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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think Tesco make it up as they go along

233 replies

Devilishpyjamas · 22/09/2018 14:58

Son just popped out to buy some AA batteries from the Tesco down the road.

They refused to serve him saying they’re ‘not allowed to sell batteries to children’. Eh? Since when?

Ds3 is nearly 14 and has bought AA batteries from there (unaccompanied) before.

OP posts:
Original poster
Devilishpyjamas · 22/09/2018 15:36

What is the issue with spoons? Are they pretending to be knives?

OP posts:
ChanklyBore · 22/09/2018 15:36

But you absolutely can take the risk of selling someone teaspoons. Point me at the law that restricts the sale of spoons.

This whole thing is ridiculous. And based in stores policies and computer systems NOT the law.

Original poster
Devilishpyjamas · 22/09/2018 15:37

Toffee apple cider??

I shall send him down for that and some spoons.

OP posts:
HidingFromMyKids · 22/09/2018 15:37

Not tesco but I've literally just now seen
on Facebook of course that our local B'n'M has refused to serve a 70 year old woman.

She wanted a dvd rated 15 and only had her bus pass as ID which they wouldn't accept.

Tinty · 22/09/2018 15:39

The teaspoon thing is something to do with drugs I think. I know nothing about drugs but surely you could just use a dessert spoon instead of a teaspoon?

Why are you not allowed to buy batteries at 14? Can you get the battery acid out of them somehow and do illegal things with it. OH OH I just got it! You go to the bank and poor your tiny amount of battery acid on the door lock then dig your way in with a teaspoon! Grin

imamum21 · 22/09/2018 15:39

i went to aldi to get my parents a bottle of vodka, i got asked for my ID i was like haha!! she was like i need your ID, im like you have been serving me in here for like 15 years!! she wasnt joking either i said surely my grey hair is enough proof im old enough! (i really did need to dye it lol) oh and im in my 30s!!

slashlover · 22/09/2018 15:40

The paracetamol and scissors will be age restricted which means they fall under the Challenge 25.

No idea about batteries, spoons or vanilla extract though.

PuppyMonkey · 22/09/2018 15:40

So is the teaspoons thing to do with using them for drug related purposes then? Confused

Daisymay2 · 22/09/2018 15:41

Ah well, B&M have just had a large fine for selling knives to teenagers.
SO maybe they are really cautious at the moment.

Original poster
Devilishpyjamas · 22/09/2018 15:43

I’m so innocent it didn’t even occur to me it might be drugs related. But in that case why sell them at all? Iy’s It legal at 18 Confused

When we get our lazy selves down to Tesco I am going to ask why they wouldn’t sell 4 AA batteries to a nearly 14 year old Grin

OP posts:
thisneverendingsummer · 22/09/2018 15:43

YABU to shop in Tesco. Overpriced tat, miserable staff who look and act like they hate their life, dot-com workers who knock you out of the way, and crap food.

The sooner they go under the better. Them AND their silly little 'Jack's' store that is trying to hard to be like Aldi and Lidl. PMSL.

But yeah, it is crazy to not sell batteries to someone under 18.

Original poster
Devilishpyjamas · 22/09/2018 15:44

Oh yeah agree with all that but it’s raining & close Grin

OP posts:
MirriVan · 22/09/2018 15:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Wereonourway55 · 22/09/2018 15:45

I got ID'd for a children's cutlery set as it had a knife in it.

Also ID'd in Asda while buying shots and cider, didn't have any but she sold me the cider and not the shots.

Jakethekid · 22/09/2018 15:46

I went into a whsmith with a friend of mine and she wanted to buy cigarettes. She was 21, showed her ID. Lady behind the till refused to serve her because she wasn't 25. 3 of us (one being her work colleague) had to explain that you had to look 25 without ID however 18 to buy with ID. She refused to serve my friend still "just incase". We went elsewhere.

Obviously that is an age restricted product but sometimes members of staff don't fully understand the rules around things.

BrownPaperTeddy · 22/09/2018 15:47

Lots of things come up with till prompts - spoons (I think have somehow been lumped in with knives) birthday candles, crackers, some laxatives - the cashier can't ignore it though. You might well be doing a test sale.

Never seen it for paracetamol, only 2 pack limit, or batteries though.

LeeRoar · 22/09/2018 15:48

One time in Tescos I bought a bottle of wine with no ID - then went over to the section where they do the lottery and wasn't allowed to buy a ticket Hmm

Another time I was with a friend, I wasn't buying anything but she had popped through the self service with a lemon and one of those freezable Daiquiri drinks. She showed the girl her ID, but because I was with her (with no ID as I wasn't bloody buying anything) they wouldn't let her buy it Blush

Also got sent out by the work to buy scissors - went to poundland dressed in my uniform (Costa Coffee at the time, needed them to cut open the milk pouches) to buy them and as I had no ID they wouldn't sell it to me. Manager was raging because he had to send someone else and the shop had huge line out the door.

Sometimes shops should be allowed to use their common sense I think.

ICouldBeSomebodyYouKnow · 22/09/2018 15:49

Not selling to people with correct ID who are accompanying that person is bullshit. Happened to friend of mine and her DH when they were staying with his parents.

The DH - aged about 35 - was shopping, his mother called and asked if he would bring back a bottle of wine, but he'd no ID so they wouldn't sell it to him, and he had to put it back. His DW arrived and as she had ID on her, they went back in and picked up the wine. A supervisor who had been called re the original refusal, spotted them and sprinted to the checkout to prevent the sale!

The daftest thing about all of this is that the DH is unable to drink alcohol due to a medical condition, so he wasn't even going to be drinking it himself

LemonRedwood · 22/09/2018 15:49

I find myself getting irrationally annoyed when they press the "customer is clearly over 25" button without so much as a second glance, even though I am clearly over 25 and don't usually carry ID so would be stuffed if they decided to check!

When I was 16 I was asked for ID in WHSmith to buy tippex and because I didn't have any they wouldn't sell it to me.

I was also asked for ID in a Lloyds bar when I was 20, it was mid-afternoon, and just buying a coke Confused My then-boyfriend paid for it with his order and that was all fine apparently. It was bizarre and the barman was probably also younger than me there.

MongerTruffle · 22/09/2018 15:50

The self-service checkout in Tesco once made me show ID for bin bags.

Wereonourway55 · 22/09/2018 15:50

Oh and it was Brothers cider I was buying. Maybe it doesn’t flag up🤷🏻‍♀️

kitkatsky · 22/09/2018 15:50

Hehe this thread is comedy gold. I was in Sainsbury's a few weeks ago with 18 year old sister at shop next door buying something else (I'm 33) and I got ID'd buying some wine for myself. I didn't have my ID, so little sis went back in to buy it for me. Same cashier and she didn't ID her. Little sis was v unimpressed! I do look young for my age and often get ID'd but I don't look younger than my sis!

Skyejuly · 22/09/2018 15:53

My son has gone to get batteries loads of times? He's 14.

longwayoff · 22/09/2018 15:53

Elaina please tell us the vanilla extract thing isn't true and you made it up for a laugh. But I dont suppose you did. Bloody hell.

Original poster
Devilishpyjamas · 22/09/2018 15:56

These stories are so bizarre.

Wonder whether they’d refuse the batteries if I took ds3 back to the shop with me. Confused

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