To be angry they didn't serve me?

[PinkRiceKrispies]

I am 37 first of all.
Had a thumping headache due to the heat today so went to buy some paracetamol and picked up 2 boxes. Got to the till and she said 'Sorry, but do you have ID? I just wasn't sure if you were over 18.' I told her my age and she still wouldn't let me have them. Don't drive so didn't have a license on me either.
Aibu to be annoyed? I look very young for my age but this seems ridiculous.

You shouldn’t be selling anyone 5 packets…

I can’t tell if you are joking or not, but no Madonna does not look like a teen, and hasn’t for about 40 years.

Then you don't get to buy the paracetamol that the shop isn't obliged to sell you....

I do think making it hard for under 16s to access paracetamol is wrong. Period pains for teenagers can be horrific and they shouldn’t need to go through an adult to manage that. Yes you can go to a pharmacy but that is often considerably more expensive than a supermarket own brand and less accessible hours/locations.
we expect them to go to university/out in to the world at 18 so we need to give them opportunities to learn to look after themselves in the lead up to that.
I don’t think it’s wrong for them to id you for genuinely age restricted products. If you look 22/23 then you look under 25 and the cashier should id you.

She looks like an old woman with a plastic face and several filters on the camera

Yes, if someone looks like they have had extensive work done then they are clearly not a teen. Even those doing it because of severe dysphoria would slowly build up to that after more minor surgeries, so would have to be well into adulthood.

But if you look under 25 then they must check ID.

Why do people keep saying that the shop assistant must ask for ID or risk their jobs? People know that but they are complaining that the shop has that policy in the first place. Paracetamol does not have an age restriction by law and unlike alcohol it's more of a need than a want if someone's in pain. A teenager should not have to ask an adult or show ID before buying paracetamol for period pain.

If this isn’t a joke, it’s clear proof that some people are appallingly bad at assessing age.

Sorry just to return to this one, it’s an obvious lie because Trading Standards would not only use a 23 year old to make test purchases, but they would also not test purchase paracetamol because it’s not a legally age restricted product.

Apologies if this has already been posted - I haven't RTFT. Presumably if you've no ID you didn't vote recently? You can get photo ID for free so just do it then you're covered for this kind of stuff which seems pedantic and more important things like voting.

OP didn't say she owns no ID at all - though other posters in the thread comment about people who don't - only that she had none on her. A passport is a perfectly good ID for voting purposes - and obviously for travel - but a bad ID for carrying around. ID cards like all other European countries have are much better for this.

Nevertheless, this remains a separate issue to not being able to get paracetamol without ID, where paracetamol is not an age restricted product by law and paracetamol tablets may be taken by children for pain relief.

Or OP might not have voted recently because she doesn't live in an area where voting took place recently. Last elections in Scotland didn't use ID.

Apart from the fact that paracetamol or isn't an age restricted product so the policy shouldn’t be in place anyway, I'm not sure that it could be argued the shop assistant was “just doing their job” to refuse to serve paracetamol to a 37 year old who didn't have ID. The job is to ID anyone who looks under 25 not 37 year olds. The shop has lost a sale and maybe future custom because the assistant couldn't do their job which was to correctly identify people who are under the age of 25.

Totally agree with you! And surely no-one can be sacked for not checking a 23 year old's ID even if they were buying an age restricted item, since the cashier thought they looked over 25? Surely that's the whole point of Challenge 25?

Images... Clearly not au fait with photoshop or filters etc. Or have seen real photos of what she actually looks like! Below was a comparison of filters/no filters:

she really really doesn't. You'd better get your eyes checked.

PP who posted about a pub asking if a 13 yo was over 18 is fine. It is often difficult to tell with young women.

Asking an arthritic 62 year old for id ever for anything other than things that are legally required to be sold only by showing id is overkill and ridiculous.

as for pp who said "go to a pharmacy" if it's out of hours they're closed. And some people who work in pharmacies, as pp on this thread pointed out, will grill you several times as to your status of pregnancy before selling you some things.

as another pp said: pant wetters. WTF, UK? has all common sense gone out of the window. ID to buy a knife block? that had no knives in it? batshit.

You can get photo ID for free so just do it then you're covered for this kind of stuff which seems pedantic and more important things like voting.

where? is the photo free too?

These things come from “my manager told me to do xyz so I do” attitudes I find.

Often the managers don’t know the logic themselves and are effectively putting a ban on basic medicine for those with no photo on an arbitrary basis just because someone else told them to. Forget the law, many are just following orders. Again, dangerous territory.

this is where education and confidence to speak up comes in to play.

Perhaps. But it's called responsible retailing. Want your 14yr old to overdose on paracetamol? Bet youd be the first one to come in and scream at us for selling them 5 packets!

if you run a shop and are one of these managers who asks staff to adhere to a policy that you yourself do not understand, again I recommend self education. MHRA recommend limiting the number of packets sold; not the age they are sold to. See below. Responsive retailing is not leaving people in pain because your policy flies in the face of the law. Even if a manager told you to.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/advertising-investigations-september-2016/september-2016-multiple-sales-of-analgesic-containing-in-retail-outlets#:~:text=of%20public%20safety.-,MHRA%20Best%20practice%20guidance%20on%20the%20sale%20of%20medicines%20for,safety%20of%20analgesics%20in%20use.

^ and when you explain all this to some randomer in charge of a shop who doesn’t understand their own policy or probably know who the MHRA even are, they’ll often say “I’m in charge, so I’m not serving you” just because they can.

I said I looked young for my age as in most people think 23/25 but no, I don't look under 18

What don't you understand it's think 25. Not 18 even for paracetamol so you should be asked if you look under 25 which you said you do. What's the issue ?
It's not challenge 18. It is challenge 25

What happens if you have a child with you? There are plenty of stories about people who have been refused alcohol because a child is with them and it must be for them.

This whole thing is ridiculous. Either you are over 16 or 18 or you are not. There is no middle ground here. And the proxy sale thing is silly as well when it leads to ridiculous outcomes.

Also the Think 25 thing isn't a legal requirement, it's just something everyone has jumped on as a good way to tick a box. It clearly doesn't work when 37 year olds are being asked (I also know someone who's around 35 and looks about 25 but she is very obviously over 18).

Want your 14yr old to overdose on paracetamol? Bet youd be the first one to come in and scream at us for selling them 5 packets

This isn't about the number of packets, it's about the age.

Anyone can overdose - either accidentally or on purpose.

The difference is the law says you only have to be 18. Not 25. And 16 for medicine (not sure if that is even a legal requirement or just a code of practice).

I actually thought that having to be over 16 was a legal requirement as if I buy painkillers in the supermarkets it always triggers the self-service machine to call someone over. Hence I go into Superdrug and buy it there as they have humans on the tills (and I don't, by any stretch of anyone's imagination, look 24 or under!)

If it's a policy thing it is even more stupid.