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Original poster

To think checkout lady was being OTT about alcohol and child?

445 replies

Potkettlexx · 20/02/2020 15:02

In supermarket yesterday with DD 7. DD struggles at school so I let her help with shopping to get her used to the concept.

Bought some bread and small gift pack bottle baileys £5 for in-laws bday.

Got DD to scan the gift box and the bread and press the correct buttons etc... (dd Aldo has some sensory and coordination difficulties so again it helps this doing practical things)

DD wanted to pay with my card so I told her what buttons to press and gave her the card to tap on card reader. Dd didn’t really understand so I just gently took it from her and tapped my card myself.

Before I took over, dd was trying and the woman supervising the self service tills piled up ‘ohh you’ll have to be the one that pats with the card’ or something to that affect.

I was thinking.... for real?!

I get that they need to be very careful when selling alcohol....

I get that a 15 year old can look 18....

I get that an 18 year old could be potentially buying it for younger friends....

I get that they could be disciplined if they were willingly selling alcohol to under 18’s....

But for goodness sake, surely common sense would say she really didn’t need to say that under the circumstances.

After all, the reason the sale of alcohol is forbidden to under 18’s is incase they drink it and quite right.

That’s not the same as the this situation. It was clearly evident I was the one ‘buying it’ and giving my consent. Does she honestly think I was planning on giving it to my 7 year old?! 🙄

OP posts:
PointlessAddict · 20/02/2020 19:55

I think a lot of people are mashing together the law and the rules they have to work by
Seems so, @lyralalala

Oldhaggard · 20/02/2020 19:55

Yes but that doesn't mean that you need to ID people even if you know without of shred of doubt that they are over 18. They aren't going to remove the license because someone didn't ID their own husband or the person with the alcohol licence.

Aren't they? A place fairly local to me had their license removed for what was being posted on Facebook, it was in very poor taste, and was considered by the license board and police to be irresponsible, and therefore they removed the license and removed the management's personal licence too as a license holder has to be a responsible person. No laws broken, not even bad enough for Facebook to take it down - but license teams take this seriously, even if the general public don't.

jmh740 · 20/02/2020 19:57

I used to work in a supermarket and trading standards would send a teen in the buy alcohol or send people with children in to see if they would get served. You wanted the woman to break the law and potentially get fined it would be her who got fined not the store.

buzz91 · 20/02/2020 20:00

I had to ply a lottery ticket out of my toddlers hands because the cashier couldn’t take it from someone under 16 to check. It’s rules

recordbox · 20/02/2020 20:01

I will also again state I know someone who used to test purchase who was over 18 when she did it.

What an absolute waste of time. Sending an over 18 to test purchase, they are never going to catch anyone selling to an under 18 are they Confused

woodchuck99 · 20/02/2020 20:04

@Enkothe sentence you quote means that as well as being under age they also tend to look underage. This is clear from the next sentence which states that they do this because they are not trying to trick businesses. It also states in the first paragraph that they are underage. Nowhere does it suggest they might be older. You have misinterpreted.

woodchuck99 · 20/02/2020 20:05

@Enko the sentence you quote means that as well as being under age they also tend to look underage. This is clear from the next sentence which states that they do this because they are not trying to trick businesses. It also states in the first paragraph that they are underage. Nowhere does it suggest they might be older. You have misinterpreted.

woodchuck99 · 20/02/2020 20:06

What an absolute waste of time. Sending an over 18 to test purchase, they are never going to catch anyone selling to an under 18 are they

Exactly.

DontFundHate · 20/02/2020 20:07

You do know about secret shoppers right? Staff will have secret shoppers in all the time seeing if they are sticking to the rules, the staff have no idea if you are a secret shopper or not. SHE IS DOING HER JOB

Mulhollandmagoo · 20/02/2020 20:11

People are so rude on here at times and take it to the next level. I’m sure some people act like that just because they like disagreeing.

Oh the irony 😂😂😂

Willow2017 · 20/02/2020 20:12

What an absolute waste of time. Sending an over 18 to test purchase, they are never going to catch anyone selling to an under 18 are they
They key is if they do not look over 25 and you do not challenge them then you are breaking the Challenge 25 rules.

Some testers are under 18 its not unusual.

woodchuck99 · 20/02/2020 20:15

A place fairly local to me had their license removed for what was being posted on Facebook, it was in very poor taste, and was considered by the license board and police to be irresponsible, and therefore they removed the license and removed the management's personal licence too as a license holder has to be a responsible person.

I can't see how that is relevant. The challenge 25 policy means that you have to ID people who appear to be under 25. If you know someone well because you are married to them they are not going to "appear" to be 17 to you if you know there are 23 are they?

Willow2017 · 20/02/2020 20:15

I think a lot of people are mashing together the law and the rules they have to work by
If it means the difference between being sacked or not then I ill stick to the store rules thanks.
Plus its the stores responsibility to have challenge 25 to prove they are taking every precaution not to sell to underage customers which is approved by the Licencing authorities. If they do not stick to them they are in trouble and can lose their licence, the manager that day can lose their licence ruining their career. Do people seriously think its worth not challenging people?

roseelizabeth · 20/02/2020 20:16

My 8 yo always likes to tap my card to pay, but I also teach her right and wrong and to respect the rules of the store. So she knows she cannot pay if we buy calpol. She will also comment "oh I can't pay as you've bought wine". Shouldn't you really be teaching your child to respect rules, rather than have the attendant waver the rules just for you - potentially landing them in trouble??

woodchuck99 · 20/02/2020 20:19

The challenge 25 policy means that you have to ID people who appear to be under 25. If you know someone well because you are married to them they are not going to "appear" to be 17 to you if you know there are 23 are they?

Scratch that. Licensing laws dictate that if someone appears to be under 18 you can't sell alcohol to them. If you know beyond a shred of doubt that someone is over 18 then it cannot be suggested that they should have appeared to be under 18 so you have not broken the law.

Hmpher · 20/02/2020 20:28

My husband got into serious trouble at work for not asking a mystery shopper for ID on an age restricted product. He didn’t ask because he thought he looked 30+, and you only ask if you think they look under 25. Turned out the bloke was only 18. He was almost sacked for gross misconduct but instead put on a final written warning, if I remember correctly. It was horrific, we had a newborn and thought he was going to be sacked for selling a product he was legally allowed to buy, all because of the subjective nature of whether or not you think somebody looks 25. That’s how strict employers are.

TinyTornado · 20/02/2020 20:43

My dd always used to pay for petrol for me from about 7 onward. Which is probably the same thing as an age restricted sale. Only once did I ever once got told I had to go in the shop to pay myself and she paid countless times for me.

It’s an interesting question and I guess it’s down to the semantics of whether you take the word ‘pay’ as meaning the act of tapping the card or the actual transfer of money in exchange for goods. The latter, being your card, and your money is unlikely to be be considered illegal. As a parent I’d be tempted to argue the latter. if I was the shop assistant- I’d probably play safe safe and go with the first.

Incidentally the law would allow your dd to consume that alcohol in your own home.

Streamside · 20/02/2020 20:53

I remember being at a filling station where a mother decided her child should fill the car with petrol.The assistant switched the pump off, mother said she was supervising, switch it on. Assistant stated she couldn't and it all turned nasty.I'd hate to be a shop assistant having to follow the rules and being abused for it.

mnthrowaway202020 · 20/02/2020 20:54

I don’t see why you should be an exception to their rule? Some people probably do give young children alcohol, the staff don’t personally know you to be sure of your intentions otherwise? You already flagrantly involved her with the purchase of alcohol, and because you were so blatant the staff couldn’t just ignore it - they had to publicly be seen to act to save themselves from disciplinary action as explained by others.

It’s not just mystery shoppers or other customers (that may have been watching this unfold, ready to complain) - other staff may have been nearby. Not all retail staff wear identifiable uniform so you couldn’t be sure if a manager/security were nearby and closely watching whether the staff member was going to deal with this as they have been trained to or not. Some retail managers can be jobsworths, I wouldn’t put it past some to watch the transaction via cctv then reprimand the staff after.

When I worked in retail as a teenager, I certainly didn’t care about any customer enough to risk my job to bend the rules for them. And I only sold high end clothes, not age restricted products!

mnthrowaway202020 · 20/02/2020 20:58

Also a mini Baileys gift set is the sort of alcohol I could see some people giving children to drink. It’s not high in alcohol content. The packaging is fun as it’s a gift set. It’s a mild and basic option isn’t it?

Original poster
Potkettlexx · 20/02/2020 21:09

@mnthrowaway202020

And you think my writing style is annoying 😂 bet you’re a hoot!

Oh yeah I’m sure some people do give young children alcohol.... Then they’ll be swiftly removed by social services. You say it as if it would be quite common 🙄 pretty sure the woman didn’t think I intended to give it to my 7 year old!!

OP posts:
slashlover · 20/02/2020 21:13

Scratch that. Licensing laws dictate that if someone appears to be under 18 you can't sell alcohol to them. If you know beyond a shred of doubt that someone is over 18 then it cannot be suggested that they should have appeared to be under 18 so you have not broken the law.

The police and trading standards can use under 18s. My chain supermarket will send 18 year olds in (who could have been underage a week ago) and if they are not challenged then the cashier can get in a lot of trouble for not following policy. It's not illegal to serve them but the company take a very dim view on not checking.

slashlover · 20/02/2020 21:16

@Potkettlexx

You say it as if it would be quite common 🙄 pretty sure the woman didn’t think I intended to give it to my 7 year old!!

She probably knew you weren't going to give it to your child but THAT IS IRRELEVANT. By tapping your card, your child was paying and that is illegal.

SpencerReidsMistress · 20/02/2020 21:16

OP you seem to think she was being unreasonable (at least that's the picture I get) It's likened to you standing there letting your 7yo tap the buttons on a fruit machine (also illegal). I don't think she should be put at risk of losing her job because your 7yo wants to tap a card. Customers unfortunately do complain about tiny things. I mean Margaret from accounting really has nothing better to do than to complain about minor things, but it happens. Though I remember when I was a child going in and paying for petrol for my parents, that was fun, but again it's not allowed these days.

Original poster
Potkettlexx · 20/02/2020 21:20

@slashlover

I was being sarcastic..... as if it’s common to give them alcohol.

OP posts:
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