Asked for ID to buy a can of Red bull in Co-op?

[Humptydum]

I’m 35 years old and was heading to my night shift. Aibu to find this ridiculous for an energy drink at my age.

Seems strange.
Although the UK seems to Nanny us more under the Tories than Labour ever did.

Take it as a compliment that they thought you looked young enough to ask 😁

I would have but now I’m trying to get through a ten hour night shift on Diet Coke.. lol. The legal limit for energy drinks is 16 ffs.

I remember being ID for painkillers in asda at 30 (3 years ago) when I really needed them, I was so angry at the time (internally)..... Guess it's a blessing in a way 🤣

It isn't even a legal limit.

They aren't age restricted items.

It is a voluntary code that some shops have decided to implement but in doing so they have to operate challenge 25.

It's absolutely ridiculous in my opinion.

My DH works in a supermarket chain and has to do Challenge 25. One of his colleagues failed a random check by not asking for ID and her manager gave her a dreadful time, implying that they were considering sacking her. Every time someone fails, it’s a really big thing and they have to have meetings and it goes on their file. So now she asks everyone, regardless of whether they’re a teenager or they’ve got an energy drink in one hand and their pension book in the other. Quite frankly, I don’t blame her; nobody needs that extra stress at work.

I got asked at 37 when I had no ID on me. My Nan had died during the night and my IVF had just failed again. All I wanted was that can of red bull. Thank fully a nice customer behind me bought me one as I’d walked out in tears. I go in that Tesco almost every day, she never dared ID me again!

Ridiculous. Just finished a ten hour night shift with no caffeine. I don’t need that extra stress in my life. I highly doubt anyone has ever got into trouble for selling an energy drink to someone for is clearly an adult. Common sense needed here.

I quite agree that common sense is needed. But the only way it is ever going to change is by people contacting the head office and demanding that their store managers be the ones to start using it, rather than putting the onus on minimum wage staff to abide by some completely subjective assessment of whether or not someone looks over 25 or not. If you were threatened with the loss of your job and a fine of thousands of pounds simply because you’d guessed someone was the wrong age, would you risk it? I bloody wouldn’t.

But you can’t “be fined thousands of pounds” for not checking the ID if someone buying a product that isn’t age restricted.

I think they just ask everyone tbh so it isn't a compliment I've seen them ask people in their 40s (the man was surprised to be asked and said He was 41) they just ask everyone

I really hate the way challenge 25 is applied to products which can be legally sold without restriction. In particular I think teenagers who might need pain relief (eg for period pains) should not be reliant on adults to purchase for them. Kids in neglectful homes and young carers are really let down by this imo.

No, I know. I was referring to all of the legally age restricted products that fall under Challenge 25. It’s so arbitrary. You might look at someone and think they’re late 20s so don’t need to be challenged. I might look at them and think they’re late teens so definitely do. The point I was making is that there are serious consequences for staff, whether it’s legal consequences for selling an age restricted product or employment consequences for failing a shop policy for non age restricted products. Would you risk disciplinary action because you’d guessed someone was the wrong age?