Would you be offended if someone asked you whether you were over 60’s?

[WhatDoYouThink789]

I’d really love to hear people’s opinions on this!

If you went to the cinema to purchase a ticket to watch a film and the sales assistant said, ‘Is that 1 Adult ticket or 1 Over 60’s ticket?’ would you be offended by that? Bearing in mind you’re not actually over 60’s but 53.

For context, an Adult ticket costs £13.70 and an Over 60’s ticket costs £10.70. How would you feel about that line of questioning?

YABU - that’s a really offensive question and shouldn’t be asked.

YANBU - there’s nothing wrong with the question as the staff member needs to charge the correct price

Well I wouldn’t personally (age 57) there isn’t a significant difference between now and how I will look in 3 years. Was the person asking young themselves? - I would imagine someone in their teens or 20s would find it hard to distinguish between 53 and 60.

I am 57 and I would prefer not to be asked if I'm over 60. If I qualify for a discount I'll ask for one.

Yeah I’m a similar age and wouldn’t be too happy at that but can’t imagine this happening to me as I occasionally get ID’d in supermarkets.

I also get asked if I’m eligible for a student concessions quite a lot if I go to museums etc - although to be fair students can be all ages!

I’m amazed some people saying young people can’t tell between 45 and 65. I certainly was able to in my teen years. I do work with primary schools sometimes though and I think many years ago one very young kid did say I might be a hundred 😆

I wouldn't be offended at all. Age is difficult to judge.

It'd make me feel shit if it happened now, as I'm 34. If, say, someone asked was I over 40 however, and it meant I got a cheaper ticket, I'd probably just say yes, and use my obvious haggardness to my advantage!

I was at an eatery with family and the waitress asked if I wanted the smaller plate (for over 60s). She didn’t ask my sister, who’s older than me 😭

I think it's pretty tactless of the server to ask tbh. I'm 40 fwiw and haven't ever (that I know of) been mistaken for being 60+ or 50+ or whatever.

Usually people work out the concessions they're allowed and then ask for them rather than the server offering them to you.

I guess the server might just have been trying to be nice and giving you a cheaper ticket because they liked your face or something. I've had that with my kids where people selling us tickets have said "oh we'll pretend you're under 5" to get the cheaper tickets.

Also, if it was one of those special showings like they do at everyman where OAPs get a cheaper ticket and a free coffee and cake on Wednesday mornings or something, then it would make sense for them to ask

I went swimming with my pensioner dad last week. They charged me child entrance. I’m 43

Yes i agree, why would the business actively try to lose itself money, plus the potential for taking offense!

I used to work in a cinema years ago, I think I probably would have worded it "standard adult ticket or are you entitled to any reductions?" if I had to ask - some over 60s go back to uni so could have a student card!

53 year olds won't look too different at 60. I'd just presume the cinema worker was trying to help the customer get a cheaper ticket.

Maybe she was a mumsnet baby face, who is convinced she looks like a teen, hence the complaint. 😅

Surely “any concessions” is a politer way of asking? You might be a student

My mum always looked young for her age, but she’d get offended because it meant people thought she’d had her first child while still school age!

I get some confused looks when I talk about my eldest DS and his very responsible job as I apparently don’t look old enough to have grown up DCs. If people saw me as the Evri delivery man does most days they would not be confused about my age, but I would probably feel a bit miffed if someone thought I was that much older.

You’ve only got to look at the attention whore “what age do I look?” threads on here to see the range of guesses, some of which are clearly just being brutal for the fun of it, but guesses range over 20+ years most times from “you look about my mums age so I’m going for 54” to “you look like you use good skincare and have a flattering haircut so I’d guess you’re probably 50 but want us all to say 35”!

I am always happy to pay the cheaper senior fare if I can....I'm 57 and not bothered!!

Yeah you could be right, we may just give it a try. I hope no one gets offended that we think they’re old enough to qualify for a concession ticket though!

Am I the only one who is shocked at the number of people who would take the cheaper ticket if offered even if not over 60 (or even ask for it!)?

I don't think so! If a ticket is for over 60s then I'm pretty sure it means 60+ even if you don't think it should.

Really? I'd always point out under charging if I noticed it at the time (to be fair, I'd be unlikely to go back and point out a small under charge).

I'm 33 and I'd take the discount, idgaf if some popcorn jockey thinks I'm old. The cinema is expensive enough, I'll take what I can get. Sure pet I'm 65, why not.

This is actually what the sales assistant said once he’d heard that the customer complained. He said he won’t bother asking anymore and just give everyone an Adult ticket.

The problem with that, is that you’ll get people coming back to the tills saying, ‘you overcharged me. You didn’t tell me that there were tickets at a cheaper rate’ etc! I definitely think asking whether someone needs a concession ticket may sound better. It’s still asking whether they’re over a certain age but at least they can never say we’ve tried to rip them off!

Perhaps we all need photo ID cards🤭 Like the one I had when I was a student, and the one I will need for a (future) railcard. Or the one on passport, or the one on a driving license…….

I haven’t refused to do anything. I don’t spend all of my time on Mumsnet and as far as I’m aware, MNHQ doesn’t state that the OP must reply to every single comment within their Talk Guidelines.

Do you really think a huge company is going to provide a set criteria on ‘when to ask a customer if they’re over the age of 60.’ Obviously not as that’d be pretty damn ageist. Team members simply ask when they think it may be relevant to the person booking.

No one is saying 53 is old and no one’s saying 60 is old. He simply got it wrong but if she was over 60 and he didn’t mention the option of purchasing an over 60 ticket, I’m sure she would have complained about that too. Sometimes you can’t win and people are simply just trying to do their job

I wouldn’t worry about it to be honest. Narcissists will always give you grief if you get it wrong, while the tight wads will give you grief if you don’t ask. Welcome to customer service🤣

I worked in a public facing environment, had to deal with all sorts every day. You have to stay polite, non argumentative, take whatever rubbish comes your way calmly and professionally. Until your last hour, of your last day, and then the karma kicks in, and it sort of doesn’t matter anymore as you can now (politely of course) tell the odd screwball what you really think. It is soooo rewarding.😁🤭

A nasty and ageist comment.