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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:
zukiecat · 05/12/2016 13:10

I work in a shop and regularly get abuse from customers about this,

The penalties are so severe that I'm not willing to risk it if someone who looks under 25 doesn't have their ID with them

First up I would be sacked, then I face a £5000 fine and or three months in jail.

It might seem to some that asking for ID is just nonsense, but with such harsh consequences I will not sell to anyone who can't prove their age

crazywriter · 05/12/2016 13:11

You may not like the rule but that's redundant right now. The rule is there and it ain't going anywhere. I get ID'd all the time and I'm in my 30s. My DH is in his 30s and doesn't get ID'd as much but still now and then. We just always have ID on us. It really is that simple so YABU for not even thinking ahead.

Sugarlightly · 05/12/2016 13:13

It's not only illegal to serve alcohol to someone under 18, but also most stores don't allow employees to sell to people who are proxy purchasing alcohol (buying alcohol to give to someone under 18). If you have any reason to believe that the person purchasing the alcohol is going to give it to someone who MAY be underage(e.g. They both go to the alcohol section and choose the alcohol together, they talk about consuming it together in the queue) you must ask for ID from both parties.

Obviously one has to have common sense but it's good to note that it IS illegal to buy alcohol for your children under 18 (but not to allow them some of your own alcohol in the home).

WatchingFromTheWings · 05/12/2016 13:13

Sainsburys only need ID from the person buying the Age restricted product not others with them. Yet co-op for example need ID from everyone with the buyer. It's a complicated system which varies between shops. Whether they follow the proxy sale rule or not.

Sainsbury's should also be following the proxy sales rules as well as co-op. They'll (or rather the staff member) will be in very big trouble if caught out.

wasonthelist · 05/12/2016 13:16

Good grief. It's a good job young folk are giving up alcohol - they won't be able to buy any legally soon anyway.

Original poster
Cloeycat · 05/12/2016 13:17

On a legal note- if I go into Coop (with my ID) and buy a bottle of wine that I then go away and give to my 17yr old brother. How can it be the server breaking the law and not me? Surely the illegal act is purchasing for an underager and not selling to a legal adult?

OP posts:
wasonthelist · 05/12/2016 13:18

BTW I think the rule thing is farcical - but I don't condone the abuse of the poor shop workers - it's not their fault.

CurlyBlueberry · 05/12/2016 13:23

I dunno TheDropBear I am 28 with two young children and frequently am mistaken for a teenager. I've recently started a new degree (but it's Midwifery - so not everybody is a teenager) and several people have made comments/asked questions assuming I came straight from school and their jaws drop when they find out my age!

I don't really see it myself but hey Grin

On topic; due to aforementioned babyface, I do always carry ID with me (drivers licence in purse) and have no problem with being asked but I do find it ridiculous that they have to ask everybody in the party. I really don't have a problem with the cashier and am never rude, but it is a ridiculous rule IMO.

Once, when I was in uni, I tried to buy a bottle of white wine for my risotto (basket consisted of risotto rice, stock cubes, white wine, and some veg). Got IDed, which is no problem, but when I handed over my licence showing that I was 19, they refused to sell me the wine because I was under 21 and "we have to follow the Think 21 rule". Er... but the legal age for buying alcohol is 18... you are just supposed to ask people who look under 21 to prove they are over 18... I didn't get my wine after the manager came out and backed up the guy on the till! I'm still Hmm about it.

estateagentfromhell · 05/12/2016 13:24

The trouble is that the alcohol is the property of the shop in question, and they are therefore quite at liberty to dictate the terms on which they will and will not sell it.

I do get how frustrating it is, but to 'do something about it' requires the law to start dictating the terms upon which items should be offered for sale by their legal owners.

I'm really quite uncomfortable with this as a concept.

Ifailed · 05/12/2016 13:28

We don't live in a country where grown adults are required to prove their age to purchase alcohol.

Try reading the rest of the thread, we clearly do.

shovetheholly · 05/12/2016 13:28

I got IDd in Waitrose aged 35 and I could have kissed the woman.

Then I realised that it's something they seem to do routinely to make customers feel better. My friend got IDd and she is 60. She is a very youthful 60, but not THAT youthful Grin

AntiqueSinger · 05/12/2016 13:29

"Just bring ID" Such as what exactly? I don't drive and never want to. I will not walk around day in and day out with my passport. It's bad enough that I am forced to use an oyster card that monitors my every journey, now I have to start justifying my right to buy a bottle of wine when it should be bleeding obvious to anyone with sense that I am not over 25 years old but long past 18?!

When did the idea of people using their common sense go out the window?

Badbadbunny · 05/12/2016 13:30

Local councils send out workers (and their families) to entrap shop-workers so they can be fined for breaking the laws. That's why they are strict. Blame the local councils, not the shop workers.

TheMortificadosDragon · 05/12/2016 13:31

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

Sure, ID the person who signs for the delivery - but they presumably don't have a problem with the fact there are teenagers in the house?

I absolutely support staff IDing purchasers, but refusing sales because you've got someone else with you really does seem excessive.

AntiqueSinger · 05/12/2016 13:31

that I am not only over 25 years of age.

AliceInUnderpants · 05/12/2016 13:34

I got asked for ID last week buying cigarettes. I'm 33. I love this rule Wink

TheMortificadosDragon · 05/12/2016 13:35

Local councils send out workers (and their families) to entrap shop-workers so they can be fined for breaking the laws.

Yup. I wish the staff at our village shop had been stricter. I guess they were using more casual staff than supermarkets, without good training. They were trapped twice, lost their liquor license, therefore became unprofitable. No shop for miles now. Sad

BarbaraofSeville · 05/12/2016 13:38

Local councils send out workers (and their families) to entrap shop-workers so they can be fined for breaking the laws. That's why they are strict. Blame the local councils, not the shop workers

Local councils use people who definitely look under 18 or are really obvious - eg group of teenagers hanging around the shop and then one of them going to buy alcohol for a group.

They do not use 30 year olds that everyone is happy they are over 18 but cannot prove they are over 25 and they do not use families with teens doing a weekly shop where there is no suggestion that the alcohol is for the minor.

People are not complaining about measures designed to stop underage drinking, they are complaining about adults being accused of trying to break the law even though they are obviously over 18, 25 and even 30.

justatoe1 · 05/12/2016 13:38

Alchohol I can understand (to a point), but there is no age restriction on painkillers and I have been refused to be served Paracetamol because my 16 yr old was with me, with no ID. The cashier insisted it was 'Government Law' ... she ignored my suggestion to Google the law.

Alabastard · 05/12/2016 13:38

Challenge 25 is a company policy for me. If I'm caught not asking for ID for someone who looks under 25 I will lose my job.

Batteriesallgone · 05/12/2016 13:42

Can anyone explain that stuff about PG films?

Is someone under 16 not allowed to buy a PG DVD? Confused

Badbadbunny · 05/12/2016 13:46

she ignored my suggestion to Google the law.

And rightly so. She'll be following the training her employer has given her. The last thing we want is every shop worker googling the law and making their own interpretations of what is and isn't against the law (even qualified solicitors argue amongst themselves about what a law actually means!).

As said above, the store is within their rights to set their own policies "based upon" the law as they interpret it. In fact they can refuse to sell anything to anyone. Wasting your time whingeing at the shop worker will just raise your blood pressure and achieve nothing. If you're that bothered, make a complaint to their customer services department.

TheCompanyOfCats · 05/12/2016 13:46

In Sainsburys lasts week, the check-out man asked me (in the most patronising tone you can imagine):

'I don't suppose you've got any actual ID?' (suggesting I wouldn't)

I repeated back actual ID?' and handed over my driving licence.

I'm in my fucking 30s! I don't mind being asked (it's quite nice in a way) but God, don't enjoy your little power trip so much!

LivingOnTheDancefloor · 05/12/2016 13:47

Could someone be forbidden to buy alcohol and/or cigarettes if they are with children in a buggy?
I am sure I did it before at Waitrose and Coop, but it may depend on the supermarket.

OlennasWimple · 05/12/2016 13:49

Try living in a US state where everyone has to show ID every time they purchase alcohol, even if you are clearly well over 21....

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