To think challenge 25 has gone too far?

Ooh and another one I noticed
I bought some blades for DD quite pleased to find in clearance as they were discontinued.
Went to the till ( they had a tag). The sale staff said go to the self service as she was busy .( Doing what I do not know)!
Went to the Self Serve which was right beside her. Of course the item needed authorised. Done by another member of staff .
"How do I get the tag off?" I asked.
I had to go to the bloody till.
Where she asked me had I paid. She was right beside me 🤨

The transaction went through less than 2 feet away and another member of staff helped.

DS was ID when he was buying beer. Produced his provisional driving licence which had expired, so he was at least 27. He was refused even though they agreed he was well over 18. I get they say current ID but it seem weird to me that something you can’t have until you are 17 and has expired doesn’t count.

When I buy something at the self service till that needs approval there's a choice for them to go through. Mine is always the Don't Need To Check one .
So they don't even ASK me ! 😆

My partner got ID'd for buying hacksaw blades in B&Q, he was 50, he only had an old paper driving licence. I had to come to the rescue with my provisional driving licence. I understand why cashiers have to be careful and it really doesn't cause that much of an issue, so just accept it's a part of life. Many countries insist on ID at point of sale of alcohol.

Yes, plenty of the time people do get refused, despite being easily old enough because they don't happen to have ID on them. That is legitimately annoying.

And yes we know the shop workers are forced into it. The complaint is that they are being forced to be too picky. Obviously I understand why they do it from a personal perspective.

Oh sure. i guess if someone is frequently asked for ID, they could decide to carry their licence with them as a matter of course. I always have my licence- it’s in my wallet which is always with me (not that I ever get asked for ID as I’m very haggard). My DD carries her ID in her phone case. She is frequently asked for ID and she always has her phone on her.

Really interesting idea because I think I agree but can you imagine the uproar at EVERYONE needing ID to buy age restricted products? A stopped over 80 year old man shuffling in to buy his ale?

I’m assuming that this did happen to the op, prompting her to take ID with her now as a matter of course.

No way I get absolutely buzzing when I get ID’ed. Thank you Challenge 25! Makes my day!

I have worked retail and in bars and if you fuck up a mystery shopper (who btw often look over 18) they will bollock you. I also sometimes just use to ID people who were a bit rude and then say I couldn’t sell them alcohol - but I’m sure that’s not you. You probably just look young. Also older staff members often think everyone looks “about 12”. My mum works at the local Tesco to keep busy and regularly IDs older people because to her, everyone is young.

Years ago my DS was challenged in Morrisons when he was trying to buy a video game. He was 29. He was bloody furious because the person at the checkout was in his class at school and knew bloody well how old he was.

The staff members face disciplinary action if they screw up. I think it should be required for all sales.

I got ID’s until the age of 34 for the same reason. I am short as well as (back then) looking young for age. It stopped when the eye bags of motherhood arrived 😅

I was with DS (12 at the time) in HobbyCraft and he was using birthday money to buy spray paint which he was going to use on our garage wall. We had a big chat with the checkout person about this as we were loading the cans onto the checkout bit so she knew DS was the one who was using them but she couldn't let him use his card to pay for them as he was underage! I had to pay using my card.

I'm glad she still let us buy them but it was just bonkers that he couldn't use his card, if I had his card in my purse I could have used the same card to buy them but since he took the card out of his wallet she had to say no!

This is exactly my point! She thought you were 19 or 20… so over 18! Makes no sense. As long as you’re legal whether you’re 19 or 20 is neither here nor there. And the person knew you were legal! So bizarre.

I was asked for ID the other day trying to buy a can of vodka in Aldi. I didn't have my ID on me as I never get asked for it. She said she thought I was about 19 or 20 so wouldn't sell me it which was fine, I get it. I'm 32 so I was flattered

I had it where I was refused to buy cigarettes, they didn't believe I was 32 and I even had my eight year old child with me at the time! Drives me mad at the lack of common sense.

Man I would love to be ID'd 😂

I understand why it’s done but at 64 it’s an absolute pain in the rear end having to wait for an often 18 year old to confirm I’m old enough to buy something , really did my nut when dvds were still popular and you’d be Id,d buying a u certificate film

The same happened to my DD (21) for an energy drink. Despite her regularly getting lottery tickets from the same shop no problem. And the fact she was on her own with her car keys in her hand and offered to show a photo of her passport. She regularly gets served in pubs without being asked.

it does if you don’t carry your license, you just have to leave empty handed

Tattoos are not a reliable indicator of age unfortunately!
— Signed, someone who got a tattoo when they were underage 🫶

Just show them your driving license. Surely that doesn’t take long? I think they’re right to challenge. It’s much better than it was in the 90s when many of us could get served alcohol at 15/16. I’m glad children are better protected now.

Hi, retail worker here for one of the big 4 who has to enforce Challenge 25 on a daily basis…

YANBU-ish as I can always see it from the customer’s perspective and I appreciate that it may be a bit embarrassing or inconvenient, HOWEVER, it is absolutely drilled into us that we must ask for ID if we are even slightly unsure about someone’s age. If even a small part of you is unsure about their age, you need to ask.
Retail workers face massive fines, dismissal and sometimes prosecution if any products are sold to someone that’s underage, whether knowingly or not. We really cannot afford to get it wrong.

Be kind to your local retail workers, they are underpaid and unappreciated 🫶

DD was also refused paracetamol in Sainsbury's garage, despite having driven there. Surely some common sense should be applied.