Why do Sainsbury’s have a ‘think 25’ for all deliveries?

[sainsburystwat]

Bought a perfectly normal order from Sainsbury’s - groceries, shampoo, shower gel .

No alcohol or anything even close to alcohol (ie alcohol flavoured) . No medication . No substances . No knives .

Sainsbury’s delivery driver took one look at me and said, nope, you’re too young to take the delivery .

I’m 30 . I rent, I work, I’ve lived away from my parents for twelve years! I’m on the autistic spectrum and find supermarkets very difficult so prefer home deliveries for convenience .

Driver said I look much closer to 16-18, and I’m therefore not allowed the delivery, they can only deliver to adults aged over 25 and that in future I will be asked for a driving licence or passport - they aren’t allowed to accept any other ID .

For various reasons - money - I can’t afford a passport and I’m medically unfit to drive . Did offer him my birth certificate and student ID but said legally only allowed a passport or driving licence .

Why do they need ID for groceries? For what possible reason - what am I going to do with a sandwich and a cheesecake that could possibly be dangerous or illegal ?! Makes zero sense at all . Apparently it’s been company policy for years but I’ve been getting regular deliveries since I was 18 with zero issues !!

Customer services answer was that all supermarkets have the exact same policy that they won’t deliver to minors under 25 without passport/driving licence …. aaaargh.

I wouldn’t mind but they said I’m not even allowed to pick the food up from store; as customer services said I’d still be refused it without passport/licence .

So bloody frustrated !

Sounds like BS to me

I’d try another supermarket if you can.

I’ve had Tesco and Ocado deliver to me when I’ve been out and my 16 yr old DC has opened the door and taken in the shopping. So seems very strange that Sainsbury’s do that.

I hadn't heard that but it sounds crazy to me.

Sainsbury’s have form for this, my sons primary school teacher was refused when she wanted to buy ibuprofen in there!

Sounds ridiculous

It’s on their website although a different driver could thought ye she looks over 25. I would ask them To arrange a new delivery and hope driver does think so.

There is this citizens card but mainly for younger adults www.citizencard.com/

But without Passport/driving photo ID you still need get someone to sign and prove it’s you etc etc so not easy. But only £15.

It’s right pain in ass but for all you know driver could have been “done” for allowing under 18s before so sticking to rules without ID.

But in what way can a driver be 'done' for releaaing shopping to an under 18?

Sainsbury’s have been really strict on this before in store. I was buying alcohol, in my 30s, asked for ID which I had. My OH was with me and was asked to provide ID as well in case I was buying for him. He didn’t have ID (out for the night and didn’t have his wallet) so they wouldn’t sell it to me! He’s in his 30s too, and though I used to look quite young he didn’t. So weird.

He's lying that all supermarkets have the same policy.

I use Ocado and ds always accepts the delivery (he's 20 but looks younger). ID only needed if there is alcohol or a knife or something in there. Ssinsburys policy is ridiculous and we would have been caught out if ds didn't know where his passport was.

Switch supermarkets.

@StealthPolarBear

But in what way can a driver be 'done' for releaaing shopping to an under 18?

If there's an age restricted product in the order.

Good point @StealthPolarBear. It must just be company policy about buying stuff on cards which is delivered, and could be without the cardholders knowledge.

But this was grocery only with no age restricted products @VeniVidiWeeWee? Unless they’ve decided it’s easier for all drivers and orders to be the same without checking the order.

My 14 year old dd opens the door for ocado. No way does she look or sound 25, or indeed 18. We never order booze though.

Sainsbury needs to change their policy. We are still in a time of people needing to self isolate and it's quite likely to be less well off younger people who may not have a passport or driving licence.

I'm 26 but look alot younger (regularly get ID'd for redbull....) I have never been asked to show ID for a standard grocery order and thank god I haven't because I can't physically get to the shops sometimes. It is not every stores policy and it is a ridiculous policy considering there are alot of people ages under 25 who require online shopping.

I haven't used Sainsburys recently but we've never had that, even when we did have age restricted items in the delivery. Of course, we clearly look over 18! However, my son has been here and not been asked for ID.

The only provider who is funny about age restricted items is Amazon and their drivers ask for ID whatever your age. Otherwise they don't care.

I get wine delivered and it just gets left outside the house, so there's clearly no law that applies to deliveries and age restricted items. I would contact Sainsburys again OP, I think someone was talking out of their proverbial. Sometimes/often customer service staff don't know the answer but they just won't ask and make it up which is very annoying!

Sainsburys refused to deliver my shopping when my 24 year old daughter answered the door. I had to get out of the shower to proof an adult was there!

@Leftbutcameback

Good point *@StealthPolarBear*. It must just be company policy about buying stuff on cards which is delivered, and could be without the cardholders knowledge.

But then you'd ask for the card the order was charged to? I could understand that a bit more. Or do what Amazon has started doing for some higher value orders and sending a PIN you have to give to the driver.

I've checked their terms and they do actually say it - not just for orders with alcohol or some other age restricted item.

12.3 You or someone aged 18 or over on your behalf must be available to receive and inspect the delivery. Under no circumstances will goods be left unattended.

12.4 We operate a ‘Think 25’ policy. If the person receiving the goods looks under 25 we will request proof of age. We may retain the goods if proof of age or an alternative adult is not available.

Why does Think 25 have to apply to groceries? It seems like an extreme view to take to me. It can't be that difficult to flag an order if there are goods in there that you need to be over 16 or 18 to buy. Everyone else manages to deliver items without asking for ID (except Amazon for alcohol). And if you've paid by credit card you have to be 18 anyway.

I do think it's worth challenging though. They need to change it so they only ask for ID if there are age-restricted items in there. A teenager is perfectly capable of accepting a delivery of food and signing for it. All a signature is for is proving they've been not that the items were acceptable.

They don't say proof of age has to be photo ID though.

It’s ridiculous, especially the idea of ‘minors under 25’, a 24 year old is not a minor!
I’m 26 and had a delivery driver get arsey with me a couple of years ago (i was probably 23 or 24) as my ID was invalid even though I hadn’t ordered anything age restricted either. And earlier this year one asked for ID but I assumed it was to prove I was the right person more than age. They don’t ask every week even though it’s not usually the same driver so it’s not a very consistently applied policy.

Asda certainly require someone aged 18 or over to accept the order.

But it is ridiculous to have a policy of only delivering normal groceries that any 7 year old could buy in the shop to an over 25! That is madness.

OP, can you email their Customer Complaints, set the scenario out as you have so well in your opening post and provide a link to this thread?

I'm in the exact same situation. Can't afford a passport let alone a foreign holiday, & I'm medically unfit to drive due to my disability. It sounds like (for some people at least) this could border on disability discrimination. I'm poor because I can't work, because I'm disabled. What do supermarkets propose people in this situation do?