Getting Asked for ID When Buying ALCOHOL FREE BEER!

[0FrillyKnickers0]

Right.

Before andyone suggests that the till lady was "just doing her job", I totally understand that she was just doing her job (although she could've been nicer), I understand that she was just doing her job. This is not a moan at checkout staff, but at the morons who imposed this rule.

I am 27 weeks pregnant and the weather is super hot. So, I went out with my husband to do the weekly shop and decided to buy some Becks Blue (as it has to be the best AF beer ever). We got to the checkout and she put through all our shopping (veg, meat, cereal...all good sensible stuff) and then she put through the alcohol free beer (we weren't buying any real alcohol, just the Becks Blue). She looked at DH(24) and asked for ID, I snickered to myself as it was AF beer, she then said "I don't know what you're laughing about, I need to see some for you too". I'm 25. Only problem was that although DH had ID (and passed this age test), I didn't have any on me as I didn't think I would need it FOR BUYING ALCOHOL FREE BEER. Well...she wouldn't let us buy it! Neither would her manager.

Needless to say I was pretty pissed off. Apparently it has 0.01% alcohol in which is why they ask for ID. Of course that makes sense because I'm going to get toatlly hammered on a 6 pack of Becks Blue, aren't I .

Seriously. Who are the nitwits that decided to impose such a stupid rule? I bet they don't ID people when buying aftershave which, most likely, has more alcohol in than 0.01%!

Moan over.

I once got a rather embarrassed call from a friend who was hosting a dinner party to ask if I could bring the booze as Waitrose had refused to sell her any. She was 30 at the time.

I know someone who wasn't allowed to buy vanilla essence in the supermarket. She was in her late twenties, didn't have i.d., and was pregnant at the time. She was with her husband, and he said 'oh don't worry, I'll buy it, I have my id' - but they refused to sell it to him because he might be buying it for her... vanilla essence ffs!

If they are going to ID you for alcohol (almost) free beer, there's probably as much alcohol in mouthwash, trifle and some of the brandy butters at Christmas. Why dont they ID people for those products?

This IDing the everyone who is with you thing does f-all for underage drinking, as if the underage person actually goes in and stands next to the one buying drink for them

hamncheese: it's really really common - junior tries to buy beer. Fails. Go gets his dad to buy it for him in full view of the bloody checkout as if we are completely bloody stupid. Then dad gets arsey because we won't sell it to him.

what if you don't have ID. Not everyone has a driving license or passport. What happens then!

Rubber duck: I still think the rule is stupid. It's supposed to be a way of helping staff to determine if someone is over 18. They shouldn't be sitting there thinking, 'hmmm, they might only be 24, better ID them just in case'. That's incredibly stupid.

But the thing is, it's incredibly hard to judge age by sight alone. Having the figure 25 in your head instead of the figure 18 gives you a much better margin of error.

"But they looked like they were 20" is no defence in court when they were actually 17.

The fine can be up to £5000, btw. Most checkout staff are only on just above minimum wage. For selling knives (for e.g.) underage, there's also a possibility of 6 months imprisonment. Are you really surprised they won't take the risk?

In ASDA the checkout staff have the option of clicking 'No I.D required' Must buy new face cream so actually they DO NOT have to ask you for it, they do have some scope for common sense!

A close friend of mine used to work on the tills, he said it can be quite stressful but he admitted that some of the checkout staff do get a little power crazed but others are just so scared of the warnings RE: fines etc that they just ask everyone to cover their own backs - He showed me a photo he had taken of the staff room and it looked like some kind of training camp - There was ATLEAST 8 massive posters warning staff that they would be held personally responsible and could face losing their jobs etc.

Just carry your I.D

Oddly you can buy shandy which has a higher alcohol content as a minor

RubberDuck- so if I do and do my weekly shopping with my 10yo (but looking like a 14yo) son, I'll be refused a bottle of wine, because I'm possibly buying alcohol for minor?

Madness.

Exactly Follyfoot!

the cashier in M&S and her manager refused to sell me a bottle of champagne a few days ago as I had no id and "might not be old enough". I had dashed out the car with some cash to grab it on the way to visit a friend and didnt have any id. Bit of a pain, but it cheered me up no end. I am 42.

Same happened to me - I was IDed when 18 and buying J20 (juice that comes in a bottle). However, having just passed my driving test I was more than happy to oblidge and show my pink card! :)

Just wanted to echo Rubberduck really. Check 25 gives us a bigger margin. Why should the checkout staff potentially get a huge fine, a criminal record and lose their job? That's what happens if we mis-sell alcohol and other age restricted products. Do you think getting asked for ID is that bad now?

Unlikely, winny - but if there's any hint that the wine is for him then they're within their right to refuse.

People have been prosecuted for selling alcohol to people obviously over age but who had been seen speaking to a minor outside the store before going in. You can understand why checkout staff get nervous and want to cover their back.

I was with DD (17) in Tesco last week- complete family shopfor a long weekend and one bottle of wine. Checkout lady "I assume that you are buying this for yourself" ( holding wine) Me "well yes". Checkout lady "Because it would be illegal if you were buying it for her". Didn;t ask for ID for me- but going by what others have said locally, if she had and had then asked for DDs ID she would have refused the sale on the basis that I "might" have been buying it for DD.
Oddly, of course, it would be legal for me to serve it to DD in my own house- just not for me to buy it if I was going to give it to her??
I can fully understand why shop assistants are so rigid on the rules ( I would be too in those circumstances)- but there has to be a better way to licence the sale of alchohol in this country.
Many of my friends now don't buy alchohol in supermarkets when with under 18 teenagers as they are so often denied the purchase.

My 15 yo got asked for ID to buy a Sims computer game that was a '12'. My DD was very obviously over 12. She was told that as she looked under 25, she needed to prove her age - it was a kids '12' game! She came and got my husband who was in the same shop and he was refused as well - he got accused of supplying a minor! The rules have gone seriously over the top! Lets be honest, anyone buying a Sims game would be buying it for an under 25!

The fine for selling a 12 game to an under-12 is also £5000 and 6 months imprisonment. It has a rating on it, we have to check.

"anyone buying a Sims game would be buying it for an under 25!" pfft - I've bought Sims games for me, and I'm 39 :P

These are sobering statistics (sobering... geddit... ):

"The survey shows that a shocking 65% of shopworkers have been subjected to verbal abuse as a result of asking for ID, while over 16% have been threatened with violence and more than 2% have actually been physically assaulted."
Source

Do you really think they do it just to piss you off?!

It's called challenge 25 and is endorsed by trading standards. I think it's a good idea

I get asked though sometimes now and I am 34

I was once asked for ID to buy a cadbury's dairy milk. That was all I was buying. Bizarre.

Do you know how much shop workers can get fined? and they will also get a criminal conviction if prosecuted. I don't think it's worth it. I would rather piss people off. I don't know what there is to be pissed off about though.