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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

135 replies

pinkheart · 06/02/2011 21:54

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..

OP posts:
sheepgomeep · 07/02/2011 13:25

winnybella of course I wouldn't but if you were to come to my till to buy a game/dvd etc with your underage son then I would refuse to sell it to you as I would have to assume that you will be buying it for your son.

I was amazed at the amount of people who tried to buy black ops for their clearly underage offspring one was only 6!

winnybella · 07/02/2011 13:45

Ok, I get that re:Black OpsSmile

But what if I came to the till with a 15 or 18-rated movie that it was obvious that no 9 yo would want to watch? I don't know, say Les Liasons Dangerouses or something similar? You know, a bit raunchy or violent period drama?

frasersmummy · 07/02/2011 14:16

so how do you police that kinda thing sheep.. do you ask are you buying this for yourself or someone else and what do you say if they say its for myself... you cant call them a liar can you ???

Surely thats taking things a bit far

sheepgomeep · 07/02/2011 16:06

unfortunately where I come from many many children are brought up watching 15 or 18 films. just because you are a responsible parent doesn't mean to say that everyone is.

I would use my common sense I think especially if a dvd etc was bought as part of a weekly shop BUT I would be extremely cautious if it was the only thing you were to buy and you had an underage child with you.

I know it sounds ludicrous but I am terrified of getting it wrong and having huge consequences

sheepgomeep · 07/02/2011 16:10

fraser I just say I still can't sell it to you sorry as I have to assume that its not for you. I am then VERY apologetic, if they are still kicking off then I offer them my manager. We are supported by our managers though which is a good thing

ItsMeMo · 07/02/2011 17:02

I am a police officer and I have to say that if I saw a child scan an age restricted DVD I wouldn't bat an eyelid. The contract is between the payer and store.

Alcohol cannot be sold to someone who cannot prove they are over 18 or if the shop reasonably believes it is being bought for someone under 18. To refuse to sell to someone who has a child with them is just stupid and ridiculous.

If a person aged over 18 is buying alcohol and the staff have seen them talking to a bunch of youths outside and money changing hands then refusing the sale would not be unreasonable.

When a child is doing test purchases on behalf of the police or trading standards, they must give their correct age if asked.

You will not receive a fine or be hefted off the shop floor for selling age restricted products to someone doing their weekly shop with their kids. Age restriction is not a new thing. People have managed for years you know.

ItsMeMo · 07/02/2011 17:06

You must reasonably believe that the item is being bought for someone underage. Calling people liars seems really bad form to me.

Nagoo · 07/02/2011 17:28

policy

confuddledDOTcom · 07/02/2011 18:42

No one has answered yet about why it's illegal to sell alcohol that could be drunk by a child when it's legal for a child to drink over the age of 5?

winnybella · 07/02/2011 18:46

And according to Asda policy that Nagoo has linked to, you need to have a reasonable belief that an adult is buying alcohol for an underage person- not just because a teenage son is accompanying his parent ie you see him asking his mum to buy beer for him.

ItsMeMo · 07/02/2011 18:49

So asda's policy even shows that refusing the sale of alcohol to someone, when they have ID, but someone younger with them is wrong. So refusing to sell alcohol to someone cos they have their kids with them is wrong!

thefurryone · 07/02/2011 18:53

shakey1500 that's really interesting. I guess in this situation it is therefore trading standards that are being unreasonable, that woman in ASDA does need a slightly better approach to customer service though and signs clearly wouldn't go amiss.

ItsMeMo · 07/02/2011 19:18

gabity - if you know someone is over 18 you can sell them alcohol without ID. The offence is selling alcohol to someone under 18 NOT selling to someone who might look under 18 to some but in real life are over 18. If you know them you can vouch for them.

Trading Standards and the Police only use 16 & 17 year olds for test purchases for 18 restricted products. The test purchaser WILL look their age. They have to tell you their real age if asked.

The test purchaser has photos taken of them ON THE DAY they do the test purchases to prove (if needed) in a court of law that they LOOKED THEIR AGE.

You cannot be prosecuted for selling alcohol to someone you know is over 18. If you lost your job for this you could most certainly win a tribunal for unfair dismissal.

I can imaging how it would go:
"Did you sell alcohol to this 20 year old without ID?"
"Yes I did. They are 20"
"How did you know they were 20 without ID?"
"I went to school with them. I have known them many years"

Would you ID your brother or sister just in case? Grin

xstitch · 07/02/2011 19:32

I had a conversation like that with someone regarding NHS fraud.

"did you let them tick over 60 without asking for ID"
"yes"
"You need proof"
"Their date of birth is on the prescription"

MeMo I can so imagine that conversation in court.

TheMonster · 07/02/2011 19:34

that's ridulous. Asda is ridiculous.

cat64 · 07/02/2011 20:08

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Dansmommy · 07/02/2011 20:11

My DH was refused alcohol in Asda even though he used to work there. He didn't have ID on him, so asked for the manager. The manager knew him, and knew he was in his 30s, but would not insist that the cashier served him, as it was 'up to her'. He had to come away withouth the alcohol, although they were happy to let him pay by credit card, despite the fact that you can't have a credit card if you are under 18.

Biggest bunch of idiots going.

LadyBunny · 07/02/2011 20:14

I was about to say start shopping at Tesco, then I remembered they refused to sell me a lottery ticket because even though I asked for the ticket and they saw me get the money out of my purse, I gave it to my 14 year old son to hand over (Pay with this while I put my purse back in my bag....)

Was hugely tempted to ask for a refund on the entire shopping trolley but then thought, whose nose am I cutting off to spite whose face?

My online shopping increased massively after that.

(Shop without children? You're kidding me. Hit them where it hurts and buy your kids' clothes from somewhere else).

gabity · 07/02/2011 21:37

Yes, you do have to ID your brother or sister! What if someone that is behind them waiting in the queue sees them getting served, they look about 15 and they complain to police? They don't know you are related. It is taken so seriously.

And MeMo what if I had said "fine, serve him, I went to school with him" and the police were outside doing spot checks, as they do. They ID underage looking people coming out of shops. The only legal way of knowing someone is over 18 is to see ID.

gabity · 07/02/2011 21:40

p.s trading standards may only use under 18s but the big supermarket chains use 20-25 year old (I did it a few years ago) as their policy is Challenge 25.

Even if I did know the person, how would I know that the person isn't a test purchaser.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 07/02/2011 21:45

Well I would gave thought that proving a relationship to someone is pretty easy if questioned by the police...

gabity · 07/02/2011 21:57

I meant that other people in the shop wouldn't know that you were related. Shop could easily get a repuatation for selling to underagers and make the problem worse.

Its a minefield. Sometime have to stop myself using a common sense approach as it could get me, my colleagues and my shop into trouble! The law is very black and white. A group of 12/13 year olds were found drunk recently close to our shop, the booze they had was in one of our bags. Police came into shop and went through hours and hours of CCTV to see if we had sold it to them or someone buying it for them. Joke was that we didn't even sell the drink that they had consumed (buckfast) but the police didn't believe us! Hmm

Quite a few shops in my area have lost there alcohol licence for underage selling related incidents. No alcohol licence pretty much means the end for shops.

ItsMeMo · 07/02/2011 23:12

If someone complained to the police that they thought you were selling to underage people, they would complete a test purchase. You would pass if you ask for ID.

It's not about proving to customers that you are asking, it's about knowing you aren't selling to under 18s.

So you would ID the same person every day if they came in every day to buy something age restricted? That would royally piss me off if I was your customer.

You ask for ID to be sure in your own mind that you can justify the sale.

The world has gone mad I tell you.

Challenge 25 is not legally enforced. It is a policy to protect sales assistants from selling to someone who looks older than they are. EG a 15 year old that looks 20. if you KNOW someone is over 18 you really have no need to ask for ID.

Sales Assistant: "can I see some ID please?"
Customer: "I'm your twin. I shared a womb with you."
Sales Assistant: "No ID no sale"
Customer: "I'm your brother. You know how old I am"
Sales Assistant: "Still not serving you cos Mrs Briggs is in the queue and she might think you only look 22."
Customer:"I am 22"
Sales Assistant: "Till point says no"

Manager: "I thought that was your brother? He's 22 isn't he?"
Sales Assistant: "Yeah but no but yeah but no but he dint have ID so I wouldn't serve him the £100 worth of champagne he wanted"
Manager: "Ahh good work. You lost us a £100 sale. You'll be employee of the month soon!"

ItsMeMo · 07/02/2011 23:14

Shops lose their alcohol licences for selling to test purchasers who ARE under 18. Not to people who are over 18 but look under 25.

StealthPolarBear · 07/02/2011 23:15

What do you expect from a store that needs authorisation to sell broccoli?

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