Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think challenge 25 rules can be silly.

118 replies

Balleu · 15/12/2020 09:54

I used to work in a supermarket before I went to uni and I would regularly help on checkouts despite mostly working on the shop floor.
I saw a lady getting ID'd today for buying alcohol with her teenage daughter.
The lady was refused as her teenage daughter had no ID.

But it got me thinking about the challenge 25 training I had and the ridiculousness of the 'rulezzzz'

For example,
I remember being told to ID even those who work in the shop who are older than 18 but don't look it.

For example, on produce there were young males who were between 18-19. Whenever they came to my till, I had to use the same line
"Sorry I know you're over 18 but I have to ask for ID because you look under 25".

And this was the same with people I knew in everyday life. So an old schoolfriend came in, I knew he was 20 but had to apologise and ask because he looked under 25. Even though I knew he was over 18!

And also, I was on checkout sometimes but not often, so therefore I didn't have many opportunities to ID people as I was mainly on the shop floor.
Nevertheless, I had a scalding off the checkout supervisor as it came up that I had "only" ID'd 4 people in a month (we have an individual checkout number to signin when going on the tills which keeps track).
I explained to him that i've rarely been called onto the tills and clearly when I was on the till I didn't feel the need to ID anybody.
But apparantly this wasn't good enough and I was told to start IDing more peopleHmm

AIBU to think that, yes of course there are big fines associated with mistakes, but often challenge 25 rules are over the top?

OP posts:
Original poster
Balleu · 15/12/2020 09:56

And of course every supermarket is different and every shopkeeper is different, but these were the rules of the supermarket I worked in which i thought was silly

OP posts:
Simplyunacceptable · 15/12/2020 09:57

Totally agree. Once got ID’d because I was with my younger brother and ‘may have been buying alcohol for him’. Think he was 13 at the time and I definitely wasn’t. Made him stand outside the shop, went back in and bought it from a different till...

WilsonMilson · 15/12/2020 10:00

It’s the shop assistant who is prosecuted for selling to underage teenagers, so I think the challenge 25 rules protect the assistant and the shop and mean it’s less awkward for them to ask someone they are not sure about if the age bracket is raised.

It’s widely accepted now and surely it’s no big deal to show ID if asked.

Wherehavetheteletubbiesgone · 15/12/2020 10:03

They are very silly I got ID'd at 30 because someone was so scared of letting somebody not get Id'd who might be 24 buy low alcohol beer without a check. What constitutes a knife too is silly. Sell to someone under age then fine you suffer the consequences and i guess that's why the set an age of 25 as a safety buffer. But that should be all it is, a get out clause so that 23 year old you aren't sure about can be legitimately questioned without taking offence.

riotlady · 15/12/2020 10:06

YANBU DP got IDed buying flipping christmas crackers the other day!

africanantelope · 15/12/2020 10:07

I work in my local co-op and I know others who have been fined and fired for making the mistake of not ID'ing. I'm not being funny but my job and providing for my kids is more important then the small inconvenience it is for somebody to whip out their driving license or be refused some beer because they don't have ID. But also we have a previously seen ID button so that our numbers stay up and we don't have to keep annoying our regulars. And I don't ID grown ups that are with teenagers unless they are acting weird or I spot them asking their kids/siblings which alcohol to buy them.

Original poster
Balleu · 15/12/2020 10:09

@WilsonMilson yes I used to work in a supermarket so I know all about the fines that come witb failing a challenge 25.
But it is ridiculous that some supermarkets require their checkout staff to ID people even though the checkout staff know that person is over 18.

So basically the checkout staff is asking for ID for the sake of it.
The challenge 25 rule was made to obviously make things easier, but if you KNOW someone is over 18 then surely they should just be given the alcohol?

Also age and looks is all open to interpretation.
My intetpratation of what a 25 yr old looks like may be different to another person's.
So when the police send in someone over 18 who looks under 25, but the cashier serves the person without ID which means they "failed" challenge 25, I find it absolutely absurb as the person is over 18!

OP posts:
SchrodingersImmigrant · 15/12/2020 10:10

There can always be a secret shopper around watching you sell alcohol without the check and they won't care you know them simply because they don't know.

ScrapThatThen · 15/12/2020 10:11

I guess it must be working because my 17 yo wouldn't dream of trying to buy alcohol in a shop, whereas I was nonchalantly buying bottles of vodka in Cambridge off licences by 15.

Original poster
Balleu · 15/12/2020 10:12

@africanantelope i'm not saying cashiers shouldn't be IDing people.
If the cashier is genuinely unsure of whether someone is 25 then they should ID.
But i'm on about the ridiculous "rulez" of challenge 25 and people not using common sense.

OP posts:
PillowPrincess · 15/12/2020 10:12

No skin of my nose to produce an ID.

PattyPan · 15/12/2020 10:13

Yanbu I am 25 so usually get ID’d (although I didn’t the other day - clearly my forehead wrinkles have developed enough now) and I always think that if I were an underage drinker I wouldn’t be buying the stuff I’m buying (last Xmas I couldn’t buy the organic port and expensive brandy in Waitrose on my lunch break because I didn’t have my driving licence on me - never mind I had my work photo ID, a credit card in my name and was wearing a suit). Surely if you’re not buying the cheapest wine, vodka or cider you’re probably ok 😂

TheTrashBagIsOursCmonTrashBag · 15/12/2020 10:14

Someone I worked with in a shop got fired on the spot for selling an 18 dvd to another colleague. She was certain he was old enough and didn’t ask him for ID. He was 16. He was let go too iirc.

Original poster
Balleu · 15/12/2020 10:14

@SchrodingersImmigrant and this is where the rules.are ridiculous.
The cashier wouldn't have done anything wrong by selling alcohol to someone they know is over 18.
Also what the "mystery shopper"'s interpratation of what 25 looks like may be different to my interpetation of whether someone looks over 25.

OP posts:
ChristmasUserName2020 · 15/12/2020 10:15

When I was about 25 I went shopping with my boyfriend who was about 27. We were in a Tesco superstore, so a big one. We browsed for about 20 minutes and then he went back to the car as he was tired. I got asked for ID and then the lady said ‘and what about your partner’ I was like ‘eh?!!’ I called him, no ID so no sale. Bizarre 😞

Original poster
Balleu · 15/12/2020 10:17

And just to clarify: I am not saying people shouldn't be ID'd. I am saying that some of the challenge 25 rules are ridicilous.

How ridiculous does this sound.

Police: Your store has just failed challenge 25

Manager: what happened?

Police: we sent in a 23 year old who looks under 25 and they weren't ID'd.

But that 23 year old is of legal age to buy alcohol and maybe the cashier could tell they were over 18..

OP posts:
TheTrashBagIsOursCmonTrashBag · 15/12/2020 10:19

The responsibility is the cashiers I don’t blame anyone for being extra diligent. I’d happily risk pissing someone off to avoid losing my job and getting a massive fine on top. And I say that as someone who is over 30 and still gets I.D’d.

snowmanshoes · 15/12/2020 10:19

I’m in my 40’s and got asked for ID because my underage daughter was with me? I was then asked who I was buying it for.... not sure they wanted me to reel off it was for my aunt sally, neighbour over the road, school mum friend Smile how do they know how old these people are Grin and also who would admit the alcohol they were buying was for someone underage anyway??? No common sense that day at all!

Ohdoleavemealone · 15/12/2020 10:19

I agree with you OP.

I my younger sister walked into a shop and bought some wine I wouldn't ID her because I know she is 25 and even if I was pulled up on it, and they asked her to produce ID to check on me, or would be fine. This is not the same as being pretty sure of someone's age as a guess and getting it right or wrong.

Original poster
Balleu · 15/12/2020 10:20

@TheTrashBagIsOursCmonTrashBag yes but if you do really know that a colleague is over 18 then you should ID.
Of course if you don't know a colleage well and they come to your till, then go ahead ID. But if you genuinley know someone is over 18 then what is the point of asking for ID?

OP posts:
Original poster
Balleu · 15/12/2020 10:21

*shouldn't need to ID

OP posts:
snowmanshoes · 15/12/2020 10:21

Just to clarify - yes I know they meant my daughter, no I don’t buy her alcohol and also they served me anyway so yes sometimes it’s just silly

DrDetriment · 15/12/2020 10:24

Yes it's bonkers. I'm very much middle aged but was ID'd for some reason in Waitrose. What was annoying was that the woman asked me to pull down my mask while she lent forward with her mask under her nose. I asked her to put her mask on properly and stand back but she didn't care. I was clearly not under 25! My DP who is nearly 60 and who was next to me found it highly amusing. I appreciate that masks make it harder but surely they should employ some common sense.

BarbaraofSeville · 15/12/2020 10:25

Yes, they're ridiculous.

I was refused alcohol when I was well into my 30s because, while they were happy I was over 18, they thought I 'might' be under 25.

The law is that alcohol is not sold to people who are under 18, not that it's not sold to people who might, subjectively, look under 25.

No-one is going to be fined for selling alcohol to a person who is over 18 but might look under 25 in some people's opinion. If the assistant knows that a person is over 18, eg they went to school with them, they're related to them, or have previously seen their driving licence or whatever, that should carry more weight than the challenge 25 rules.

They also need to stop with the ridiculous 'mother can't buy wine if she has her teens with her' that often trips people up because the presence of the teen in the shop has no bearing on whether or not she is buying it for them, and in any case, it's not illegal for children over 5 to be given alcohol in private homes.

That often leads to the workaround @Simplyunacceptable above outlines, which if thought about logically, anyone who isn't accompanied by a teen 'might' be buying alcohol for them, because most people in their 20/30/40/50s have teen DC, siblings or cousins and if they were trying to buy alcohol for them illegally, they'd probably make them wait outside, rather than taking them into the shop with them.

TheTrashBagIsOursCmonTrashBag · 15/12/2020 10:28

But she did know him, she was convinced he was old enough to buy the item so she didn’t I.D him. The company policy was if a staff member purchased anything a manager had to check the item(s) against the receipt straightaway and the manager knew the guy wasn’t old enough for the item and had no choice but to act on it.