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.

They have employees under 18, so I suspect there's some important information missing here..

If this is a Homebase policy, it is really strange how coy they are about it on their website and that they don't have signs up by the entrance. The fact that the person on the till accepted the purchase does rather suggest that it isn't, and the employee who tackled your child was wrong.

Off topic again, but there are some instances where a 16 year old could be decorating a flat.

Supported accommodation for example - we took young people from age 15 onwards where I used to work, usually because their foster placements had broken down. All flats were self contained and could be decorated however they wanted to.

Our local authority housing register is open to anyone from age 16 onwards, although this may vary depending on where you live, so it absolutely can happen that a 16 year old can rent a flat.

So a 16yo in their own flat wouldn't be able to buy their own decorating stuff? Really?

They would struggle to have their own flat at 16 as they can’t enter into a contract at that age.
While I am sure there aren't many 16 year olds that don't own their own flats there are plenty that live in semi - independent establishments. They are free to decorate their flat as they want.

Nope, not true.

My daughter certainly isn't rude, she certainly IS someone who stands up for herself and isn't scared to speak up. I'm not sure where she gets it from because if I was in her shoes and I was asked to leave i would leave straight away and probably cry 🤣 I definitely believe what my daughter is telling me in regards to they weren't messing about etc they literally walked in to grab what they wanted and were approached by this member of staff. I was told she was very rude and she didn't ask them to politely leave it was more in the attitude of "get out of here where are your parents" she then continued to follow the girls around the store, once the girls got to the till she just walked away....... fair enough if this is home base policy but it should of been made more clear. Strange how the server at the till didn't have an issue. But also weird how the manager on the phone agreed with the employee. I'm not sure

My dog is allowed in and he's definitely under 18. Sounds like they may have had a problem with teenagers and she was letting your daughter and her friend know she was keeping an eye on them? 🤷🏼‍♀️

Your D D should have done what she was told. Sounds like she has a problem with authority.

I have to agree with this.

If you can buy knives or other weapon type items or liquids to cause harm then yes the shop is right to bar them.

Also, you weren’t there as her mother, they could have well have been trying to shop lift.

Daughter probably gave it entitled attitude rather than eg I was buying eg a light fitting etc for myself/DM.

OP, in your post it literally says that the manager agreed with the employee. Why are you doubting reliable info re: store policy when your only other source is your DD, who doesn’t work there and therefore knows nothing about it?

I also think it sounds like she was rude rather than the refusal making her sound like a strong young woman. I’ve seen a security guard trying to remove teens who refused and I felt for him. I was pretty vocal when I felt injustice at her age but I think I’d have still left and asked for clarification from management - and obviously complained about the member of staff if it went against the rules/if I was not clowning about in there. Not saying your DD was!

I hadn’t read the whole thread when I posted after @DrunkenElephant so it’s a cross post. However there are housing associations that support young people with flats and rooms. I’m part of a service that supports them and help make their place look good and personal for them to help give a sense of pride.

It’d be very interesting if the store shared the cctv footage of your daughter and her friend as I bet it would tell a different story to what you’ve heard from them.

If you can buy knives or other weapon type items or liquids to cause harm then yes the shop is right to bar them.
well that would include Tesco, most cut price stores, The Range, Aldi, Lidle, markets etc.

Also with respect OP you sound as if you think DD can do no wrong ever. You’re probably the type who let your DD run around a restaurant when they were younger and did nothing or very little to stop them.

Under 18s are housed by social services. https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/homelessness/help_if_youre_homeless_16_and_17_year_olds

This was trivial to look up. You can use search engines instead of wondering, it's allowed!

I'm 50-60 with a limp... definitely more trouble.

bloody menace I am.

I emailed Homebase this evening to ask if it is a widespread policy, or at the discretion of individual stores.

They have responded, very quickly, to confirm…

“Sadly, single rolls [of turf] aren’t available for home delivery but we do offer this service for bulk orders” 😂

Actually when I’ve been in supermarkets recently I’ve not seen knives for sale. The only other places I’ve seen knives for sale recently in store are dept stores and ikea and they certainly wouldn’t sell to teens. Supermarkets if they do sell them wouldn’t sell to teens. Markets I’d expect the stall holders not to sell to teens.

My local Homebase and B&Q both have areas where teens can hide and walk around undetected apart from by cctv and the B&Q has 2 floors with a lift and upstairs car park.

@notacooldad sounds like we have similar jobs!

You can buy decorating materials elsewhere without going to a DIY shop if you are under 18

It's likely that the store staff have had problems with children shoplifting. This doesn't excuse the staff making up policy as they go along.

My nearest corner shop has a sign on the door saying "no more than two school children allowed at one time". If there's no sign, there's no rule. You can't expect a child to obey a rule that's not written down and displayed clearly.

Good on your daughter for refusing to tolerate ageism and challenging this arbitrary request. Kids blindly obeying every adult they see makes it easier for molesters to kidnap kids. Kids should be taught to challenge orders given to them by strange adults for their own safety.

If the staff member was really in the right, she'd have used her earpiece to call the manager or security over.

Wickes has a similar policy. All children must be supervised by an adult. There is a notice right by the entrance door. In reality, a well behaved 15/16 year old wouldn't be a problem. If they were suspected of shoplifting, running round the store or generally being a nuisance then they would be asked to leave. Oh, and yes they do employ 16 and 17 year olds but they prefer not to as it is so restricted as to what they can do. It's all to do with safety.