daughter was asked to leave homebase because she's under 18?

[whatisgoingonitw]

My daughter and her friend (both 15) went shopping yesterday and nipped into Homebase as my daughter wanted a plant and her friend wanted a heated blanket. They were approached by a member of staff who said “what age are you both you don’t look old enough to be in here” they replied 15. The member of staff asked them to leave as you need to be 18 to shop. My daughter is very straight forward and says how it is, she told the member of staff no as that is not true. The girls continued to walk around the store and they were followed by this lady who works there. They got to the till and paid with no issues the employee at the till didn’t mention age. My daughter told me this when she got home and explained the employee was rude and followed them around the store as well as giving them “dirty looks” I rung the store today to speak to a manager as that customer service is not okay. He told me you do infact need to be with an adult 18+ to shop. Is this serious? I can’t find anything on the website.

Your daughter has no manners. The staff were polite and doing their job.

Back in the 1990s I had a Sunday job working for a large DIY chain. I was aged 16. I left when I was 18 to go to university. Apparently, I was old enough to sign a contract, sell sharp and pointy things, operate a till containing lots of cash and advise grown men on how to plumb in washing machines.

A quick google search brings up that you have to be 18 plus to buy anything at Homebase

On the basis that Homebase can - and do - employ under 18’s I would infer this is a local store policy that’s been put in place by the management of that store, possibly because there have been issues with shoplifting?

I am not entirely sure it is lawful - there is a right to refuse service (and entrance on that basis) but it is supposed to be based on individual conduct, not applied to a general population based on age, sex, race etc. If your DD and her friend were not doing anything inappropriate I would consider this to be discriminatory? My kids go into our local Homebase to buy plants/Christmas decorations & gifts and have never been stopped.

in your shoes, I think I would be contacting head office/customer services.

That's a very good point.

There have been threads on MN before about near misses in stores such as Homebase and B&Q, where children/ teens have caused or nearly caused accidents.

Banning every unaccompanied minor is easier and quicker (and safer) than waiting until there is a problem, and then ejecting the sort of kids whose behaviour which will lead to threads like "B&Q banned my 15 year old son and his friends because they were playfully throwing hatchets at each other" .

The manager confirmed this over-18 policy.

This! I absolutely cannot stand people using ND as a cop out to get away with just being plain rude

How about," nobody suffered anything more than having their nose put out of joint"?

It’s not a god given right to shop at Homebase though? Plenty of other places that aren’t DIY stores to buy a plant and an electric blanket.

As can mine.

She is aware that she has difficulties and takes extra care because of it.

Really? You would’ve told a worker to ‘piss off’? You sound very mature. What a delightful person… not.

Legally those are not "young adults".

They are minors.

Sounds like either they're lying or they broke company policy by taking her money, call head office and check.

No - the shop was keen to get her out with as little disturbance as possible.

A staff member had to follow them around the store. - likely for their own safety. They picked their "pot plant and blanket" (and I'll bet they took their sweet time because at least one of them sounds like a stroppy little so-and-so who would drag the whole thing out on principle), they paid and they left.

The alternative was to have called security and had them ejected - no doubt loudly complaining the whole time.

Retail workers are badly paid, work long hours, get lot of verbal abuse because they have to enforce store policies that people don't like, and are on their feet all day - they can do without this crap.

Yes - please do this.

Cause as much trouble as you can for a minimum wage employee who was just trying to do her job and ensure your daughter and her friend were safe - not because she thought they were idiots, but because that was the company policy.

If her job is not to remove under 18s from the store then she wasn't just trying to do her job, was she? How were the girls unsafe or idiots? I buy plants all the time, it's never resulted in me coming to any sort of harm.

Just in case though, OP tell your daughter not to eat the plant.

This.

Women never got anything without standing up for themselves, and I'm heartened to see that girls like the OP's DD have the confidence to do so.

And I can't abide pettifogging jobsworths, either.

“If the policy is in fact you need to be 18+ to enter the shop it should be online”

It is online in the terms and conditions. It isn’t weird that the manager agreed with the employee as it’s their policy so of course they will back the employee. However if the employee was rude about it and followed them around the store then that should have been handled better.

Of course women and girls need to stand up for themselves but they also need to make sure they are correct when they do. If policy is no under 18s then people shouldn’t ignore that because they haven’t heard of it personally. That doesn’t make them correct because they’ve never heard it before

And you sound awful. There was absolutely no need for that comment.

Yes.. because OP’s DD not following store policy is clearly oppression by the patriarchy!

Get a grip.

While I whole heartedly think we should stick up for ourselves, be assertive, be confident, etc, there's a fine line between "saying it how it is" and being a rude, undiplomatic, gobshite who rubs people up the wrong way.

Likewise "bubbly and confident" can very easily be loud, brash, and a nightmare to work with as they talk too much, constantly challenge authority, and are mentally draining.

No idea what OP's DD is actually like, but "says it like it is" is always a red flag to me.

Where? Please link us to the terms and conditions of Homebase store use.

This is very well put.

(Also very applicable to another recent thread about a poster's DH telling her to say please - mumsnet has changed a lot since I first joined.)

This