The sales assistant at a high street menswear shop attended to Alf Roberts when the former councillor went there to buy a new coat in May 1988. Alf was so thrilled with the cream coat he picked out that he made the rare use of a credit card to make the purchase. As Alf had decided to wear the coat home, the assistant cut the tags off and was in the middle of putting Alf's raincoat in a bag when a junior assistant, Maurice, informed him that Alf's credit card was over the limit. The assistant's tone turned far less courteous as he made Alf remove the coat and cut the credit card up, telling him it was "not a bloody magic wand". Hiding his embarrassment, an angry Alf withdrew his custom from the shop.