To get really frustrated by the Think 25 rule

[Cloeycat]

Not so much having to be ID'd but the fact that if I am with my partner and don't have my wallet (I'm over 25 and also obviously pregnant) that he is not able to purchase alcohol for himself unless I hide or pretend not to be with him.

I don't always carry my ID with me, especially if we are just popping to our local supermarket for something for dinner and he is paying but it is so frustrating that I then have to wait outside the door in the cold like a naughty 16yr old so that he can buy himself a beer or bottle of wine.

Does this rule apply to parents buying alcohol if they are accompanied by children who are under 18? Or is it just when it is two adults trying to legally buy alcohol that a problem arises?

Sorry also forgot to add, I haven't been ID'd ever do I really look my age? Well clearly from the age of 16!! I must have grown in to my old face X

"CrazyGreyhoundLady Mon 05-Dec-16 21:05:55

Think 25 policy:
If a customer wishes to buy an age restricted product and they look in your opinion under the age of 25 they MUST be able to provide ID before you can authorise the sale."

If the above is a correct quote of a shops Think 25 policy how on earth is anybody accepting a disciplinary let alone dismissal for failing to ask a 24 year old test purchaser for ID. The test as clearly stated is in your opinion, and the purpose of the policy is to make sure that customers are defiantly above legal age before not being ID'd.
If your employer is disciplining you for that then your union really needs to strap on a pair and back you better

If a customer wishes to buy an age restricted product and they look in your opinion under the age of 25 they MUST be able to provide ID before you can authorise the sale

Does the policy go onto say anything about everyone in the party having to be over 18 (or 25) too?

I've only been ID'd once or twice and was quite flattered.

I do hate the places that act like it's the law to check everybody. My very obviously pensionable mum is clearly not under 25, so why ID her?

I once got asked for proof of age when buying a happy feet DVD - a U rated film! I was 27 at the time.

OP I have recently started a seasonal retail job. I was only aware of checking for ID if felt necessary from the person purchasing the alcohol. I'd be taken aback if I was refused alcohol because I had my 12 year old with me, as an example. I haven't been asked for ID in what seems like forever.... Gutted by looking my age..

I work in the complaints team for a major retailer and regularly get complaints about this type of thing. The two main aspects to think about with age restricted products are underage sales and proxy sales.

If you look under 25 (and it is about the perception of the person serving you not your own perception) they will ask for ID and if you don't have it they won't sell it - this is the law, the only person who can change this decision is the responsible person. This is either the licence holder or the person acting on behalf of the licence holder (normally a manager or a supervisor). It's very rare for them to go against the original decision. The reason for this is they do not want a staff member to be to afraid to question in the future and potentially let an underage sale go through.

If a staff member has already refused and sale and then let someone else buy the product for that person, they are allowing a proxy sale - this is also against the law and can incur a personal fine of 5k, loss of license for the business and additional business fines too. This is why they may ID everyone with you, and why you cannot buy on someone else's behalf.

When it comes to children being with you, it is not necessarily the case that you will always be refused. It depends on lots of different factors, it would be rare for you to be declined with say an 8 year old. That being said, if you child has carried the alcohol, pointed it out, or paid any real attention to it you may be refused. The reason for this is that the whole system relies on perception (it is this way by law).

If you are going in with a 15 year old and you are buying alco pops there is a very high chance that you will be refused. As many parents buy alcohol for children of that sort of age and that tends to be the type of alcohol teenagers favour.

To be honest it is more about who may be behind you in the queue.

If it is someone mystery shopping from the council and they see you being served when they think there was something suspicious about the sale (you could have potentially looked under 25 or be buying for someone else) the store will be fined as well as the cashier even if it could be proven you were old enough. So you may even be ID'd by someone you know.

Also the next person could genuinely be to young to buy, and if they are ID'd when you are not and you don't look too dissimilar in age, this could cause conflict and put the staff member in an awkward situation.

In short, if you think that you or someone with you looks under 25 takes ID and if you do have children with you, don't like them 'interact' with the age related product. If they are a little older (I'd say 13+) avoid taking them with you or having them at the till.

At the end of the day would you want to pay a £5000 fine just so someone could have a bottle of wine? Or lose your job to stop a slight inconvenience?

Probably not.

Surely the law is no sales to underage persons. It's not against the law to serve alcohol to a 24 year old, or even to someone who looks as if they might be 24 (so long as they look over 18). I can quite see why stores feel safer if they say that they will ID anyone who looks as if they might fall into that near to 18 bracket, but when people who are ten years over 18 and more are being refused service something has gone wrong.

Surely the law is no sales to underage persons. It's not against the law to serve alcohol to a 24 year old, or even to someone who looks as if they might be 24 (so long as they look over 18).

Well nearly but it doesn't matter how old they look they have to be over 18. It is illegal to serve a 17 year old who looks 30 (but this is unlikely and subjective). The rest is company policy/ recommended as a way if ensuring no one under 18 gets served. It is really hard though because some 17 year olds (ok a minority, but I can think of a couple I've come across) can look much older than they actually are, which is the reason for think 25. Of course think 25 has worked in reducing under age sales, it is much, much harder for underage people to buy alcohol these days.

Company mystery shoppers checking staff are doing it properly may be under 25 but above 18. Trading standards traps will be under 18. Serve the trading standards 17yo and you may well get prosecuted but a company mystery shopper would lead to internal disciplinary, but no actual criminal offence has been committed. Of course if you did it repeatedly you could lose your job if they are the rules that your employer sets. So the cashiers have to be strict and there is so much subjectivity.

I was once refused my provisional driving licence by someone much younger than me who had served me countless times before in my local supermarket. His manager even backed him up. Had to be a full licence apparently! I kicked up a stink but it didn't go anywhere. I just stopped shopping there. Ludicrous!

There's a certain irony to only agreeing to serve people who can drive

I got ID'd in Matalan buying a tin opener. I was 30 and had 34 year old DH and 3 year old DS with me. The girl on the till was really embarrassed as the till was asking her to check my age. I was delighted! Not sure what havoc I would have wreaked with a tin opener but it made my day

I have also been in Tesco when the till lady asked for my ID, then took one look at DH and said "never mind". He was most put out.

Although more recently when I've been to the self-service tills at Tesco and was buying wine I notice that the button for the supervisor to press states "think 25 - the customer is CLEARLY over 25". Was a bit offended at that tbh. I know they're making a point, but ouch. She barely glanced at me either.

I take my driving licence everywhere and don't mind being ID'd at all, staff are only doing their job and are often embarrassed to ask as they think the customer is going to go mad at them. I've been on the other side of a shop till and a bar, it's awful when customers get shouty because you're just trying to do your job.

I think I would be annoyed if I wasn't allow to buy something because someone with me didn't have ID though.

Sadly I have no problems with age related questions. However Tesco nearly refused to sell me alcohol once because they thought I was an on duty police officer. I was wearing a hi viz gilet with blue and white chequers.. I turned round and asked them to reread it:

POLITE
notice

Think Bike

user1471447863

Exactly. The point of the rule is that someone might look quite a few years older than they really are. So a 17 year old could appear to be 21 but they probably won't look 25. So if someone looks around 25 they almost certainly are at least 18. A 24 year old could easily look like a 25 year old so it shouldn't be a problem they aren't IDed. If you're meant to be IDing everyone who is under 25 then you'd have to ask for ID from everyone who looks 30 or less!