To want to know why Tesco won't sell me alcohol when I'm with my teenage daughter

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Given that it is perfectly legal for me to give her a glass of wine to drink at home (and has been since she was 5)? Was told in Tesco today that I couldn't buy wine as DD1 was with me. DD1 is 19 but had no ID on her, as we had just nipped out for a few bits. Cashier finally called a manager, who gave me the Spanish Inquisition, and finally said "OK, I trust that you aren't going to give any to your daughter."

It's not like I was buying WKD - I had a bottle of Champagne and one of an expensive Bordeaux!

Happened to me and now DH a few years ago. I was paying, asked for id (v chuffed as was 33) handed over driving licence. Apparently they needed dh's too (he's only 1 year younger!) which he didn't have on him so no wine for us. (except we went to bargain booze across the road and bought it there, screw you Tesco)

I once went to Tesco to buy two bottles of wine for an after-work function with a colleague who was in her early thirties but was blessed with looking much younger. She had no formal ID (hadn’t thought to bring it) but her work ID card wasn’t deemed adequate: apparently there are lots of teenage university lecturers around. They wouldn’t sell it to me because she was with me. I sent her out to the car, went back in and they still wouldn’t sell it to me ‘because they knew I was probably going to give it to her’. The best of it is, we were both teetotal: we were taking to an event to give to other colleagues...

I’ve never really understood the challenge 25 thing. Admittedly I also haven’t looked it up. Don’t drink and if I do I’ve never bought it myself so don’t get asked. But, if it’s legal to buy alcohol at the age of 18 or 21 in some places (at weekends I think?) then what is the 25 about? Is it a case of if you don’t look over 25 you will get asked?

Seems ridiculous to refuse to sell alcohol whilst doing a weekly shop purely because you have a teenager with you. I’ve never heard of teens looking adults to buy them alcohol and standing next to them. Usually they hang outside around the corner.

Why are some pp's misunderstanding the OP? We're not talking about under-agers trying to blag a sale of booze. If that was the issue, then of course supermarket staff have to be vigilant. But, we're talking about properly grown up adults being unable to purchase alcohol if they have an accompanied minor. Very different situation.

But, if it’s legal to buy alcohol at the age of 18 or 21 in some places (at weekends I think?) then what is the 25 about? Is it a case of if you don’t look over 25 you will get asked?

It's easier for a 16 year old to look 18 than to look 25. It was trialled in pubs IIRC, as an easier way to recognise who to ID, and then adopted by the retails sector too.

GetOutOfMYGarden Ahh, I see. Makes sense then.

Had a massive row in Sainsbury’s a few years ago whe they wouldn’t let me buy cider because my DD aged 16/17 was with me and they suspected I was buying it for her. It was alcohol free.

The problem with the laws relating to alcohol is they aren't as black and white as people think and there is absolutely nothing in the Licensing Act that says you ever have to sell someone alcohol.
What a lot of people don't realise is that in order for a premises to be granted a licence for the sale of alcohol they have to create an operating plan stating how they will ensure they follow the Licensing objectives. One of which is the protection of children from harm - meaning anyone under 18. So if a supermarket chain puts in their operating plan that they will do this by IDing anyone who looks under 25 (standard challenge 25 policy) and any teens with someone buying alcohol, then they MUST do this. 'Common sense' doesn't come into it unfortunately - if they don't do so then they are operating outside of their permitted licence and committing an offence.
I'm not saying I agree with the supermarket policy (although it could be that the local authority asked them to include it as a condition to granting their licence), just explaining that it is certainly not the employees behaving wrongly. Its the same that some restaurants will not serve 16/17 yr olds alcohol, despite the basic laws stating this is ok. If they have it in their operating plan that they will not do this, then doing so is committing an offence. Despite the general public thinking that they 'know their right's

(Disclaimer - I don't work for a supermarket, or restaurant so I don't know their specifics. I do teach licensing laws in the day job tho )

We had this happen in a Tesco with a 23 year old cousin with no Id. I was in my 30s and was so indignant about it, I don't understand the legality of it as it's perfectly legal for under 18s to drink alcohol anyway, just not buy it, and she wasn't buying it. Surely the purchaser should have the responsibility after purchase to keep within the law?

I probably should have read the previous post to mine as it does explain it a bit but I still think it's ridiculous!

This really annoys me and it happens to me all the time.

I went shopping the other day, one of my friends was there too so we chatted for a bit and then we went to the checkout and got refused sale of my bottle of wine because my friend didnt have ID. If I was sneakily buying her wine I wouldn't merrily walk up to the till chatting with her would I!

I remember when id just turned 18 going shopping with my dad, the woman who washes my hair at the hairdressers also worked in tesco. Shed washed my hair about 2 weeks previously and id been chatting all about my 18th birthday how I was off to uni etc. Dad bought a normal shop plus an expensive bottle of red wine, woman on the checkout was the hairdresser, she looked me up and down and sort of raised her eyebrows and asked me for ID in a "I know you don't have ID" kind of way. She looked so smug, she definitely thought she had caught my dad out buying me a £15 bottle of red wine! I had ID though and it felt so great to show her
I always get IDed buying alcohol with DP, we have to resort to sneaky behaviour I I realise I forgotten my ID which is ridiculous because we are both way old enough to be buying alcohol. I got refused sale of ibuprofen the other day, I was buying tampons chocolate and ibuprofen so it was pretty fucking obvious what I wanted the ibuprofen for!
I think cashiers need to show some common sense.

I'm 52, sadly I'm never asked for ID any more ...

Also...we should remember that some of the cashiers are underage themselves. They won’t find it easy to differentiate between say 15-18-25.
I sometimes cover the tills, and am places next to a teen. This helps cover them, but... they will always need a manager/older colleague.

If the cashier is underage then they should not be selling alcohol anyway.

Was the burka wearer buying booze, Running?

I did quite a long placement at a school, the VI formers' bought me a card and some wine when I left. It was only later I realised the only one old enough to actually buy was the girl who wore hijab.

I understand why staff are jumpy, but some are a bit... overzealous.

I was buying a bottle of grenadine, in with a big mixed shop, no alcohol and she said she needed to ID me. I said "oh how bizarre, why?" and she replied "the computer tells me to". I said "it's just that it's pomegranate syrup, it's not alcoholic" and she replied "it doesn't matter. If you don't have ID you can't have it. You might mix it with alcohol.".

I was expecting more of a "oh yes, sometimes things are flagged when they don't need to be, how silly" type response. Especially since I might just about look under 25, but I'm clearly over 18 and wasn't even buying alcohol! I think perhaps she was having a bad day so I showed her my ID and chattered about how I expected to be IDed next time I bought tonic water and limes.

At least that was selling directly to me though - I wouldn't be impressed if I couldn't buy it because I'd been chatting to somebody in the queue!

You do know trading standards sends in people that are both over age and underage to test right?

Aka a mother/father + underage teenager scenarios to simulate someone buying for a underage person right.

So while you lot get all annoyed about the inconvenience of carrying ID around think of the retail staff that run the risk of a £5,000 PERSONAL fine and criminal record.

I bet that you would not use "common" sense when risking your job and a personal fine of £5,000.

The store can ‘fail’ think 25 three times and then lose their alcohol license

No they can't. The only offence they can lose their licence for is selling alcohol to under 18s, or obviously proxy selling.

Not selling to people in their 30s who might look under 25 but there is no way on earth they are under 18. Or to families with teens and parents doing the weekly shop where alcohol is being bought as part of the shop.

Unless anyone can provide a link to a case where a shop has lost it's licence for selling to over 18s?

If I can buy alchohol with my toddler in tow that makes no sense it's policy there must be more going on?

I worked in bars for years and I was shit hot at IDing people. I'd always ask whether I was prepared to bet £80 that someone was old enough. If I wasn't, ID.
I had loads of parents kick off that they were with their teen and they were deffo old enough to drink and were annoyed when that didn't work. I think it's ridiculous sometimes, like my example below, that just because I was talking to someone and I didn't have ID, they couldn't buy alcohol.

I work at Tesco and during our induction the group were told not to serve alcohol to people to people we suspect were going to give it to anyone underage (no ID), had you and dd mentioned "sharing" it within anyone's earshot?
If I was to serve anyone underage it is me personally who is prosecuted, fined and probably sacked.

It's legal for anyone over the age of 5 to drink alcohol but illegal for an adult to buy alcohol on behalf of anyone under 18. I guess the latter law was brought about to makes it less easy to groom under 18s with alcohol or over 18s going into the shop to buy stuff for their 15 year old acquaintance outside.

Tesco are taking it too far though. Craziness.

It is 100% a stupid, stupid policy. I don't blame the cashiers who are forced to play out this ridiculous pantomime, but it is nonetheless total bullshit. I think we should be clear about that, and not just shrug and go "them's the rules" while ever more pathetic regulations are brought in!

I don't object to the basic Think 25 premise, as it's hard to guess ages. Fine. ID people purchasing alcohol who might be underage. But anything else is just nonsense.

The policy of checking everyone within a 50 foot radius is pathetic. It literally helps no one, and will have no effect on underage drinking. How can it? Anyone of legal age can give their legally purchased alcohol to anyone once safely out of Tesco's totalitarian gaze. All that's happening is that people who aren't planning to give alcohol to minors, and have therefore innocently strolled up to pay for their shopping with their kids, get pounced on. Meanwhile, those who do have other intent will purchase alone.

I think that's what annoys me the most - the nonsensical nature of the policy. The supermarket is just doing a sort of "Oooh, look at us policing underage drinking" whilst doing literally nothing useful. Pathetic.

So while you lot get all annoyed about the inconvenience of carrying ID

PEOPLE ARE CARRYING ID. THIS IS ABOUT PARENTS BEING PREVENTED FROM BUYING ALCOHOL AS PART OF A NORMAL SHOP BECAUSE THEIR TEENAGERS ARE WITH THEM, EVEN WHEN THE PARENTS DO HAVE ID.

Is it too much to expect that people read the thread title, let alone the thread?

Tesco are utterly crap in most respects anyway, that's why they have been leaking customers for years now, losing market share and closing stores down. This over the top ID stuff has been going on for years, and is one of the smaller symptoms of poor leadership, management and poor relations with customers.

Eeyit - we wouldn’t have discussed sharing it. DD1 doesn’t drink wine. She might have the odd cider or G & T, but not wine.

She’s reminded me that she went to the same Tesco the other week, with ID, to buy us some wine. It was refused on the grounds that she wasn’t over 25 (although she is over 18), so some check out staff clearly don’t understand the rules...

I left 150 worth of shopping at a supermarket till just before Christmas last year when couldn’t provide id for DD who was underage as had cider in my trolley.

Slightly pissed off queue behind me

A friend also got stopped in bargain booze but to be fair she was buying for her daughter. Just bought it elsewhere.