to think Tescos new rule about alcohol is pointless?

[HotCrossCervix]

They wouldn't sell me a bottle of Merlot because I had a teenager with me.

1. A 16 year old is highly unlikely to be swigging merlot. If the adult were purchasing booze for said teenager, vodka or barcardi breezers would be more likely.

1. What if I had a toddler or 8 year old with me? Would they have refused to sell me my wine?

1. The rule is completely pointless. All I did was tell the teenager to wait outside for me, then I went to a different till and bought my wine. I could have done exactly the same and then passed it straight over to the teenager to swig illegally.

So. Completely pointless and nobbish.

And is it a real rule? or just the till chap being an arse? and what are the details of the rule? Any child at all? Any child over 10? Anyone with a moody teenager in tow?

Am 41. I got Id'd in village Tesco for Maynards Wine Gums. Trufact. Do I win?

One of our local Coops is renowned for not selling alcohol to anyone with a child of any age with them, even a pre-schooler.

And going against Nocomet's theory, it's in one of our 'naicest' villages where they couldn't possibly be thinking there was a problem with toddler boozing.

Yes bryony I think you do

I get most of my groceries delivered, including a fair amount of beer and wine. DDs, 3 and 5 help unpack the boxes and have carried alcohol from the door into the house.

So the solution appears to be home delivery. 3 year olds can wander off with their beer apparently*

I haven't been ID'd in years (42) but I remember being asked if I was over 16 when buying a kitchen knife in a Woolworths. I looked at the person and replied 'I am considerably over 16, over 10 years older in fact'. She didn;t ask for ID which was just as well as I didn't have a credit card, and hadn't passed a driving test.

*I do not let my 3 year old drink alcohol there's a teaspoon of cointreau in a cake I made earlier but I'm not sure that counts I do not let my 5 year old drink alcohol. Heck I want DH to leave off drinking my alcohol still grumbling about the amber ale he drank that I'd bought for me to try and now I can't find it to buy again. mutter

bryonywhisker as always I want to know what happened next. So you were asked for ID .... and then what happened?

And Tesco is the one shop in our town that sold my pfb a full bottle of scotch on his 14th birthday He and three or four of his friends went in, and, in his words "tried it on" and they sold it to them without a murmur
It's not even bloody illegal for a 16 year old to drink in specific circumstances, it's just the whole Nanny State thing getting out of control, so check out people are too scared to apply a bit of common sense to their job, for fear of losing it

But the Co-op is the shop of last resort anyway.

They have a very useful car park for the rest of town, but I don't always bother with the shop. If I do it's only a pint if milk.

But if all parties present have to provide ID would it not have to say that somewhere? Would it not be on posters or something? And is that the law? And if it is the law why is it not applied universally? I've never been asked for ID yet 9 times out of 10 I have a child with me when I'm buying wine. It makes no sense.

When I say 'would it not have to say that somewhere' what I mean is would it not be good practice for it to say it somewhere?

Also, if you're only meant to be challenged if you look under 25, why are cashiers asking 40 somethings for ID? They can't actually think they're under 25, so what us the reasoning?

I ID'd a woman in her late thirties once when I was tired. She was pleased though luckily. The lights and the monotony does weird things to you.

Oh, and I mean I genuinely thought she was under 25.

This happened to me about 4 years ago in odbins.

I was not happy.

What will happen is patents leaving kids in cars outside. Eventually there will be some tabloid headline.

Yes, weatherall, I think that already happens now in this particular village.

All the preschoolers are roaming the village unaccompanied(or tied up to the dog posts) as the Mummies can't take them in with them whilst popping in to buy the Friday prosecco...

We had a conversation about this with a lovely lady on the checkout in Tesco tonight. I had a huge load of shopping for Easter and as I was unloading it DD (aged 23) was chatting with her about how nice the toffee apple cider going through the till was. Checkout lady then asked if DD had ID with her, answer was "Yes but I'm 23 and my Mum is buying it anyway" with a look on her face like Lovely lady was quite apologetic but explained how important it is for the store to comply with the law and they are often tested by secret shoppers.

Having said that I can see the implication that toffee apple cider is more likely to be for a younger person than a nice Merlot!

If a cashier is caught either serving someone underage, or serving someone who is overage / has I.D. but they have reason to believe the product MAY be given to some who is / may be underage, or who is present and has no I.D., they may face the following consequences :

on the spot fine
arrested, taken to police station, interviewed
prosecution
personal fine of 1000s
imprisonment
loss of job

These people are paid low wages for what they do, yet if they don't get this policy right, it can have devastating consequences for them as individuals. It is in their best interests to err on the side of caution - if they are caught serving someone underage, there are no second chances. It would be nice if people could try and understand the challenges faced by cashiers every day.

Where is this toffee apple cider? It sounds rather nice. I got some pear and ginger cider (£1 a bottle) in Sainsbury's today. I had dd with me (19) and no one id'd us.

in asda if 2 or more people together buying booze we have to id all of them if we think/look under 25

altho 'low paid job' we get paid pretty well in asda and yes some cashiers are jobworths and need a slap of common sense

Oh nuts! Just reread and realised toffee apple cider is in Tesco. Oh well.

Crazy!!!!

It's quite legal for children over five to drink alcohol at home under parental supervision yet supermarkets have to refuse if they think parents may be buying it for consumption by a child???

Ok - there are some parents who'd let their kids get drunk, give it to a baby etc but I reckon anyone that irresponsible would also be irresponsible enough to leave said child unsupervised outside the shop!

What next - refusal to sell to anyone who has a vehicle in case they are planning drink driving???

How about refusal to sell more than one bottle of wine in case we can't be trusted to drink sensibly?

I have never heard of this until someone in front of my in home bargains was refused a sale as her boy was with her

My sister once bought me alcohol when i was about 15 or 16. My friend & i were there & she never got ID'd and as soon as we left the shop she went one way & my friend & i went another. We had about 3 or 4 bags of booze. This was about 10 yrs ago. Wish they had refused her coz i had the hangover from hell the next day

"usualsuspectt Wed 16-Apr-14 14:15:14

My DS works for the Co Op, he gets pulled up by the manager if he has under a certain amount of ID checks on his till.

So he IDs everyone who looks under 30 grin"

You've just ruined my illusion. I get IDed every now and again. I am 34. I assumed I looked young, I didn't realise they had a quota.
That would explain why they don't actually look at my ID then!