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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To get really frustrated by the Think 25 rule

439 replies

Cloeycat · 05/12/2016 10:53

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?

OP posts:
frikadela01 · 05/12/2016 12:32

Obviously you know that a child under 14 is unlikely to be getting their parents to buy them booze but if it's over 14 and you notice them helping pick out the alcohol it counts as a proxy sale

The problem with this is that in the majority of supermarkets the person on the checkout would have no idea who picked out what unless all operators have a camera trained on the booze aisle.

I have no problem with being asked for ID at all. It's completely nonsensical to be refused a legal product, that I'm the legal age to buy when the person I'm with doesn't have ID. I could be wrong but there is nothing written in the law that says I can't buy alcohol if the person I'm with is underage or without ID.

A few months ago I was asked for ID on a bottle of wine, fine I showed my driver's licence. DP was also asked, he didn't have his wallet, the sale was refused. Not a single person on this planet would mistake DP for younger than 25.

GlitterGlue · 05/12/2016 12:33

They do need to use common sense. It's the lack of common sense that boils people's piss, not the asking.

If you look 60 plus then why do they even ask? Is there a suspicion that they're sending in teenagers in granny masks to catch out staff?

paxillin · 05/12/2016 12:36

My frustration comes from going to the shop to buy food for dinner, while there OH decides he wants a beer- he's an adult that's fine (or should be) and as a result I've to hide outside the shop

Since this has presumably happened several times already I would be annoyed with you if I was your DP. You know the rules, they might be annoying, but the cashier can't change it and will likely lose their job if they don't adhere to them.

AntiqueSinger · 05/12/2016 12:36

Yes Yes Yes!!Angry It really pisses me off! I'm fucking 40 fgs! The first few times I was denied buying a couple bottles of cider I took it on the chin as a complement. But now it just pisses me off. I have been legally able to drink for 22 bloody years. And I refuse to buy an ID card at my age it's ridiculous!! I think it is way over the top. Even when I start complaining and it it becomes obvious by the way I speak that I am a mature woman, they carry on insisting that I could be under 25. Sainsbury's is the worst, I am always challenged in every wretched store. The last time I demanded to see the manager and had 14 year old DS standing next to me and he still started insisted I had no ID!! Anyway he gave in in the end, when it became patently obvious how stupid the whole thing looked and other customers started interjecting and insisting he use his common sense.

YANBU!!

PlumsGalore · 05/12/2016 12:36

Weird, I buy bottles of vino with DD (who is 19 but doesn't look any older) and she has never been asked for her ID just because she was with me.I obviously don't get asked as I am old and haggard.

Maybe I have one of those faces that says do not confront me....

SkyLucy · 05/12/2016 12:37

I'm 32. And seven months pregnant. I was asked for ID last week for NON-
ALCOHOLIC wine! In Waitrose, for shame! Wink The cashier was lovely and laughed with me, but her till prompted her to check!

PlumsGalore · 05/12/2016 12:38

Isn't the OP's issue here that her DP couldn't buy alcohol for himself because she was with him and she didn't have ID. In otherwise he was suspected of buying it for her. Not that she didn't have ID but wanted to buy the alcohol herself.

TheMortificadosDragon · 05/12/2016 12:40

I'm curious now, how do the rules work if you do an online shop? What happens if your teenager answers the door?

myfavouritecolourispurple · 05/12/2016 12:40

I've never had this problem as I am in my 40s and therefore very clearly over 18 and 25 - but what does annoy me is when they have under 18s on the tills, so you have to wait for someone over 18 to authorise the sale. They should have a badge on so you can see, and decide to use another till with an older salesperson instead. If there is an option of using one - the other week I was in my local Sainsburys and the only person on a cash desk was under 18 (other than on the cigarette/lottery kiosk). That is not on. There should always be someone over 18 on a normal till.

SaucyJack · 05/12/2016 12:41

"Today 12:24 SuburbanRhonda

saucy

Who do you think is being thick and stupid in this scenario?

Do you think the OP, having forgotten to bring her ID, is in no way responsible for a possible refusal to be served?"

No I don't think she's responsible. We don't live in a country where grown adults are required to prove their age to purchase alcohol.

Refusing to serve alcohol to somebody of 29 (for ex.) because you're not sure if they've had their 25th birthday yet is pointless, and has nothing to do with the laws that are there to prevent underage drinking. No 29 year old looks 17.

myfavouritecolourispurple · 05/12/2016 12:42

What happens if your teenager answers the door

I think you have to be over 18 to sign for a delivery. I've no idea if they ask for ID then though.

Although my son signed for a delivery the other day when I was out and DH was in the shower, but that was something from Amazon, not a grocery shop that could include age-restricted items. The person on the door would have heard DH asking DS to answer the door though.

moreslackthanslick · 05/12/2016 12:44

Tesco delivery drivers do ask for ID on the think 25 basis.

SuburbanRhonda · 05/12/2016 12:45

No I don't think she's responsible

So who is responsible for the OP forgetting her ID then?

Bearing in mind that, whatever you think of the rule and how it's applied, remembering her ID would have resulted in none of this happening?

DailyMailCrap · 05/12/2016 12:47

I stopped getting ID'd at 15. So I was the one doing the booze shop for Christmas.

clarr · 05/12/2016 12:48

I'm in my early 30s. Two years ago I was with colleagues who were purchasing alcohol in Asda, and they were asked for ID. They provided it, and then I was asked for it too despite not being the one purchasing the booze. I didn't have any so no alcohol for us!

We then went to the pub instead, and I got us all thrown out for having no ID. I have never, ever lived it down. I was the oldest in the group too.Grin I do usually carry it but had to send it off to get my mortgage renewed after my divorce!

allegretto · 05/12/2016 12:51

I have never heard of this. What about if you are buying wine and you have children with you? Is that allowed?

SquedgieBeckenheim · 05/12/2016 12:52

We've fallen foul of this. Aged 27 at the time. DH was buying himself beer, I had no ID (purse at home). Got asked for ID, they refused the sale in case I was under 18 and he was buying for me. I went outside, he went to another till and bought his beer.
It doesn't solve anything, as if you were truly buying for someone underage, you still can if they aren't with you!
However, never had a problem buying alcohol with 2 year old DD with me!

hatsandbagsandshoes · 05/12/2016 12:52

I've never understood the rules on this. I was in a supermarket years ago with my DS who was under 18, and the cashier refused to sell me any alcohol because she wasn't old enough. (He also told me as far as he knew I was 'trafficking' the alcohol to people waiting outside!!! So could anybody, but I put in a complaint about him actually accusing me of that!) I was over 18 and had my ID. I kind of get the point, but I now go shopping with my DC who are obviously underage, and I've never had a problem.

When I was younger and worked in a shop, my supervisor interrupted a sale I was making for deionised water, as the customer didn't have ID??!!!!! WTAF!!!! I was sooo embarrassed!

Lancelottie · 05/12/2016 12:55

I've been refused an XBox game in Sainsbury's because I had my younger son with me, and he had no ID. It was a present for his older brother, not him, but that didn't wash - couldn't have it, even though I'm (cough) well over 18.

Sod it, Amazon here we come.

BadgersBum · 05/12/2016 12:56

I get pissed off when they hardly look at me, then authorise it. Ok, I'm 43, but they could just give it a bit more of a lingering look, just to be polite!

TheDropBear · 05/12/2016 12:58

No 29 year old looks 17 but they might look 23, and then you might have a 17 year old that looks 23 as well. In order to catch the underage kids that look older you need to ID everyone who looks an age that 17 year olds can pass for.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 05/12/2016 13:03

Now underage games have never been an issue. My DS gives the emoney to his dad, who takes the game up to the till to pay. Cashier usually smirks at DS and says something like "enjoy your game".

Pardonwhat · 05/12/2016 13:07

Ahhhh but listen to this gem.
I once drove to a petrol station, in my car that you have to be 17 to drive, filled it with fuel that you have to be 16 to buy and then went to the till where the lady ID'd me for a scratch card.
She couldn't understand my point that if I was driving a car I was clearly beyond 17 and I only had to be 16 to buy the scratch card. She threatened to call security if I challenged her any further Hmm I was nothing but polite - just amused.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 05/12/2016 13:08

If the person BUYING the alcohol has ID that should be the end of it.

We really need to do something about this ridiculous situation. Anyone know of any petition groups or anything already set up?

TheInternetIsForPorn · 05/12/2016 13:08

I don't shop in Morrisons anymore after this type of debacle. It wasn't the cashiers fault but that if the system. I just do my food shopping online and they bring it to me. And the delivery driver sees me in my skinny clothes looking ten years older than my 34 years and feels sorry for me Smile

It's hard to call. But the proxy rules are crazy and I simply wouldn't shop in a store that made the experience that difficult. Challenge 25 however I can see the logic.