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?

What annoys me is that all the guidelines state "the customer". That is the person handing over the money. The 3 year old in the trolley seat or the 12 year old standing next to the customer or the 21 year old girlfriend of the 30 year old customer is irrelevant.

I'm 32 and I have always had to carry my driving license because I've got a round face and curly hair!

I love getting IDed! I think though as soon as they see the look of joy on my face they realise I'm well over 18, try almost 20 years.
However having been on the other side as well, it is the person on the till that gets the criminal record and the premises can get fined as well and if they get caught out more than twice in three months they could face losing their license. It is frustrating, but it isn't much hassle to carry ID with you.

Its stupid I agree, I work in a pub as a manager. its not worth my job or my teams job to serve you alcohol.
Take it up with the government not the minimum wage employee stood in front of you.

Can anyone explain this? DH and DD (20) were in the 10 items or less queue in Sainsburys when they spotted a DVD (Cert PG) they wanted. DD nipped out of the queue to get it, and put it into their basket.

When they got to the checkout, the assistant said that she'd seen DD put it in the basket, and so couldn't sell it to DH as he was obviously buying it on behalf of DD. DD could buy it herself, but only if she provided proof of age. Fortunately DD had her driving licence with her, so could prove her age but:
a) why do you need proof of age to buy a Cert PG DVD?
b) why couldn't DH buy it just because DD was the one who'd put it into the basket?

c) if DD had been, say, 15, would they have refused to sell DH and DD the DVD?

cocklodger to be clear I have been a server of alcohol myself (shop and bar) and have no problem with them asking me for ID when I am buying alcohol. It's when I am accompanying my OH and he is refused from buying alcohol because I am there I get frustrated. I would never take it out on the person who enforces the rule my problem isn't them it's the rule itself.

I'm well over 25 (late 40s) and haven't been asked for ages. Not that surprising. I am pretty sure I've bought alcohol with a toddler in tow (have definitely bought paracetamol).

Is the rule just that, if the customer looks under 25, then all members of the party must be over 18 and have ID?
Because if so, that's beyond daft. I'm just as likely to give a drink to my 4 year old as a 27 year old who looks 24 i.e. not in case you hadn't guessed.

I got asked for ID in Sainsbury's once trying to buy a PG certificate DVD. I was 32, probably 30% grey, no make up and my four dc were with me. The youngest was newborn so you can imagine how rough I probably looked.

I can understand people being over zealous though when it's their job on the line.

I was once refused in my 30s because they weren't happy I was over 25 even though they were happy I was over 18 so no law was being broken.

Where does it end and what does the presence of a person that may or may not be over 18 have to do with who may drink the alcohol?

As the OP says, the easiest way to avoid the hassle is to not be there when her DP buys the beer. So the shops, by their logic, could take the view that anyone 'could' be buying alcohol for an underage person, because if they had any wits about them, they would make them wait outside while they paid. So the ones that are especially suspicious are the ones shopping alone.

This would apply especially to anyone in their 30/40/50s as a significant percentage of such people are parents of underage teens.

Puremince Haha cross posted.

At my work it's challenge thirty!

From Sainsbury's website:

We also recognise how difficult it can be for our colleagues to judge the age of someone in their mid-late teens or early twenties. Someone who looks 18 could easily be 16, likewise they could easily be 20 or 22. It's less likely however, that they'll be 25. For this reason, we ask all colleagues to check the age of anyone buying restricted products who they believe to be under 25.

No mention of people who are accompanying the customer.
I assume other retailers are similar.

I send my 17yo out when I'm buying him booze for parties incase they think I'm buying it for him I am!

I feel terribly naughty, but heck, I'm his Mother and have made an informed decision on what I think is OK for my great lump of a son.

Dunelm asked me for ID for a vegetable peeler. Funnily enough I was pregnant too.
In a highly hormonal state, I did a 'ha ha ha what do you think I will do, go out there and peel someone to death?!'
I was very loud and shrieky at that point, refused to leave the shop and when the manager came over and asked if there was a problem, I lost my shit.

I did get the vegetable peeler.

My cousin looked 18 when she was only 12. Also with women it can be harder to tell because make up can make you look older than you are. I'm in a situation where even learning to drive is a no go, so i had to get a passport (despite the fact i haven't been well enough to go on holiday in over 13 years) because it lasts for 10 years and i needed photographic ID for something a couple years back. I'm housebound 99% of the time so don't own a handbag as i have no use for one, so i'd have to carry it in my pocket and be paranoid of losing it, and since i never contemplate having to buy anything age restricted (don't drink or smoke) i just leave it at home.
It was rather embarrassing however, being asked for ID to buy a lottery ticket (only have to be 16) when i was almost 25 and the shame and embarrassment of having to walk away empty handed in front of a huge queue because i didn't have any.

Yes, completely understand that staff have to enforce the rule. But it's a stupid rule. DS2 is coming up to the age where I could, potentially, be buying alcohol 'for' him (no fucking chance) , so he's going to have to stay outside to stop me being denied my red wine.
I hate the Challenge aspect of it too. Piss off with challenging people who want to buy something that's legally available, but might only look 2 or 3 years older than the actual minimum age. Ask them nicely.
Not that I have the slightest chance of being challenged myself, mind.

Indeed, it's not the cashier or bedraggled I have a problem with, but the last time I was ided I was 38 weeks pregnant and had a trolley full of stuff including two bottles of NON ALCOHOLIC wine. Not only did I need my ID but the 17 year old cashier in Waitrose for the Christmas rush had to get her manager to authorize the sale. I was a fortnight off 37.

And not buying booze.

Bedraggled? Bar staff!

there's no doubt in these cashiers' minds that I'm legally allowed to buy and drink alcohol, even if they think I'm younger than my actual age.

My DS is working in a convenience store in his gap year. He's says he's amazed at the number of people who are really rude because of this rule. He wears a badge informing customers that it's his job to ask, but they still get arsey with him. He says the worst ones are people who've forgotten to bring their proof of age and then try to make out it's his fault.

Hmm, i've actually just realised, my body piercer DOES ask for D if they think you're under 18 or don't have a parent with you. I've had about 7 piercings off her in the last 2 years and she's never asked me for ID so i guess i must look over 18 after all.

It is irritating. I don't mind being ID for alcohol (I'm 25) but when they ID me when I'm with someone buying alcohol it is ridiculous.

One other time was infuriating. I was sent to the nearest shop by my sons nursery to purchase calpol as he had a fever. Sainsbury's refused to sell me it as I had no ID. I mean it's medicine which can be given to a baby at 6 weeks old but a 25 year old can't buy it!

What really really annoys me about it is that there is no freely-available, or even cheaply-available official proof of age available. I have had to spend over £100 on provisional driver's licenses just for proof of age even though I have no immediate plans to learn to drive, as I'm sure as hell not carting my passport around with me.

I thought I'd hit a good solution when I started carrying my old expired passport with the corner cut off it, but apparently even that isn't acceptable

There used to be a laughable thing available called a Citizen Card or something which you could send off for for a tenner or so. I got one when I was a student but it was pointless because absolutely nowhere accepted them. I basically just gave the government a tenner.

The major supermarkets were supposed to accept them, but I was once buying wine in Tesco when the checkout lady ID'd me, and when I produced it, she said "we only accept passports and drivers licenses" whilst she had a humungous poster four inches from her face advertising the acceptable forms of ID, one of which was the card. She spluttered a lot when I directed her gaze three degrees east and still didn't want to accept it, it was quite funny really

I sympathise with shop workers, I hated it myself as I am a terrible judge on age. So I do try and laugh it off when it happens to me.

However, I did get cross a few weeks back. I'd had to pop to the shops, had a bad night with baby and probably looked like something out of The Walking Dead. I decided to treat myself to a scratch card, only to be ID' (on the only sodding day of left my ID elsewhere). I have to say, I don't look under 25 at the best of times, but to think I look under 16 is beyond laughable. I think there's a line from 'unsure' to 'use some bloody common sense', the shop assistant should haves used the latter in this case. I wasn't rude, I think I did use the line 'are you serious?' though...

If people are so upset with the law, maybe they might get somewhere if they contacted their MP, rather than complaining to random strangers on the Internet?
Having worked in retail, I can assure you it's no fun to be at the end of someone else's rage whilst being badgered by your manager to follow their rules.

Really why are people getting ratty about this? Take your ID with you..... It's not hard!

I'm 35 next month and have been Asked to prove my age twice in the last month

Getting angry at the cashier isn't fair, but then they blame the cashier for not "using common sense" that they clearly look over 18. They had to bump it to think 25 from 21 because places kept getting caught out. Some cashiers are genuinely not sure if the customer is over 25, some just ask absolutely everyone.
I can understand someone getting angry being told they can't buy something they are several years past the legal age to buy, because the "might" not quite look 7 years older than the legal age and dont have a bit of plastic to prove it. Not everyone has ID, i didn't til i was 24 because i don't drive and can't learn to drive due to illness, didnt have a passport as not well enough to go out of country. I also struggled massively to find someone who could sign the photo to say i was who i said i was, due to being housebound the majority of the time so only knowing family. Doctor wasn't an option as at my GP's they won't do it, even if you pay, as its a 10 GP surgery, half are temps, and you don't have a designated doctor. It's also an expensive thing to buy when not being used for its primary use, but just as a way to show you are as old as you are/look.