Judged by Waitrose

[Prioryfodder]

Waitrose would not let me buy alcohol because I was accompanied by my 15-year-old daughter. To explain, just before Christmas, I had bought a basket of groceries and two bottles of Malibu (actually destined for her older brothers Christmas stockings to make long island iced teas, but that's irrelevant IMO). She had briefly handled the bottles to put on the conveyor belt for me. We then waited some time for the cashier to clear. We were clearly together and frankly we are clearly mother and daughter. The cashier (rather smugly) said she would need ID from both of us to sell me the alcohol. I said I was 56 and she 15, but the alcohol was for me. She - and later her manager - asserted that we both had to be over 18, and to prove it. I asked if they would sell it to me if she left the shop. No. Would they sell it to me if she were 6-year-old? Yes, and I was ''not to be so silly'', said the cashier. My daughter feels she was judged as being an underaged drinker, and I feel judged to be a 'bad mother'. Vote: Yes, you are AIBU, you should never shop with your teenage child, you fool. YANBU, FFS at 56 you should be allowed to buy alcohol.
I am expecting a few cracks about buying Malibu and shopping at Waitrose. Please don't disappoint

My daughter feels she was judged as being an underaged drinker, and I feel judged to be a 'bad mother'.

Having worked as a cashier at two supermarkets (including Waitrose, incidentally) I really doubt they were judging you. I had very little interest in what customers were buying. I was interested in not losing my job, no matter how silly I personally thought the rules were.

It is bloody ridiculous. Basically if you're doing the weekly shop with your teenage child you can't buy alcohol. I am fully on board with proof of age for the person paying, but proof of age for their entourage is insane. Far too much responsibility for the shop to be mucking about with.

Sooooooooooo.... (and a tongue in cheek reply always deserves a sentence starting with so...) You are not being judged as a bad mother, just a rubbish cocktail maker 😄😄😄

I had this in Morrisons too before Christmas, it was bizarre. I was with my 11 year old step daughter (I definitely wasn't buying booze for her!!) and whilst she is as tall as me she has a baby face, she looks younger than she is. When they asked for her ID I told them she was 11 and the lady looked at her and just said "oh yeah, she's just tall".

She then started asking questions about my relationship to DSD which was strange in itself and made us both feel really uncomfortable.

Anyway it's not just a Waitrose thing but it is definitely stupid!

I disagree. I shop at Tesco, and very often I have my 12 year old daughter with me. I have never been refused alcohol.

I was a student at a university town at a supermarket near the student village. I was 23. My companion, another student, was 25, from the US.

My American companion tried to buy some wine with her American driving licence. She was refused on the basis that they would not accept her ID as it was American and they didn't know what it was supposed to look like (ie it could have been forged).

I tried to buy the wine with my British ID. I was refused on the basis that I might give it to my 25-year-old friend.

We pointed out that we were students, clearly over the age of 18, and carrying ID.

No joy.

It is a stupid rule, because anyone could buy alcohol and give it to a minor at home. Should children not come shopping with parents now?

Ridiculous.

Try buying rice wine vinegar next time and if they let you through with your daughter go straight to the customer service desk and complain.

Wait until your 12 year old is 15.

I’m confused - I regularly buy alcohol at Waitrose with my teen dd in tow who looks nowhere near 18 - never been asked for ID.

Can only assume the staff in the one near me just aren’t complete and utter morons.

This. Case of rioja or a bottle of single malt and you'd have been golden.

I often buy it wiith my kids in tow and have never been asked......very silly rule.

It's a totally ridiculous rule. The request to provide ID surely needs to only apply to the person paying for the goods.

Nobody should be trying to police what people do with their shopping after they have paid for it. That way lie complications, pissed off customers and madness. Unfortunately though, it seems to be the direction we are heading. It isn't just Waitrose.

ha! I was about to post the same thing 😂

@piglet81 sorry, that reply was meant for piglet!

The rules are stupid but they don't make the rules and they can personally get a huge fine if you turn out to be an undercover police officer trying to catch them out. Plus the shop could lose its alcohol licence.

I don't get the offence/potential offence.

Even if the OP was buying it for 15 year old, thought if they were drinking at home, this would be fine

I was concerned about this too. 🍹

Just send your 15 year old down the corner shop for it later

I agree it's crazy but it's well known that these are the rules. If DS13 is with me and I am buying alcohol I send him to go and wait in the car while I do the checkout because stories like this have been regular for years so I knew I would have to do this as soon as he started looking like a teenager.

DDs came with me into Amazon Fresh to get sweets the other day and I thought I was going to have this situation as I was buying wine, when a member of staff bowled over and asked if they had ID, and actually I only had my phone with me and not my purse with driving licence in it. I said the wine was for me (it most definitely was!) and he accepted it, and I don't blame him for asking given there is no checkout etc, it seems responsible and I imagine they'd get hauled over the coals for not doing so.

I guess Malibu is a bit more suspicious. To be fair the only time I have bought it recently was for DD(17).

Yabu to put malibu in a long island ice tea. The ingredients are the 5 clear spirits (gin, white rum, vodka, tequila and cointreau) plus lemon juice and coke/Pepsi and a dash of orange if you want it! I've never heard of malibu being added

Also yabu for the main point of your thread. It may be a ridiculous rule but it's the rules and if the staff disobey it they could get sacked.

Same!

So to all the "it's shop rules and you know it" posters, I have no idea what this rule is and would be both annoyed and bemused if a cashier wouldn't put let me pay for the alcohol in a weekly shop if teen DS was with me.

Having read the rule on this thread, it sounds utterly stupid as well. Because as many PP say, you just get the teen to hover elsewhere whilst you are at the checkout, and you can give the teen the alcohol at home anyway if you so desire, so the idea that alcohol will not be passed to a teenager depending on whether they stand next to you at the point of purchase is daft.

I had this happen years ago in Tesco when I was with my little sister who was about 7 at the time. I just walked off and left a large shop on the conveyor belt. Regretted it later when I had to do the whole shop again haha

Yep, what the heck is Malibu doing there? It doesn’t go in a Long Island Iced Tea.

But yes, standard supermarket policy most places.