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.

This is my understanding, too. I would go with her to homebase and ask where in their policy it says 18+ in the shop.

To shop alone. With an adult is fine.
Seems reasonable to me given its fairly unlikely a 15 Yr would need something from a DIY store they couldn't get elsewhere ....yes there are legitimate reasons to go to a DIY store but there are more illegitimate reasons.

Whether purchased or shop lifted....or just kids in the passed messing about causing damage/getting hurt I can understand why they don't want to have to monitor teens wandering round the store.

Solvents
Stanley knives and other blades
Fork lift trucks

Our local coop doesn't let kids in alone and they don't have those things.

I imagine if its a store in a location two 15 Yr olds can just pop into they get a lot of teens popping in to shop lift....more so than the large stores most people drive to

That's a nonsensical argument.
Under 18s are legally distinct from over 18s and lots of businesses will not allow them unsupervised....men/asians/50-60yr olds are not a distinct legal category like a minor is....MNers love to point out how young an vulnerable even 18-21 year olds are much of the time.

So there is a legal basis for excluding unsupervised Under 18s in a business that not only contains a number of potential H&S risks (B&Q frequently make tannoy announcements that all children MUST be supervised at all times) but also has access to lots of age restricted products.....which could fairly easily be stolen.
If a product is stolen no amount if age checks at the checkout is going to help.

Our local pub let's my kids in with me....they do not allow unaccompanied groups of U18s even if they aren't drinking alcohol.

16yr olds can get married.

Definitely suspect you're not getting the full story. This is hilarious 😂

What's getting married got to do with anything, single people buy the same things as married people

No that's your very unhelpful spin on it.

Not since 27 February last year.

"The Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022, which gained Royal Assent in April last year, has come into force today (27 February). It means that 16 and 17 year olds will no longer be allowed to marry or enter a civil partnership, even if they have parental consent."

Gov.uk

What the fuck? This is insane?

I bought half the materials for my school art & stage design projects from B&Q at that age!

Are you joking?
There are a lot of stuff teens can buy from Homebase e.g cushions (my DD bought one a few years ago) throws, plants. They were not behaving badly, they probably were laughing and chatting but since then it was a crime?
They were just bonkers at this store. And we need more girls as OP’s daughter who can stand for themselves.

Entitled and rude because she wanted to shop?

Yet my husband got his own flat when he was 16, when he left care.

There are always two sides to a story.
It's a private shop, therefore they decide what age group to allow

If I was stopped and 16, I'd tell the staff member politely I was there to look for xx and it would be great if I could continue in my quest

I was stopped going into 18 movies even aged 23, I was a bit miffed but I got it and friend lol. In pubs and bards I was challenged uo until about the age of 40 - I am a bit miffed but understand they are just doing their job.

Some people can be rude and some get confused and mix up rude as being assertive.

Make a formal complaint OP - they do listen and take note

Please mind your language as I'm sure you would not say that to the face of the poster you are responding to.

Chats can become heated but no point is using foul language as it makes your argument look weak,

Same happened to me in B&Q, I was a mature student (22) at the college across the road and nipped in with a friend for some paint samples for my new house.. got asked for ID and as I didn’t have it was asked to leave 🙃

There are specific provisions for care leavers that do not apply to the rest of the population, and the local authority stands in loco parents for 16 year old care leavers.

So a shop can decide to ban black people? Jews? Women? White people? Old people? Come off it! We have laws against discrimination in this country!

What the fuck? We are allowed to swear on Mumsnet - it’s not a fucking primary school or church social!

16 years can definitely enter into contracts - they do so all the time!

And it's depressing that so many people have such low expectations of teens that they think this is OK. Young adults need to be able to participate in society as they mature, and lots of them will have a need for DIY related products - fixing bikes/scooters, building projects, etc.

The fact that it's a dangerous shop might be a good reason to not let unaccompanied under-11s in, but not young adults age 15, 16, 17.

Probably trying to dissuade shoplifting

They do this at certain shops at our local
Shopping centre. It's crazy, my dd, who is very sensible cannot go in for a drink or snack after school.

None of your business. If you have such an aversion to the word "fuck" this really isn't the site for you. There's an awful lot worse. And that's just the recipes...

Of course I would say it to her face, why wouldn't I? I wasn't swearing at her, or calling her (or her son) anything offensive. If anything, I was expressing indignation on behalf of her son.

Saying "What the fuck?" is a very common way of expressing incredulity/indignation. I would say it if my best friend told me her son had been turned away from B&Q, so I have absolutely no idea what your problem is.