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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:
SaucyJack · 05/12/2016 16:37

I was 34 last time I was refused a sale wings.

Noone's going to get fined for serving adults in their mid-30s.

IggyPopsicle · 05/12/2016 16:39

I was mistaken for a teenage boy last week. The cashier asked for ID for paracetamol and called me "Sir."

I'm a 29 yo woman Sad

Gileswithachainsaw · 05/12/2016 16:41

Unless you just landed from outer space there are signs EVERYWHERE stating a shops think 25 policy.

It's on the Web sites it's on the doors it's on their name badges it's on the conveyor belt dividers.

So why are people so surprised and so unprepared when asked for ID?

places are tested all the time. Of we fail we are disciplined maybe even sacked. Despite no actual laws being broken.because we have failed to apply the store policy. It's enough to warrant a fine and the sack.

I swear most people do it on purpose tbh because I find where I work it's the same people who are asked every time amd launch straight into arguments. Just bring some I'd ffs. We have a form right here you can fill out to get some.

WatchingFromTheWings · 05/12/2016 16:51

Despite no actual laws being broken.because we have failed to apply the store policy. It's enough to warrant a fine and the sack.

It's not even as if the stores have just decided to implement these policies....it comes from governing bodies, police,Trading Standards, local council/licensing. Either way, there really is no need for the level of rudeness some people think is acceptable.

LivingOnTheDancefloor · 05/12/2016 16:53

Giles I never realized this think 25 thing before reading this thread today, honestly. I have never been asked for an ID, I am 30+ and have been living in London for about 5y.
I usually don't have an ID with me except if I am travelling out of the country... I have a debit card, with is enough proof of ID to get mail from the Post office etc.
I am not having a go at cashiers, I really see their point. Just saying, when customers are surprised, it might be genuine. From their point of view they look older than 18, are buying something they are legally allowed to, and are refused a sale because of a store policy.

Gileswithachainsaw · 05/12/2016 16:55

No there isn't...

And we have far better things to do than have to call police/security to physically remove people who refuse to leave...

All the special snow flakes who think the law doesn't apply to them....

What I really don't get is they have their car keys on them..so why not their driving license? Surely people carry that with them no?

Thundercake · 05/12/2016 16:57

I once got chatting to an old work colleague in the queue and then the cashier wouldn't sell me the one can of cider I had (for cooking a ham in!) because said colleague didn't have ID. I was literally just passing pleasantries with someone I vaguely knew. Fucking ridiculous. I didn't buy any of the stuff I had in my basket, just left it all and went elsewhere.

madgingermunchkin · 05/12/2016 16:59

You're being very bloody unreasonable. Anyone found to be selling to an underage person can be hit with a fine (I'm pretty sure it's up to £10,000 for the establishment) and will get fired.
The police regularly get people to go in to buy alcohol to see if they are do think25.

You really want someone to risk losing their job just because you can't be arsed to carry ID?

TheMortificadosDragon · 05/12/2016 17:02

But the OP wasn't complaining about having to have ID if she was wanting to buy alcohol - hopefully we all accept that as reasonable. It's the fact that her DH who had ID couldn't buy it if she was with him if she didn't have ID too. If the law says that the cashier can be fined under those circumstances then the law is frankly an ass.

icecreamcones · 05/12/2016 17:18

I went to tesco the other day. I had my two kids with me, and I got ID'd for a 15 film. I'm 24... There's no way in hell I look that young surely?

BestZebbie · 05/12/2016 17:30

My best one was being refused matches due to not carrying ID at 28, so having to go and get a 17 year old to buy them for me instead.

WatchingFromTheWings · 05/12/2016 17:30

so why not their driving license? Surely people carry that with them no?

Must admit I've never done that. However in the extremely unlikely event I get ID'd I'd just have to suck it up.

krazipan · 05/12/2016 17:33

My dad was ID buying chocolate liqueurs in BHS a few christmas's back! He was well over 60

WatchingFromTheWings · 05/12/2016 17:34

I went to tesco the other day. I had my two kids with me, and I got ID'd for a 15 film. I'm 24... There's no way in hell I look that young surely?.

If you look 25 or under you still need to be ID'd for a 15 film. So even if you actually look your age, and are more than old enough to buy a 15 film, it could still result in disciplinary for the staff if they fail to do the checks.

WatchingFromTheWings · 05/12/2016 17:39

My best one was being refused matches due to not carrying ID at 28, so having to go and get a 17 year old to buy them for me instead.

Just quickly googled this. There apparently is no age restriction on buying matches. I suppose many shops lump it in with cigarettes so would class it as 18. In which case technically your friend shouldn't have been able to buy them.....but legally you didn't need to be ID'd in the first place. That's an odd one...

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 05/12/2016 18:26

Giles what if you don't have a driving license? I don't have one as I can't drive for medical reasons. It's not that much of a leap for the shop to consider that if I am wearing a wedding ring, have various bank cards with Mrs Wieners, and am buying a bottle of wine with a huge weekly shop, I'm likely to be old enough to purchase said wine. That's before the grey hair and permanently harassed expression is taken into consideration! Grin

NeedsAsockamnesty · 05/12/2016 18:26

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?

Where in law does it say you cannot purchase age restricted products if you have a minor with you.

I'm never annoyed about being asked for proof of age not even when I dont have any that delights me because I'm old and haggard, but I am annoyed about someone refusing to serve me because I happen to have a 2yo in a buggy with me.

paxillin · 05/12/2016 18:38

The checkout gestapo and muppet jobsworths are people who do a job, probably for not much more than NMW. If caught by an internal test buyer, they can get fired. If caught by an external test buyer, they can get a £5000 fine or a jail sentence. Don't be a brat.

TwentyCups · 05/12/2016 18:40

It's not ridiculous. An under 18 can easily pass for 18. Can't so easily pass for a 25 year old hence the rule to ID those who look under that age.
The fines for selling to under age people go to the server, not the business. I'm not risking a £5000 pound fine for anyone!

hollinhurst84 · 05/12/2016 18:42

When you could buy cigarettes at 16, I drove into a petrol station, then went in to pay for fuel and asked for cigarettes. They asked for ID Hmm
I did point out I was at least 17 given I had driven in...

TwentyCups · 05/12/2016 18:43

I also don't care how many people call me a jobsworth - I work in a pub so well used to taking abuse over this policy. And I do it for 6.95 an hour. My younger colleagues do it for even less than that. Something to think about next time you kick off at a barmaid/supermarket worker.

IPreferCatstoPeople · 05/12/2016 18:46

I got id'd in a night club once. I was 31 and had no ID on me. When I asked the poor bouncer why the hell a 30 yr old would carry I'd he apologised and said I should take it as a complement...
(I was with a group of 20yr olds who didn't get asked for id...)

SaucyJack · 05/12/2016 18:48

"And I do it for 6.95 an hour. My younger colleagues do it for even less than that. Something to think about next time you kick off at a barmaid/supermarket worker."

I'm legally old enough to have given birth to anyone working a bar got less than £6.95 an hour.

Something to think about next time you refuse to serve someone in my age bracket.

giraffessay · 05/12/2016 18:52

I am in my 30's. I don't look young. I dress unconventionally. I get id'd in certain places. Yes, it pisses me off. Depending on how they act, I have been known to abandon a family shop in protest. I certainly look over 18, and anyone honestly trying to say I doubt it's an idiot. The law is 18. Shops have their own policies about "challenge 21" or 25 etc, but it's a long time since I was even those ages. It's a farce, and if they trying telling me it's the law that people under 25 have to show ID, I do get cross, because that isn't true.

I wonder, how many men who have 2 kids in their 30s get asked? I do feel it's a discriminatory policy, as I never see men asked.

Op, why can't you buy alcohol while pregnant? There's no law against buying alcohol when pregnant? Ffs.

alltouchedout · 05/12/2016 18:52

I hate it too. I am unreasonably pissed off by it. I can't even explain why but just hearing the phrase sets my teeth on edge.