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AIBU?

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Original poster

To hate "think 25" guidance

357 replies

FairiesAlwaysWearBlue · 13/05/2017 16:34

Im 28 and look my age! I'm ten years over the legal drinking age and Waitrose wouldn't let me buy a bottle of cider!

Yes I know I should have had ID but I don't drive so no license and I don't often have my passport with me.

I was looking forward to my bottle of cider as a treat for working hard in the library earlier today.

Yes you should protect underage children from buying alcohol but IABU to be annoyed with "think 25" now means everyone needs to show ID?

OP posts:
Railgunner1 · 15/05/2017 14:36

I don't know about America, maybe some states have a law to demand ID from everyone indiscriminately, even if they are elderly.
Like if you buy a firearm or something.

Here it isn't. So its down to cashiers being arsey to demand ID from people who are clearly over legal age to consume alcohol or play lottery.
and there is certainly no law to obstruct families shopping for their weekly groceries if they have kids with them Hmm

BossyBitch · 15/05/2017 14:40

I'm 35 and just had to post about how dead pleased I was abou being asked for ID. I do look good for my age but definitely no younger than at the very least 28.

Original poster
FairiesAlwaysWearBlue · 15/05/2017 14:57

@BoysofMelody it was lovely organic posh a bit expensive for one bottle type cider. I can't drink beer anymore since being diagnosed as a celiac and I didn't want to buy a whole bottle of wine to drink on my own.

For those saying I was rude, I wasn't, I just explained that I didn't have ID, but I have all these other things which show I'm over 18 and she said I can't sell it to you. I bought the rest of my shopping which was a packet of wet wipes and some tissues. I got annoyed and started this thread after I left the store.

I've not been able to get a provisional. I've tried twice but as a EU national I have to send my original passport to DVLA. I can't give up my passport for work reasons. Last time I tried was a year ago, I'll have a look to see if the guidance changed. I also thought your provisional was only valid for 3 years?

OP posts:
melj1213 · 15/05/2017 15:07

I just explained that I didn't have ID, but I have all these other things which show I'm over 18 and she said I can't sell it to you.

You can have whatever other ID you like but if the store policy is that they can only accept Passport, Driving licence, military ID or PASS card then you are still not getting your cider.

The supermarket I work in will get test purchasers who do exactly what you did - not have valid ID but have car keys or credit cards/work ID/Uni card etc and try to argue that they are enough, to see if you comply with the store policy or cave under pressure. Some will be the store's in-house team and others will be sent in by Trading Standards, the local Council compliance team and the police to ensure we are following the policies of the licences we hold to sell age restricted products. Fail it and the store can potentially lose that licence and I can get fined because I am willingly and knowingly breaching the conditions of the licence (in order to sell age restricted products we have to complete legal training and sign a declaration that we understand and will comply with it)

Railgunner1 · 15/05/2017 15:08

I'm 35 and just had to post about how dead pleased I was abou being asked for ID.
here we go again...
Everybody had stopped asking me for ID years ago. What happens, that every blue moon i'd be 'lucky' enough to run into some stuck up cow with a shitty attitude, who takes pleasure in simply being a nuisance.
and why is it always ASDA? Confused

BoysofMelody · 15/05/2017 15:13

What happens, that every blue moon i'd be 'lucky' enough to run into some stuck up cow with a shitty attitude, who takes pleasure in simply being a nuisance.

I doubt that is the case, more likely some poor sod on a few pence an hour more than the minimum wage and a zero hours contract and having had the fear of god put up them by their employers about the consequences for them of selling booze to under 25s without asking for ID and undercover trading standards officers trying to catch them out.

It isn't a massive conspiracy to piss you off.

igivein · 15/05/2017 15:13

My favourites for being ID'd (bearing in mind I'm 53)

  1. a knife (it was part of a toddler's first cutlery set)
  2. a box of Christmas cards that had pictures of Christmas crackers on. When I stood there looking bemused the cashier told me that it was because crackers have explosives in the 'snap'...

I'd also like someone to explain why an out of date passport is no good for establishing your age, because if time starts going backwards and you start getting younger as soon as the passport expires I need to know!

scaryteacher · 15/05/2017 15:56

Can someone explain what happens if you don't have a driving licence but a valid EU member state ID card? Is that acceptable? What do foreign nationals do when faced with Challenge 25? They won't always have a passport or licence with them.

BollardDodger · 15/05/2017 16:08

you have to be 18 to have a credit or debit card,
You don't have to be 18 to have a debit card, or to be a secondary holder of a credit card

woolythoughts · 15/05/2017 16:10

This is the circle I cannot square.......

It is perfectly legal for a parent to give a child over the age of five (I believe its five) alcohol in its own home.

Yet shops are known refuse to serve parents who have their children with them in case they are buying it for them. Which they are perfectly at liberty to do.

Even better, it is legal for anyone over the age of 16 to order beer, wine or port to drink with a meal - yet most restaurants are painfully unaware of this rule as I found out with my cousin.

Radishal · 15/05/2017 16:25

Shop staff can get fired if they make an inappropriate sale to a minor (or sale intended for a minor). Kind of puts all the high dudgeon here into perspective. Shop somewhere else.

QuimJongUn · 15/05/2017 16:32

I don't think it's 'high dudgeon' to expect to be able to buy alcohol when you're in your 30s and look it. Or to be able to buy a bottle of wine with a weekly shop. Or to be allowed to buy a packet of paracetamol without challenge given there's no legal age you need to attain to do so. Or to purchase alcohol free drinks without the need for a passport or driving licence.

Original poster
FairiesAlwaysWearBlue · 15/05/2017 16:38

@scaryteacher totally hit or miss if they accept it or not. Just like some places don't accept PASS even though they should. I've been told my EU ID is fake as it's pink. No it's just Swiss. It's out of date so I don't carry it any more. I rarely carry my passport as it's my most important doc and I'd rather not have it stolen, lost etc.

I'm not saying the cashier should have broken the law and sold me the bottle, my point is that with me and others on the thread they wouldn't have broken the law as we are all of legal drinking age.

I also said up the thread I didn't realise the penalties were so strict personally for the cashier/employee. I'll keep that in mind in the future. But it all feels very much like a sledgehammer to crack a nut situation.

OP posts:
kali110 · 15/05/2017 16:43

Omg, no amount of training is going to make a person be better at judging ages.
It is not bad service.
I am asked for id every time.
If i go to the pub with my 23 y/0 mate she rarely gets asked for id, me, it's every time. I do not look my age. Some people don't.
My best friend who is the same age is never asked for id as she does look over 25.
Surprising i never took pleasure out of iding people, i absolutely hated it.
I'm shocked that some people on here have actually worked retail when they only seem to have contempt for the workers.

Radishal · 15/05/2017 16:45

You don't have a human right to alcohol. Shop somewhere else if it gets to you. Maybe the retailer will change their approach if they lose customers. Or maybe they won't. Meh.

PedantHere · 15/05/2017 16:45

scaryteacher

EEA ID cards are equivalent to a passport (when used within the EEA, Switzerland and a few other countries which have an agreement with the EU) and therefore can be used as an identity document. However, a lot of staff don't have adequate training, so don't know how to tell whether a document is genuine or not.

they wouldn't have broken the law as we are all of legal drinking age.

The cashier doesn't know that though.

kali110 · 15/05/2017 16:45

FairiesAlwaysWearBlue
Shops i think are a lot better with the PASS cards, of the two i worked for, they were both accepted, it was pubs and clubs that did not.
I have never returned to the places that didn't accept that card.

Splodgeinc · 15/05/2017 17:19

When at uni I worked in a offie and I was scared whenever someone without grey hair came in as I thought I might need to ID them and they might get shouty, so really don't mind being IDd for alcohol I look young I get that, it's the other stuff that annoys, like for calpol and red bull.

Both times Asda.

First time was for red bull, me and friend both in 20s. ID'd I had DL she didn't but had student card. We were refused sale! Couldn't be bothered to complain but should have.

Second time was for calpol. Didn't have DL as was with the DVLA. Sick DD (6months) with me. Refused by really arsey woman who told me it was the law. Offered her my work ID - the NHS work ID shows I'm a flippin paediatric DR!!!!! And has a photo on it! She still refused. I had a crying ill baby. She Was just an arse. Wrote a letter of complaint afterward, no reply. I don't shop there anymore.

QuimJongUn · 15/05/2017 17:30

You don't have a human right to alcohol

Oh for heaven's sake.

Original poster
FairiesAlwaysWearBlue · 15/05/2017 17:35

@Radishal seriously? That's what you got from this thread? No one has said ffs

OP posts:
Original poster
FairiesAlwaysWearBlue · 15/05/2017 17:38

@Splodgeinc It would have been easy I have plenty of grey hair! Wink

OP posts:
Mulledwine1 · 15/05/2017 17:42

Years ago my friend was over from Germany and she had her ID card with her. I can't remember what she needed ID for now but the person would not accept it and asked her if she had her driving licence!

Explaining that the ID card was the equivalent of a passport and that her full passport was sitting at home in Germany because she didn't need it to come to the UK fell on deaf ears.

Retailers need to improve their staff training in many areas, this is just one of them. Others include things like accepting Scottish banknotes or consumer rights.

Beerwench · 15/05/2017 17:42

"Even better, it is legal for anyone over the age of 16 to order beer, wine or port to drink with a meal - yet most restaurants are painfully unaware of this rule as I found out with my cousin."

The law applies to 16+17 year olds and the meal and the alcohol must be bought/ordered by the adult with them. So the 16/17 year old would still be refused service of alcohol. But the adult with them should not be knowing it's for someone under 18, if that makes any sense? But yes I've encountered ignorance of that law from within the industry, once by a manager who was a DPS and didn't know the law and told me to shut up. Charming!

And in reality, pubs, clubs and supermarkets are not a public service where you have a right to be served, any premises, or server, can refuse you service for any number of reasons, and they don't have to even give a reason. Might not be great customer service and might cost a business customers, but it is a fact.
Personally if I ask for ID, and get abuse in return, I refuse to serve that person full stop. I'm not horrible about asking, I explain it's part of my job. So I'm not going to serve someone who has just given me a gobful, regardless of how much proof they can give me.
Funnily enough the ones who tantrum the most are the ones who don't have any ID to prove their claim of age.

MaisyPops · 15/05/2017 17:42

You don't have a human right to alcohol.
Nobody has said we do.

What people have said is that some common sense should be applied when selling alcohol to people.

E.g. if something non alcoholic pops up, don't ask for ID and get arsey with the customer who says 'no because it's not alcohol'. Just look at the sodding label.

Radishal · 15/05/2017 17:51

The attitude of some people to hard pressed retail staff does make me wonder at an over inflated sense of entitlement.
Yes, some staff can be arsey. Maybe they or a colleague got a bollocking from a boss over inappropriate selling.
Not great but, there you go. Shop elsewhere.

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