Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 ··· 5 6 7 8 9 10

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:

EndeavourVoyage · 23/09/2018 09:10

billywilliam. After reading some of these I doubt it very much. I think if you had the original you would struggle in case you know someone down your steet who is under 25 and might want a sniff of your vodka 😂😂

Heatherjayne1972 · 23/09/2018 09:14

Tesco wouldn’t let me buy two lots of nurofens in one transaction once!
Just in case I take an overdose apparently ( according to the till lady)

However she put it through immediately afterwards in a separate transaction
Daft really

EndeavourVoyage · 23/09/2018 09:15

kateandme. Surely that was to confirm she was the correct person collecting the parcel.

WrongKindOfFace · 23/09/2018 09:15

That’s usual, Kate. You have to show ID to prove it’s your order you’re collecting.

Otterseatpuffinsdontthey · 23/09/2018 09:51

safariboot · 23/09/2018 10:07

This is what happens when you demand minimally trained minimally paid checkout operators to enforce complicated laws and threaten them with four-figure fines if they get it wrong, and then the company 'supports' them with a computer system that could fill a book of TheDailyWTF entries.

fruitofthenight · 23/09/2018 10:23

I used to work in a supermarket and could refuse the sale of tin foil if I thought it was going to be misused for drugs

42andcounting · 23/09/2018 10:57

Just to put the opposite view, as a till operator I really like the challenge 25 policy. It's very hard sometimes to judge if a person is under 18, 18, 19, 20 etc, especially young women who may be heavily made up. If I sell to someone underage I can be personally fined, lose my job, and potentially go to prison. Challenge 25 provides me with a little bit of security to be able to (nicely) say "yes I think you're probably over 18, but you look under 25 to me so I need to see some ID please". People who strop about it don't really impress me, especially the ones who say "but I'm fucking 23!" Well done Einstein, I've done my job then because you're not 25! I had a guy a while ago who had a similar strop, and I said to him "Well I'm 47 love, so you look young to me". His answer was "You don't look anything like 47", and I replied "Well you've just proved my point that it's hard to judge people's ages sometimes"

Also, re the wanting your child to hand over your winning lottery ticket, choose your lottery numbers or scratch cards, they are not 16, and given a choice between disappointing them or losing my job and not being able to pay my bills, it's a bit of a no brainer for me. And I say that as the parent of a four year old who would also love to do lottery tickets

I'm not saying some of the rules (teaspoons, vanilla essence, etc) aren't stupid, but it's not the cashier's fault. Complain to management / government if you don't like the rules, not the poor sap who has to enforce them.

Unihorn · 23/09/2018 11:37

@42andcounting that's what everyone is saying though, that retailers are to blame for stupid cases of being asked for ID ie. spoons, batteries etc, not the staff. I work in hospitality and always get abuse from people about not serving their 16 year olds alcohol.

purplecorkheart · 23/09/2018 11:38

Ireland based here. I never knew that members of checkout staff could be fined personally for serving someone under age. Where I live there does not seem to be as strict with ids. The Normally, id is asked for alcohol (the more expensive the more likely you get asked for id in my experience) and cigarettes. I know the shop/bar can get in trouble but I do not think the member of staff can be fined.

YellowLily · 23/09/2018 11:46

DBro in Asda recently not Tesco buying the Gin Botanicals, I think they are called. Little dried fruit things intended to go in G&T. He’s 28, had no ID, they refused to sell them. He queried it both in store and on twitter and they said as they are intended to be put into an alcoholic drink they must ID

BrownPaperTeddy · 23/09/2018 12:48

I know the shop/bar can get in trouble but I do not think the member of staff can be fined.

The individual member of staff can definitely be fined and get a criminal record.

It's quite understandable why some are very cautious. Plus, no one has a right to buy anything. A store can refuse to sell you something for no reason at all.

BrownPaperTeddy · 23/09/2018 12:54

Tesco wouldn’t let me buy two lots of nurofens in one transaction once!

However she put it through immediately afterwards in a separate transaction
Daft really

She shouldn't have done that and that is the problem of cashiers bending the rules - everyone then expects the rules to be bent because one person did it.

That cashier risked her job by doing that for you. It's not fair to put people in that position.

Would you risk your job just because a customer/client asked you to?

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 23/09/2018 13:07

There isn't actually a law about how much ibuprofen you can buy at once though.

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 23/09/2018 13:08

But if store policy is only one pack of painkillers per transaction, then I can see why that is used as a workaround for those where the person has the right to buy more than one packet at once.

MargaretDribble · 23/09/2018 13:57

Interesting. I thought there was a law about painkillers. Most shops will sell 32 tablets (16 ibuprofen and 16 paracetamol for example) in one transaction, but not 32 of each. I heard someone on the radio claim that this had saved X thousand lives. Although I would have thought if you were really determined you could go from shop to shop buying 32 at each.

MetalMidget · 23/09/2018 14:02

When I was a student and worked at Tesco, I IDd a guy who was buying cigarettes (limit was 16 years old at the time). He was 32. 😬

In my defence, he did look very young. He had this stupid little bum fluff moustache, which I think was to try and make him look older, but actually had the opposite effect...

BrownPaperTeddy · 23/09/2018 14:53

But the cashiers don't only have to apply the law - they also have to apply store policy or face disciplinary action.

I don't know what the law is on buying painkillers but a store could impose any policy it wanted, as long as it at least met the legal requirements.

I could open a shop and only sell painkillers on a Tuesday. Wouldn't do my business any good probably but that's my choice as the shop keeper.

My point is the cashiers have to apply store policy. If we think that those policies are annoying, non sensical, whatever then we should complain to store managers or head office.

No point shouting at, complaining to or trying to bulky the staff into ignoring store policy.

Again, would any of you risk your job by breaking rules for someone else?

I certainly wouldn't.

Noodge · 23/09/2018 15:07

I was asked for ID in a supermarket for three bottles of beer. Didn't have it on me as I'd been out running and only had my debit card. I'm 40. I may look slightly younger to some, but I do not at all look under 25. Took rest of shopping back to the car, told DP who offered to go and get the beer for me. Same assistant 'are you buying this for yourself'
'yes'.

Next time we shopped there, we went in together. Same assistant. She was really off with us and kept looking at DP, then me....

Thing is DP was telling the truth, the beer was for her not me.
Also a 21 year old checkout assistant asked me for I'd recently. I had it, showed it.. she then said ' oh I get asked for id all the time! I said yes love, but you're under 25 and look it!

adviceonthepox · 23/09/2018 15:12

I have sent my then 8 year old to buy batteries they are not age restricted! I used to work for Tesco so I have no idea why they would refuse

adviceonthepox · 23/09/2018 15:14

@Heratnumber7 paracetamol is age restricted it's illegal to sell it to under 16's

Original poster

Devilishpyjamas · 23/09/2018 15:17

They haven’t answered my query on twitter either @adviceonthepox I bought them myself from Sainsbury’s today!

OP posts:

Heratnumber7 · 23/09/2018 15:18

Do what do you do if your early 20s, look young for your age, and develop a headache while your out and about?
And why couldn't her father buy the medicine to give her for her headache?

RibbonAurora · 23/09/2018 15:24

Fascinated by the idea of needing ID for teaspoons. Seriously, there's working to the letter of the law and there's find ping away around it when appropriate. If they realise 'it's because they're in the cutlery category' why would they have themselves and their employees look so ridiculous and cause frustration to customers at the point of sale? Surely they can just uncheck a box in their computerized inventory and recategorise them as something innocuous? Or would that be too easy?

RibbonAurora · 23/09/2018 15:25

*thats finding a way not whatever nonsense autocorrect thinks is more apt.

Flip

1 2 ··· 5 6 7 8 9 10