a Christmas present for his mum, Tracy. He kept the receipt in case someone else in the family had the same idea - Mrs Matthews is a big fan of the singer.

And sure enough when she unwrapped her presents, James' gran, Gill, had bought her the very same album. So James took his receipt and disk back to Somerfield and asked them to exchange it for a different one. "But they told me I could not do that or get my money back," said James.

"I was very upset. If the lady on the till had told me they didn't exchange or give money back on CDs or videos I would have gone elsewhere."

Mrs Matthews said what particularly upset them was the fact that Somerfield failed to publicise their "no exchange" policy. She said that if they put up a notice warning people, that was fair enough because buyers would know where they stood. But no one had told James who thought he had done the right thing by keeping his receipt.

"As it was, my mum had bought her Craig David CD from Woolworths in Milton Keynes," said Mrs Matthews. "I took it back to Woollies in Bridport and even though I did not have the receipt they exchanged it immediately."

A spokesman for Somerfield said they were sorry James had been disappointed. But he confirmed their policy was not to exchange or give money back for CDs, videos or DVDs unless they were faulty or damaged at the time of sale. The ruling comes after a big increase in illegal copying of compact discs and videos.

He said that James' complaint about the lack of publicity for their policy was something they would take up with their marketing department.