AIBU - to think that if im paying at the tills, then asda shouldnt refuse to sell me a DVD?

[pinkheart]

Hi, I had an experience yesterday in ASDA at the self serve checkout and wondered if it is just my local ASDA that has introduced a ridiculous policy or all of them? this is a bit long winded but;

I used the self serve checkout with my children (my eldest son loved to do this bit)and as all the items were swiped through, the last item was my DVD which had been at the bottom of the basket. I forgot I would have needed to get age authorisation or I would have used a different till. However, we waited for the self serve assistant to come over and authorise the sale of my DVD, however she told me that I couldn?t have the DVD as she had seen my son swipe the DVD. I thought she was joking as she took the DVD away and so I stood at the checkout waiting for her to bring it back (I assumed she was removing a security seal or something similar). The assistant saw me still standing at the till so came back to ask why I was not moving. To which I replied I was waiting for my DVD. Again she replied that as my Son had swiped the item I wasn?t allowed to have it.
I was purchasing all of the shopping on my debit card so I cannot understand why I was not allowed to have the DVD. I had to walk back through the store with both children and my bags of paid shopping to reselect the same DVD and take it to another checkout to pay for it.

when i got home i was still fuming over the way the checkout lady had spoken to me and lack of explanation, so i rang the store to complain (I have never ever rung and complained to anyone before!)
The Customer services manager told me that it was store policy to not allow items swiped by children to be sold. I replied that I have never encountered this situation before and there are no signs or notices anywhere to inform customers that their children cannot use the self serve checkouts. He told me that they had recently been caught selling an age authorised product to an underage person. However, clearly I am over 18, with my own debit card, photo id, and 2 children in tow and obviously old enough to purchase a 15 rated DVD (I am in my 30's).
The manager then suggested that I should shop without taking my children with me!! If I could complete my shopping without having to take the children around the aisles with me I would, but I work full time and only have weekends to undertake such tasks.

AIBU to think this is ridiculous or have other people encountered this?
I have emailed ASDA to complain but so far nothing back..

spar wouldn't sell dp a bottle of wine (hes 53 on friday) because I was with him and didn't have my driving licence (i'm 33 btw)

Its illegal to sell alcohol if you think its going to be given to minors. How did the shop keep know that you weren't buying it for you son?

Malcolm Its a compliment if they think you are under 25!

Especially if you are only buying a bottle of wine and not a bottle of wine with the weekly shop, expect to be IDd. It shows that the shops are doing their jobs! As it becomes more common (and it will) people will carry ID naturally and then there will be no hassels.

I remember kicking off in a shop once years ago because I was refused cigarettes. I stamped and stormed and said it was ridiculous, I was never shopping hee again blah blah.

And then I actually got a job as a sales assistant and I shut up pretty damn quick once I realised how much pressure you are put under regarding age related sales

i get upset when i dont get id'd

The compensation culture in the UK and the way some laws are enforced mean that people are actively prevented from using their common sense. It is humiliating to be the one having to follow these guidelines too.

However; 1)the staff in ASDA were incredibly rude to the OP and this is unprofessional and unacceptable. 2) If this is the rule about swiping then there is no excuse for a company that size not to have signs advising customers of this (does that mean the member of staff on a manned till is the purchaser? ).

It has become crazy I was id'ed for a 3+ computer game and the sale refused because I couldn't prove I was over 3 apparently. I was also ID'ed to buy chocolate chip cookies. I still haven't worked this out as they do not contain alcohol, contain solvents, are not age rated game/dvd and nor are they sharp. They deigned to accept my work ID for the cookies as you have to be at least 21 to do my job.

I offered to buy a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale for a little old man who had been refused service and the assistant told me she was going to call the police and have me arrested for buying alcohol for a minor.

So basically people in the UK are unable to do their weekly shop with their children if it includes some wine?

Seriously?

I was in Asda when I was 32 and buying champagne for my friends sisters 21st. I got ID'd. I think I may have dressed better if I was underage rather than an old tracky and hair tied back LOL. Huge cues person on till wouldn't accept my Army id card and said it could have been fake.....I just went oh get your manager. Manager came along and said 'can't accept it as it has hologram on it?!?!?!?!?!' what a fuckwit. I just went it is an Army ID card and gets me into Armed Forces bases I really don't think it is fake somehow plus there is now way I look under 18 and why the hell would an under 18 year old being by buying champagne with a credit card????
People in que laughing and then when i started asking him exactly how old I looked and that I was certainly older than the checkout guy by about 10-15 years he said I'd have to leave unless I found another form of ID. Had to run back to car to get driving license in the pissing rain. They are twats.

Hey just had a thought does this mean we have to remove our children from our house if we do online shopping and buy booze???

I would have said 'oh well if thats the case then you may as well put all this shopping back and refund me then? My DS swiped all of this'

I too would complain about the manager. Did you get his name, also the assistants name.

I remember once in Nettos me and my sister went to get some beers for a saturday night in, we went to the checkout and she was asked for ID, she gave the lady her driving license and was asked
'is this real?'
my sister said 'yes of course'
The women said 'it doesn't look real let me get my manager'
Manager came out, looked at my sister driving license

(bearing in mind it was real it was a new style driving license with the hologram at the back in a shape of a steering wheel - as oppose to the hologram over the face on old Driving license - he license was issued in 2007)

Manager looked at the license and said

'hmmm i don't think this is real, cos the hologram isn't there'
My sister said look its on the back its new i passed my test in 2007 its a new style'

Manager gets HIS license out to compare and says
'look my holohgram is over the face on my license and yours isnt, im sorry i cant serve you'

I said to him, 'i'm sorry but are you taking the piss, thats a real license, its a new style, yours isn't i asked him if they have the ID verification poster and he said 'its not been updated yet'

But he point blank refused the sale even though ID was showed.

My DH said we should have stood and not left and told him to ring the police then as he was accusing my sister of having fraudulent papers and its an offence, i wish we would have done that then because then the manager would have been the one with egg on his face.

the best thing was he stood there and WATCHED my sister get in her car and drive off

I agree with WhatWillSantaBring - it's the store's interpretation of the law that's at fault here, and it's lazy of them to simply make a blanket policy that excludes the exercise of common sense.

But Gabity, how could police or trading standards say Asda was selling to a minor?

The OP was present at transaction, had chosen the items and was paying with her credit/debit card. So the contract was between her and Asda, not DC and Asda.

It is not as if children were at Asda by themselves, had selected DVD and then attempted to pay with no parent/guardian/responsible adult present!

This thread will go around in circles.

For the shop assistant it is the threat of trading standards appearing.

We have to be lecture on think 25 twice a year.

So in order to keep my job and my freedom I admit I am over cautious and I won't apoligise for it. If my manager overrules me so be it but then I have a form to fill out.

If I refuse a sale Ihave a form to fill out, it is sometimes over the top but hey ho I have bills to pay.

booty I've seen a mum come in with her underage son (I knew them) to buy blackops which has an 18 rating get served by a colleague of mine and then the mum promptly gives the game to her son, 'here you are you've got it now' and then walk out the shop.

If the police or trading standards had seen that then my colleague would be in deep shit because she the game was intended for the child all along.

Its a minefield and I do agree there needs to be more clearer legislation/signs whatever but at the moment there isn't and I wish people would understand the very severe implications for shopworkers if we do get it wrong.

exactly mrsgetonwith it. I have bills to pay and children to support too. If I upset customers with a policy that I have not got any contro over then so be it. My family comes first!

sheep..........we could be till buddies,,,lol

I am really sorry to hear that Sheep

IMHO there is no way the till operator should be made responsible for who adult [the person who chooses and pays for item] buys restricted items for. As others have said, how can till operators possibly police this? And why is it their responsibility to do so anyway?

Utter madness.

lol we could be mregetonwith it!

Agree complete madness but the till operator is responsible.

Hey just had a thought does this mean we have to remove our children from our house if we do online shopping and buy booze???

You may jest, BlueCollie, but a colleague lost out on the wine she had bought as part of an online weekly supermarket shop, because her 16 year old DS was the only person in the house when it was delivered - the driver said he couldn't deliver it as he was underage and it had to be returned.

The whole issue is complete lunacy. I myself have been refused alcohol as could not prove my age at 37 (although the check out staff said they were happy I was over 18, they wern't happy I was over 25 - completley ignores the fact that it is legal to buy alcohol at 18).

The shopping with children doesn't make sense either - what difference does it mean if they are with you or not - what will they say next - sorry I can't sell you this because you may give it to the minor you may have left outside/at home (which is legal anyway for a parent to give a child alcohol over 5 in their own home (or something similar)).

I completly understand the need to prevent young teenagers from getting off their faces on booze at bus stops etc, but the way the law is implemented does little to prevent this and simply incoveniences and annoys (mostly) law abiding citizens

I remember when I was shopping,i'd bought foodstuff pens,felt tips, scissors and printer paper for the kids.Well the lady scanned the scissors through and the food stuff but when It came to the printer paper she stared at it looked at me and asked me for i.d.

                           My face was like this <img loading="lazy" class="inline-flex mumsnet-emoji" alt="Confused" src="https://www.mumsnet.com/build/assets/confused-DVrVQwAF.png"> I didn't have i.d.Luckly she just let me have it.But I would of left all my shopping there and walked out if she'd of said I couldn't have it.The world has gone mad

My ds(5) loves swiping my shopping through .... The cashier often remarks what a big help he is to me. So they are obv happy to let him do it

I have been told he is not allowed to swipe alcohol .. fair eenough ....though he is allowed to put it in a bag and put it in the trolley and push said trolley to the car

Sounds like that store has had a bad experience and as a result is now staffed by jobsworths

Its not like your son was buying the the dvd... he was helping you with your shopping

sheepgomeep and mrsgetonwithit

If I came to your till with my weekly shop that included some wine and my 9yo DS was with me, would you refuse to sell me the wine?

Where does it stop? 2yo fine, but 10 yo not?

I'm genuinely perplexed.

It's absolutely ridiculous that the shop assistants are the ones that get in trouble for this. Surely it should be illegal for the person buying the item to purchase it, rather than illegal for the person conducting the transaction to complete it.

The children doing the scanning issue is stupid too, when a cashier scans an item doesn't imply they are the one buying the item, does it?

Also, isn't it illegal for a cashier who is under 18 to sell alchohol? So are customers within their rights to ask the cashier for ID too?

"Its illegal to sell alcohol if you think its going to be given to minors"

I don't get this, it's not illegal to drink over the age of 5 so how can it be illegal to buy it?

misdee, I've never been ID'd and used to be asked age 11 by secondary school kids to buy their alcohol/ cigarettes. I used to just laugh and walk away.

"does that mean the member of staff on a manned till is the purchaser?"

Exactly! How come it's the person paying when it's a manned till but the person swiping when it's the self serve?

Was it someone on MN who got refused service because they were buying alcohol and pregnant!?

and how come matches are not restricted... bought some the other day at a self service till and no flag on the till

Now I know this is the law and not the shop at fault but surely kids will come to more harm buying matches than a dvd

its all madness and it needs a huge review.. and now!!