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Original poster

Waitrose age ID check is bugging me

381 replies

Mothership4two · 14/09/2023 05:43

I was is a smallish busy Waitrose (not my usual shop) with DS (25) and I bought 6 bottles of (not cheap) wine, a box of chocolates and a handful of day to day food items. At the till I put the items on the belt and bagged them while DS stood waiting by the end. The cashier didn't put the wine through and asked my son for ID. I was a bit confused and told her that this was MY shopping (I'm in my 50s and sadly do not need ID). She ignored me and asked for his ID again. When I repeated it was my shopping she said it was company policy - other than that she was pretty uncommunicative. So DS went out to the car to fetch his ID and there was a bit of grumbling from the couple waiting behind who then went off to find another till. DS came back and she put it through without a word.

I wasn't grumpy with her, I was just neutral, paid and left. It was irritating but we weren't particularly outraged and had a laugh about it in the car. DS said he hasn't been asked for ID in years (he looks his age) and that no "youngster" would be spending £70+ on wine for a party. We thought it was odd though.

I know there are much bigger things going on in the World to worry about, but it has bugged me since then. I know the cashier isn't a mindreader but it was pretty obvious it was my shopping and very obvious that DS is an adult. And also what happens if you go around with your 16 year old child or younger and happen to buy alcohol, would Waitrose then refuse to let you buy it? I'm sure that happens in supermarkets up and down the country all the time - buying alcohol when parents are shopping with their children. I understand that supermarkets have to have a policy for not selling alcohol to childen via others but it was patently obvious that was not happening. The whole thing doesn't make sense.

AIBU and has anyone else been put in a similar postion?

OP posts:

CatamaranViper · 14/09/2023 16:23

1mabon · 14/09/2023 16:18

Get over it. If that's all you have to moan about, lucky you. We do not want or need to know the price you paid for the wine cheap or otherwise.

The point was, a 17 year old is hardly going to spend £70 odd on bottles of wine are they?

It is was a bottle of red square and monster, it would be way more suspicious that it was for teens

Sheraprincessofflower · 14/09/2023 16:25

My mum was not allowed to buy a bottle of wine once because I was with her because the cashier thought she might be buying it for me. I was 30. It was ridiculous.

ToBrieOrNotToBrieThatIsTheQuestion · 14/09/2023 16:28

It absolutely gives me the rage when people say "take it as a compliment" when they're IDing a 30-something.

It's not a fucking compliment. I don't want to look like a child because then I get treated like a child. I'm very happy with the idea of looking my age.

It means you get taken much less seriously at work, and it affects your chances of progression in the workplace. Someone here will probably try and tell me that it's about how you dress - it's not. I've been wearing what is very clearly office wear, with a lanyard that identified me as staff, and I have been asked by someone external what I was studying at university. I wasn't an intern - I was on the first rung of management at the time!

The silly thing is that I find that if I go in and buy a bottle of wine and nothing else, I will get IDd. If I'm getting the weekly shop and the same bottle of wine, I won't get IDd. Likewise middle-aged women are the absolute worst - far more officious and likely to ID me. I avoid them on the checkouts if I'm buying alcohol.

PickoftheMix · 14/09/2023 16:30

slashlover · 14/09/2023 15:42

The shop is not going to risk a fine and losing their licence because you threw a tantrum.

Show quote history

This thread shows most of it is all a performance and box ticking. If a teen wants to get alcohol, they aren't going to queue up with their parent at the checkout whilst it's bought. All these "policies" are doing is annoying customers who are not doing anything wrong or illegal.

OnGoldenPond · 14/09/2023 16:30

So does this mean that parents of small children can never buy booze at the supermarket again unless they leave their DC locked in the car (and thus risk arrest for child neglect)??

Glad this didn't happen when my two were small, the wine was the only thing that kept me going

DemBonesDemBones · 14/09/2023 16:31

I'm sure there are many teens (especially those that frequent Waitrose ) that drink wine as a preference.

Dontstoptherain · 14/09/2023 16:33

Most ID checks annoy me these days. As mentioned, the law is to be over 18, not to look over 25. In some places now I’ve even seen challenge 32?!? You don’t have to provide ID to buy alcohol, you need to be over 18. So if you clearly are then what’s this stupid obsession for?

A few years back an Aldi checkout girl sold my mum a bottle of whiskey (for my dad), then after completing the full transaction spotted me at the end of the checkout and decided she couldn’t sell it to her. My mum was very taken aback and ended up letting her refund it, but really should have refused as the contract was already complete and she’d missed her opportunity to ID by then.

I’ve left a full shop on the conveyor due to this, as I then had to rush off and buy the items from a shop willing to serve alcohol to a 37 year old! There’s definitely occasions where checkout staff need to use some common sense.

2023forme · 14/09/2023 16:39

Redwinestillfine · 14/09/2023 06:47

I got Id'd for non alcoholic beer 🤣

I believe this is because the til treats non alcoholic beers/wines/cocktails as if they had alcohol - so when the item is scanned, it shows the same as if it was alcoholic and requests ID check.

could be wrong but this topic came up a while ago and I’m fairly sure someone said this. Another poster also posted that she was buying wine and her teenage daughter’s friend came behind her in the queue so they had a quick chat. Teen wasn’t buying booze/had no id but the cashier wouldn’t sell wine to the OP as she was “with” the teen. That is crazy.

Pandor · 14/09/2023 16:39

You are NOT allowed to buy a bottle wine on behalf of your under-18 year old to take a house party as that would be terrible and against the law.

You are however allowed to buy yourself a bottle of wine and then suddenly decide that you might as well give it to your under 18 year old to take to a house party. That is absolutely fine and not against the law at all (as when you bought it you weren’t buying it on their behalf).

So all absolutely clear and perfectly reasonable for supermarkets to feel they have to police the difference between those two situations…

Whapples · 14/09/2023 16:47

Earlier this year, I got ID’d for the first time in ages for some paracetamol. I’m 27 and was with my partner, who is 28. He had ID but I didn’t so we couldn’t purchase it. I know that they have to have some kind of rules but it was really annoying!

Bluehasnoclue · 14/09/2023 16:48

Lockthedoorbehindyou · 14/09/2023 16:19

Which law is it exactly that prevents you from, as an adult, buying alcohol for your own consumption?

Show quote history

I didn’t mention that nobody could buy alcohol for their own consumption.. I don’t know the legal specifics, however the law I was referring to is the one which covers the prevention of the sale of alcohol to anyone under the age of 18. I believe that this is the Licensing Act 2003.

Possibly the person at the till was concerned that one of the two people together at the till were potentially under the age of 18. Although I’d hazard a guess they were probably following the Challenge 25 policy as directed by their employer which whilst not law is hammered in to these employees and is as good as to them.

Sure absolutely there is no law to say that you cannot buy alcohol for yourself if you’re with someone else that doesn’t have ID. But for a supermarket worker it’s probably not worth the risk of prosecution or a fine so I can completely understand why this happens regularly. Who is to say how easy it is to tell someone’s age & to tell if someone is definitely over the age of 18 or not? Where is the line drawn exactly for people to know when to ask for ID if a parent is buying alcohol and with a 17 year old?

There are always over-zealous people who take it too far but is it really that much of a big deal? I’m not so sure.

withlotsoflove · 14/09/2023 16:51

@GingerIsBest
you are a snob.
You think because a person is in a lower paid position- they need to kowtow to your ridiculous understanding of the law?
You might like to know that if your trolley contained perishables, they’d have to be wasted. So well done on adding to the food wastage issue too.

TickyTacky · 14/09/2023 16:52

When I was 25 I picked up a bottle of wine with the weekly shop in morrisons. I had my 25yo husband & 2 & 3 yo children with me, we were both evidently parents & wearing wedding rings. Cashier refused to serve me the alcohol although I had my ID because my husband might have been underage. I honestly did have a worry for her sanity.
So yanbu.

heyitsthistle · 14/09/2023 16:53

You can be stopped, fined or arrested by police if you’re under 18 and drinking alcohol in public.

If you’re under 18, it’s against the law:

for someone to sell you alcohol
to buy or try to buy alcohol
for an adult to buy or try to buy alcohol for you
to drink alcohol in licensed premises (such as a pub or restaurant)

If I go to a supermarket and by a bottle of wine, I expect to be able to purchase it. I am not buying it for my child. It's for me. But if I decide to let them try it in the privacy in my own home, then I can make that decision. It is only illegal to give alcohol to under 5s. Not that I'm suggesting that letting your six year old drink a pint is moral.

I love that shop policy is so uppity about it, especially as this is also the law:
However, if you’re 16 or 17 and accompanied by an adult, you can drink (but not buy) beer, wine or cider with a meal.

HuckleberryBlackcurrant · 14/09/2023 16:53

I live in the US and got ID'd buying ginger beer 😂

This is ridiculous!

Carnewb · 14/09/2023 16:58

When I sell someone alcohol I have to prove that the sale is legal and responsible, that it's being sold to someone over 18 and that I couldn't reasonably suspect it's for someone under 18. Or I face the concequences.

Proof is not "Well it was a £70 bottle of wine so I didn't think it was for the teenager" or "She was with 2 teens that I assumed were her children who were handling the alcohol, but she didn't look like she would give it to them" if you're caught out, because if it's gone wrong (or someone in the queue is a police/licencing officer or just a busy body and reports it) and someone under the age has got the alcohol and you're held accountable because you sold it, the only proof is if you've seen ID and that's been recorded either by a written log or CCTV etc.

I can say I was using my common sense or giving good customer service all I like, that's not proof that the sale was legal and responsible. I have no idea who you are or what your intentions are, but I stand to be punished if the alcohol you bought ends up in the wrong hands and have to prove there's no way I could have reasonably known that. And I doubt anyone here would even know, never mind come to the defence of someone caught by a potential proxy or illegal sale either.

And people lie to get what they want, just because you're telling me it's not for the teenager next to you, or yelling at me that you're his mum and how dare I question your parenting, doesn't mean it's true (or that I'm in fact questioning your parenting either).

The only way to protect myself is be absolutely sure, and there be no way anyone else could think a reasonable person wouldn't be, or see ID.

It's easy to be dismissive of the concequences when you're not the one facing them.

fussychica · 14/09/2023 16:59

My small gripe is ID checking when you're buying zero alcohol products. Apparently it's because it looks like alcohol it has to be ID checked.

Frumpylumpyvixen · 14/09/2023 17:06

What's the best phrase for describing someone that is so assertive, confident but utterly wrong? Would be interest in a singular and plural term as the plural can be used on this thread.

JudgeJ · 14/09/2023 17:07

cuckyplunt · 14/09/2023 06:47

In the States they wouldn’t sell me booze at all without ID, I am in my late 50’s.

Many states have that rule, we were in our late 60s and had to produce ID in New Mexico.

Tornado70 · 14/09/2023 17:08

It’s simply their job: “Think 25”.
if there is any chance someone older is buying alcohol for someone younger, they have to challenge it.

butterpuffed · 14/09/2023 17:09

fairyfluf · 14/09/2023 06:32

Why is it silly? Computer says "alcohol- ID check please". Staff member asks those present for ID.

Show quote history

So if it says 'Alcohol ID Check' it doesn't mean they have to ask for ID - it means for the cashier to use their common sense . What if they were 50 odd ? You still think the customer should be asked ?!

bridgetreilly · 14/09/2023 17:10

YABU, this is completely normal policy in most shops and happens all the time.

LordEmsworth · 14/09/2023 17:10

Maybe she came across badly because she disagrees with the policy, thinks it's idiotic, but didn't really fancy risking her job?

BogRollBOGOF · 14/09/2023 17:11

I can handle being IDed in my 40s (happened recently)
I could even handle being refused service at 37 on the one day my driving licence wasn't in my purse (due to a DBS check), but I would be pissed off at being refused service for being accompanied by my autistic nearly-teenager who's the same height as me and has zero interest in alcohol.

Maybe that's why I did get IDed on holiday, the 10 & 12 yo were with me. I showed my ID. Then older, grey haired DH ambled up and the assistant muttered "I wouldn't have asked if I'd seen him"
The DCs unequivically look like my children and I was in my 30s when I had them!

Pandor · 14/09/2023 17:11

@Carnewb - but you can’t know what someone is thinking, and you have to use discretion.

If your argument is they happened to have a 10 year old with them but I saw nothing to indicate the alcohol was for them, you can equally say they happened to have a 15 year old with them but I saw nothing to indicate that the alcohol was for them. The law doesn’t distinguish between those scenarios

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