daughter was asked to leave homebase because she's under 18?

I used to work in homebase many moons ago. In fact, I started when I was 16 and at college. This was over 20 years ago, so unless the rules have changed, I find this very bizarre.

I’d write to management complaining about the way your daughter was treated and that there are no signs on the door saying under 18 s are not welcome. It’s a ridiculous catch all rule anyway. I’d also say that if you don’t get a satisfactory answer and an apology then you will not be shopping in their store again and you will also discourage your friends from doing so. The only way to deal with these jobsworths is to hit them in their pocket.

So, to sum up:

Two 15yos were subject to intimidating behaviour by a member of staff who abjectly lied to them about a non-existent policy, tried to eject them from a store they were legally entitled to be in, and subsequently harassed them by following around until they paid up and left?
When presented with this behaviour, a robust fifteen year old confidently self-advocated and rightly refused to comply with fictitious policy.
Instead of admiring DD’s fortitude, PPs here seem to think she was a rude/entitled/autistic teen. (I’m the mum of 2 such teens and either of them would have run a mile at the initial confrontation, come home distressed and had a two day burnout in a darkened bedroom, but hey, what do I know?)
And, further, the store manager chose to lie to a customer in an effort to protect the staff member and did not have the moral backbone or professionalism to recognise that two young people were harassed and that this is an issue that needs addressing?

Well done OP, for raising such a resilient child - she’ll go far.

This would be a good time for those who’ve been inexpressibly rude, judgmental, misogynistic, ableist, and ageist to pop on and apologise to OP and her DD. However, rather like Homebase’s manager, I doubt you will.

We've established there is no such policy. By asking Homebase. The young woman was right to question the creepy shop worker. I don't understand why this thread is still going on?

There still isn't a policy. Thanks for the emoji. Can you direct me to the bit where the young woman concerned was 'rude'? I'm sure your daughter is lovely too. It's not a competition. I do feel that you're actively being unpleasant about a child without grounds. I wonder why.

This sounds fishy! Like if their policy is really that under 18s can't shop unaccompanied, and they are legally allowed to have that policy, the first employee could have just told the girls at the beginning that they had to leave and the police would be called if they didn't? Then later why did the cashier not say they had to leave without their goods, refuse to take their money and tell the girls they would call the police if they tried to shoplift? It sounds like the first employee saying that because they don't like kids! Or the whole store has it but it's illegal so they can't write it down or uphold it if they are challenged!

You're kidding, right? Actually finding out the truth behind this pointless exchange we've all been having today WAS the better thing to do! It's a lot more productive than jumping to conclusions based on nothing but our own biases. Hypocritical much?

Abusing young people🤣 Keep it coming, you’re giving me a laugh here! As a parent of my teen DD I stand by what I said, she wouldn’t act like that as she’s mature and has basic manners. Apologies for having unreasonable expectations of young people being respectful towards shop workers

I have seen similar things. Outside school. Indeed, my own son has been indoctrinated. He's very good at art. So favours picture hooks and a pallette knife. His friend, doing textiles, is lethal with an ugly scatter cushion. Young people are just hopeless. Until your WiFi is on the blink

Possibly not, my daughter was told the same.

I presumed it was because they sell solvents, knives, blades etc.

At they end of the day, they can refuse custom to whoever they want.

There isn't a policy. Except in your head. You're being presumptuous and nasty about a child. You're bitter and twisted. Why are you so cross with 16yr old girls? It's neither nice nor normal. And stop banging on about this imaginary policy. Next time you go to Homebase, maybe they'll escort you out for being useless and inflammatory. And abusing young people. But you wouldn't do it in a shop. Because you know it's not right.

Sure 🫢

Seems harsh, I guess they've had problems in the past but they shouldn't tar everyone with the same brush.

Note: I've lived independently from 15 yr old. Not straight forward and probably harder now but still possible under certain circumstances I believe.

I really don’t care about a random Homebase policy, what I do care about is the OP being ‘proud’ of her daughter acting in such a rude and entitled way. It will certainly take her far in life! Not.

Jeez, so much work by posters to appoint themselves Queen Of Homebase.

When that is obviously OP's daughter's job.

Imperiously "telling it like it is" to staff.

And for those saying that girls should be allowed to question/ stand upper themselves etc - of course they should. That doesn't mean being rude.

And who knows if the DD and her friend were fooling about and acting suspiciously - perhaps pretending to shoplift and getting silly and giggly? Teenagers do daft things.

As others have pointed out, we only have one side of the story here.

OP said up thread that her DD openly challenged the staff member on the policy, asserting that she knew better than them. Unless she’s also a Homebase worker she’s none the wiser. Call me old fashioned but I think that is incredibly rude and there is no way that my DD would act like this.

Ha! Someone’s cross that they’ve been proved wrong ☹️

How old do you have to be to have a part time/Saturday job there? I’m sure my brother worked at Homebase while he was studying for his A levels so was younger than 18…

I was referring to your use of misogynistic language.

Do you really have nothing better to do with your day than sit and email Homebase with pointless questions that aren’t even relevant to you?

If my DD spoke like that…

Like what?! Are you party to some secret recording that the rest of us have missed? Honestly, you are so sanctimonious.

This is the response I received too. I feel really sorry for those girls going in for a plant and a heated blanket. The out and out hostility towards young people here is really concerning. My teenagers are very nice people, actually. They're boys, so wouldn't have to endure all the 'hussy' and 'mare' stuff. If I was the OP, I'd be celebrating my daughter's ability to stand up for herself while buying a pot plant (!). These awful people who have never been young themselves are never seen in the real world. There are way more hostile thoughts among young people than there are in the heads of some really hateful god's waiting room types here.

I hate rudeness.

Old, young, male, female.

Particularly when it is directed at someone who isn't in a position to "strike"* back, and is just trying to do the job they are paid for.

*"strike" is in inverted commas so that you can tell I don't really mean "hit" or show violence in any form.

It’s as if you don’t understand that a policy is an official stance, backed up in writing. It’s not a vague idea in a manager’s head. That’s what I mean.

This whole thread seems to be focusing on the OP's daughter. It might not actually be the OP's daughter that the shop assistant took issue with.

As a teen, I used to do all kinds of shopping for my mother on my own, including DIY stuff, and never had an issue. But the few times I went shopping anywhere with a friend tagging along, it was like the difference between night and day. Assistants would take one look at us, and start following us around, or ask what we were there for. I stopped letting anyone come with me, and life went back to normal.

In retrospect, that friend was a melodramatic, impulsive pain in the arse, and I wonder if the adult staff could see that. Perhaps they doubted my ability to keep her in check.