To think Tesco are being ridiculous with a prove you are over 18 for a food delivery

[Qantaqa]

Tesco delivery booked yesterday. Phone call to say van broken down. Do I want a slightly later delivery or cancel / rebook. I say later delivery is fine and think no more of it.

At the point the delivery arrives I am out. DS1(18) is in waiting for the delivery. DS phones to say driver cannot leave delivery as they have a think 25 policy and he doesn't have ID (he's awaiting arrival of his driving licence ). They wouldn't accept DS2 licence as he is only 17. Luckily mum turned up as DS1 was trying to find his Citizencard ID thing and obviously saved todays Sunday dinner the day.

I have looked and the Tesco website says:

All goods must be signed for on delivery by an adult aged 18 years or over.

Tesco follows a "Think 25" policy when delivering age-restricted items, so if the person receiving the goods looks under 25, proof of age will be requested. If proof is not available and there is no-one of that age at the address when delivery is being made, the goods will be retained by the driver.

1. Since Covid no-one signs for deliveries anymore, and
2. There were no age restricted items in the delivery - it was just a normal food shop.

I suspect someone will come along and say there is some reason that they need an over 18 to accept the delivery but if they have no-one signing anymore how can they prove (other than through tracking data on the van) that they have delivered and if that is the proof they are using then when does it matter if the person who takes the food is 18 or 16 or even younger?

Obviously if there was alcohol or a knife or a DVD of some sort that's different but it was literally fruit, veg, meat and bread and too much chocolate

I'll obviously make sure I am there in future until DSs ID comes through, but AIBU to think Tesco is BU?

Actually, in England and Wales, you can no longer get married at 16y, even if you have parental permission.

Waitrose were happy to leave everything bar the wine outside my door when I was stuck in traffic. Tesco has allowed my daughter to accept a delivery (which most likely did have wine, and she was 16).
I'm sure you must have had a particularly rule abiding driver this particular time.

Yabu. Presumably they've had theft/denial of delivery etc which has made them tighten up on rules, same as they won't leave it on your doorstep if you're not home, as people then claim it 'wasn't left'. They get me to sign for delivery often now.

Under 18 isn't legally responsible age? So can't be responsible for accepting the goods?

My ds always takes in our delivery.

He is 18 now hence why I now order it for when he's home during day.

There's no age restricted items and you don't sign for it either.

That sounds very zealous

Meant to say ds has never been asked for ID 🤷‍♀️

I would just switch to using ocado for your online shop. If that’s tesco policy just don’t use them.

DH used to do delivery driving for Sainsbury’s who also have this policy. He was told it is something to do with contract law but I’m not sure how accurate that is.

The driver is not being a jobsworth for following the policy, however nonsensical you think it is. They can and do get ‘mystery shopped’ to check up on things like this and risk a disciplinary if they fail.

This policy has been in force for years, you have no clue how rushed a delivery is picked, packed and taken out, every second is timed, our store deals with hundreds of orders every day, it is extremely chaotic,.drivers just need to deliver and get on with the next order asap or else managers are on to them regarding running late with their time slots.

Not all Tesco drivers follow this rule. When I was running late, my 17 year old took in the shopping and wasn't asked her age.
Apparently Amazon are very strict on checking age for restricted items and drivers get into trouble if they don't get proof of age, even if it is being delivered to someone who looks very obviously over 25.

It'll be the chocolate mate, the driver was clearly worried your son would nab it before you got the chance...and ooof you know what happens if anything gets in the way of a woman and her chocolate!
Can you change supermarkets?

The driver might have failed a test purchase and decided he’ll just err on the side of caution from now on. It’s taken very seriously if a branch fails a test.

No they don't.

Ocado lists age-restricted items separately, and they only ID young-looking recipients when the order includes any

I had this with Waitrose

They took it back to the store!

My fault as it does say on their website-
Lesson learned by me ☹️

Waitrose is how I found out about this, as it happened to me and they refused to leave the shopping. They all have this policy.

Standard policy. We were caught out by it when they were late and our 16 year old babysitter was at home with our younger dc.
Annoying as sometimes if you're not home they will leave it in the porch if you give verbal consent!

@Qilin You can still get married at 16 here in Scotland.

I know Scotland's marriage rule is different. As I said, in England and Wales it has changed to 18y.

Of course Tesco know what's in the shopping they've selected and packed. It's trivially easy to flag the receipt as Contains Age Sensitive Products or No Age Sensitive Products: they're all coded as such on their system for sales in store.

Exactly - that's what Ocado do. ID only when age restricted items are in the order

YANBU at all. This policy is surely age discrimination if no controlled items are included.

PMSL at ‘they don’t know what’s in your shopping’.

This seems to come up frequently, maybe there should be a MN campaign.

Sorry but I find it laughable pickers (in the supermarket) and delivery drivers don’t have time to check stuff! I regularly see pickers (in the supermarket) standing around chatting to colleagues and having a laugh. Likewise our supermarket delivery drivers always seem to want to loiter on my doorstep to chat and moan about their employers. I don’t begrudge either of these but to say that they don’t have time is bollocks 😂

I’ll tell you what’s even more ridiculous. Non alcoholic beer is on the challenge 25 as well! The clue is in the name..

That's because it's seen as an equivalent of alcohol - it's targeted at the same market. So some supermarkets have decided that it's best to limit those products in the same way.

To be honest though, it's fairly uncommon for under 25s that buy non alcoholic beer. I have had to ask for ID for energy drinks and alcohol many times. There's only one time I can recall having to ID for low alcohol drinks.

I have had to ask for ID for energy drinks and alcohol many times. There's only one time I can recall having to ID for low alcohol drinks.

And yet coffee has no ID in the shops I go in but has even higher caffeine content. Topsy turvy world sometimes!

Yes it is ridiculous - I myself got ID'd to accept my own Tesco order with no age restricted items this afternoon and I am THIRTY TWO married and pregnant. COME ON do I really look like I am under 25?!?!?!