STACEY Solomon has hit out at the ‘absolute lies’ after she was accused of ‘skipping the queue and buying all the stock’ at a Pokemon card event on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old and husband Joe Swash, 44, attended the Pokémon 30th Anniversary Launch at gaming cafe Geek Retreat in Chelmsford on Wednesday to celebrate three decades of trading.
Furious Stacey Solomon has hit out at the ‘absolute lies’ after she’s accused of ‘skipping the queue and buying all the stock’ at a recent Pokemon card event Credit: Facebook/staceysolomon
The star pictured with her husband Joe Swash Credit: Getty
The event attracted a lot of Pokemon fans, and many queued up to get hold of the collectable items from 11:30am.
A rule that they were only allowed to buy one product each was put in place, however one attendee took to X to say that it “went out the window”.
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They alleged that Stacey and her family of “skipped the queue” – which meant that they “left about 10 items for the 200+ people still waiting”.
Stacey denied all the allegations made on her X account.
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Stacey said that their post was the “biggest lie” Credit: X
One fan accused Stacey of “lying” to which she said that she bought one of each set Credit: X
The page, called We Love Pokemon, wrote on the social media platform: “Worst 30th Celebration story I’ve seen.
“Geek Retreat Chelmsford told customers they weren’t allowed to queue until 30 mins before opening, they weren’t allowed to park outside the shop, and there would be a 1pp limit.
“All of that went out the window when two celebrities (Joe Swash & Stacey Solomon) showed up.
“They parked right outside, skipped the queue and bought most of the stock, leaving about 10 items for the 200+ people still waiting.”
Stacey – who is a huge Pokemon fan – hit back: “This is the biggest lie and it’s outright disgraceful to put a small business in this position.
“We joined the queue like everyone else as soon as it started forming. We were sold the exact same limit as everyone else and they were all opened like everyone else’s.
“My son and I have been collecting Pokemon cards for years. We’ve queued at many places, many times like everyone else.
“In fact that same morning after the school run I queued in Waterstones and didn’t make it to the front before they sold out. And Zachary was queuing in Romford that morning at Smyths from 7am and they had sold out too.’
“So the absolute lies in this post that are having a negative impact on Geek Retreat Chelmsford are so unwarranted and unfair.
“They handled the situation so well given what they were dealing with.”
Another angry Pokemon fan wrote on X: “I was there and plenty people including myself seen you walking out with multiple boxes, why are you lying?”
To which Stacey replied: “Yes you could buy one of each set. Like in most stores. Anyone who collects these cards knows it’s the same everywhere depending on what they have in.
“I bought one of each set. Like most people in the queue. They also were not walking out with just one item.
“Why are you lying and making it sound like I was able to buy anything different from anyone else?”
Geek Retreat shared a statement on Facebook after the backlash Credit: Facebook
Stacey pictured with her three children Rex, Rose and Belle, as well as her older kids Zachary and Leighton Credit: Instagram
However another person who was in attendance took to the platform to say: “I joined the queue at the exact same time as you and happened to be right behind you.
“You beat me fair and square myself and Zach spent the whole time talking to each other about Pokémon cards and what he was hoping to pull.
“I saw how much you guys got and it wasn’t more than ok.”
Stacey simply replied with a black love heart emoji.
This resulted in Geek Retreat taking to their Facebook page to address the allegations made about Stacey and how they handled the event.
They wrote: “We would like to address some of the negativity and aggression we have received today.
“Today we ran the release of the Pokemon 30th Anniversary set in a way that we genuinely believed would best support our customers, maintain fairness and help reduce scalping.
“Unfortunately, we were never going to have enough stock to meet the demand, and we understand that this was disappointing for people who were unable to get everything they wanted.”
They then went on to the “special treatment” that “well-known individuals” got is “not true”.
They continued: “We would also like to address the suggestion that certain people, including well-known individuals, were given special treatment today. This is simply not true.
“We did not know that any famous people were attending until we saw them outside.
“They were not allowed in early, they were not given extra stock, and they were subject to exactly the same one of each product per-person limits as everyone else.
“They happened to be second in the queue when we opened, and no member of our team allowed them to skip the queue.
“We also want to be clear about how today’s release was structured. We prioritised our regular players and customers by giving them the opportunity to preorder stock, again on the same one of each product per-person basis.
“This was part of our attempt to make sure that the people who regularly support our community had a fair opportunity to purchase the products they wanted.
“We know that no system will ever make everyone happy, particularly when demand massively exceeds supply. We will listen to all feedback – both positive and negative – and use it to improve how we handle future releases.”
