To think Tesco make it up as they go along

[Devilishpyjamas]

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.

There's really no need to call till operators thick. A lot of these rules are bonkers, but they cannot be over-ridden by the staff, the tills literally do not let you do that. I work on a till and get plenty of abuse for following the rules but that's okay because i'm thick.

But would you ID someone for something that is blatantly alcohol free? And not actually age restricted?

All retailers have funny rules like this. Why single out Tesco?

Because to date no-one else has refused to serve my nearly 14 year old AA batteries.

I wanted to buy two boxes of paracetamol- one for the kitchen medicine cupboard, and one for the bathroom cupboard.

I wasn't allowed.

Sneaky, you have to as the till won't let you put the sale through without. Plus there are so many test purchases and pressure from management it's easier to put up with the crap we get. We don't do it to piss customers off.

And that's fair enough. But this wasn't "The till won't let me" it was "You don't have ID and I think this is alcoholic".

My dd was refused scissors.

She was just off 18 and needed them for new job.

Her job - student nurse.

This year at 27 got asked for ID for antihistamines. I was a snotty, sneezing grumpy mess it was obvious it was genuine.
I also got asked for ID for a pg film I was buying for my daughter of 5 who was wig me at the time. 😂

I got ID'd for paracetamol about a month ago. I'm 29! I took it as a compliment. I do still get ID'd for alcohol. I look young...I'm hoping to get to 30 and still get ID'd.

Till staff can not override the till when it comes to age checks. Once the till person has asked, that's it you need to provide ID to prove you're over 18. If you can't, the sale will be refused, the manager will back up the sales assistant. No amount of getting arsey, angry or stroppy will change it. People working on tills are not thick or have heads made of lettuce they are people doing and protecting their jobs.

This is because the consequences of failing a till check is an on the spot fine, your job may be at risk, the company you work for can get fines up to £20,000, they can lose their licence or if it's repeated it can risk jail time. Often the police carry out these checks.

If you look under 25, you will be asked for ID, I'm 33 and get ID'd for red bull. Yeah it's a ball ache but I understand why.

Tea spoons will trigger a check because they'll come under the same category as knives. Complain and tell the head office of whatever store it is that it's wrong.

Sometimes it is stupid, but it's the consequences that drive the till assistant to ID you. It's nothing personal.

The teaspoon thing was in the paper ages ago. A Tesco spokesperson explained that the system automatically flags it as it is cutlery, so the same category as knives. They said that the assistant should have used their judgement to realise that it was a system issue and allow the sales.

Don't know if that's true or not.

Very snotty woman in morrisons who knows exactly how old I am as I used to work there 15 years ago, she is still there.

She id'd me for a bottle of fizzy plonk. I was with DD and my mum. I produced my driving license to which she announced to the mounting queue. "She's younger than she looks." I announced back, "yes, you look about 20 years older than you are too."
Cow.

They refused to sell me an Xbox online gift card because my 15 year old son was with me. Never ever been refused a gift card before.

I was ID’d in Tesco for pint glasses, because they could be used to hold beer. I almost asked if a dvd rack was allowed because it COULD contain 18 rated dvds 🙄

If paraceois restricted to two packets per person, how can places like Poundland sell three packets for £1?

*paracetamol for crying out loud, not the foggiest what the other is!

Oh the fun I had as a teen with all the spoons and my mate’s vanilla essence

Jack Daniels BBQ sauce when I was 25. Oh and glowsticks (which apparently in poundland you have to be 16 to buy, I was 28)

The self-service checkout in Sainsbury's refused to let me buy a needlework magazine until a member of staff verified my age. (No, there were no needles or other sharp things as a free gift with it.)

I tried to buy Gaviscon the other day from the co-op and I didn't take ID. Wasn't allowed to buy it so suffered in heartburn-y silence until DH got home 😂

Poundland can sell 3 packets of smallest size Paracetamol for £1 because the legal limit is 3 small packs ( 16s I think) . Don't know why supermarkets restrict it to 2.
A pharmacy can sell up to 96 tablets at once , at the discretion of the pharmacist.

Working as a till supervisor, I absolutely understand that it is a pain in the neck to be ID'ed for stupid things, and I personally will always use my common sense with items like spoons and vanilla essence!

However please do hold in mind that test purchases happen all the time. In fact I had one today, and if I fail it then it is me personally that will lose my job, get fined, face potential jail time, etc etc. We have testers buying knives, energy drinks, cigarettes, lottery tickets, adults buying alcohol for their children, all to test our policies. Even when I look like an idiot and annoy the customer, I will protect myself.

Also to the previous poster, we can't sell more than two packs of painkillers because of the conditions of our specific licencing rules, other shops may not have those conditions.

One of these type threads come up every now and then, and no one ever listens and realises it's the companies that make. The. Fucking. Rules not the assistant at the till.
Though it is hilarious to be called thick and an idiot by a customer who's clearly old enough to by tea spoons, be ID'd because you know your supervisor is 10 steps away and watching you like a fucking hawk.
Even funnier when the customer gives you a load of shit and so you just waive the rules and let the sale through without checking ID and at the end of your shift you're on a warning for going against company policy...... Could lose your job. But hey how's who gives a fuck because Mrs Smart Arse has got her fucking tea spoons hasn't she and the company look like heroes.
I fucking hate retail almost as much as I hate the arsehole customers. Glad I don't do it any more.

Tesco wouldn’t serve me Alcohol Free wine without ID. I asked them to hold it to one side for me at customer service if possible whilst I fetched it from the car and the man was a complete cock about doing it. He said he’d return it to the shelves. I pointed out I was being supportive in providing ID for a less than 5% alcohol purchase as they had no legal precedence or right to refuse selling it to me whether over or under eighteen and I was abiding by their store policy not a legal one. I’m normally non combative but at this point I refused to complete my purchase and left, informing him to put it all back in shelves. He was so flipping rude.

When pregnant was away for weekend with friends..nipped into Tesco for a drink in hotel room. I got asked for.id on one till buying non alcoholic cider...friends on next till buying alcohol never asked for id. Thankfully I had I'd.