Was I wrong to refuse sale at work urgent advice needed

[LemonBlueberryX]

So this morning at work (I work in retail - but not a supermarket, think along the lines of b&m), someone came in and tried to buy an item. I was working on the till. When they came to the till I felt frozen on what to do as I didn’t feel comfortable selling this item in these circumstances (based on a stereotype of what this person looked like). I asked for ID (it’s a look25 item) hoping they wouldn’t have it so I could refuse sale but they did. After that I felt I had to make a choice and so I refused sale. Because of things that have happened in my area recently I felt that by allowing this sale I would be personally contributing to bad things.

They kicked off and asked for the manager who came over and asked me why I refused the sale and I just froze and couldn’t answer. Manager took over the till and served the person. The rest of my shift went on as normal but Managers just whatsapped me an hour ago asking me to come in at 10 tomorrow for a chat. I don’t work saturdays so not usually in. What do I say?

I dont really want this getting back to my manager so have tried to be vague about said item

Sounds like you made a decision above your pay grade. If you were unsure if it should be sold, you should have asked for a manger.

It's all in the thread. Knife to am 18 year old white man

I would feel uncomfortable in that situation too, however you can't refuse to sell something because you presume the person is going to misuse it.

I would leave a job immediately where my manager didn’t have my back. It doesn’t matter whether your judgment as right or not, your manager should always back you up when it comes to refusing sales. What happened just shows how little they think of you.

Yes, yes you absolutely can.

All of them are. If you’re deciding something based on a protected characteristic it’s discriminatory. That’s the literal point.

That's totally wrong, a shop cont be forced to sell anything. Look up invitation to treat.

I thought you said at the beginning it was an ru25 item and needed I’d but now you are saying it’s an 18 item?

Sounds like age discrimination unless you explain your reasons for why you think this person specifically was going to misuse the knife.

Are you sure you're in the right job?

Ignore this sorry
just seen your response

All you need if it’s a cutting knife?

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers/sale-of-knives-voluntary-agreement-by-retailers

this may be helpful as mentions the training you should receive and which stores have signed up.

Ikea won’t sell knives to under 21s

-just saying

Was he behaving in a way that made you suspicious? Seem agitated, angry, etc..?

I know that in one group of supermarkets if the cashier refuses a sale the manager is duty bound to back up the cashier and ask for the reason for the refusal later. Your manager didn't have your back at all.

I've bought just one knife before. The fact that he asked for the manager, makes me think he was genuine and not into gang activity.

The difference would seem to appear to be the shops policy is different to the OP's personal policy.

But OP doesn't work for IKEA- who i imagine have a robust age policy in place to refuse sale to under 21yr olds.

Morally you did what you thought was the most responsible thing to do at the time. YANBU. Your workplace however may disagree that it was the right choice, it depends on their policy, they are not BU either. When I worked in a shop that sold things like glue, knives, other things that could be misused, we were allowed to use our own judgement and refuse sale at our discretion if we felt that it wasn’t being purchased for its intended use. The managers were very agreeable that they didn’t want to be liable for selling a weapon or drugs. But that was over 20 years ago so shop policies may differ now. To add, I think you had to be 21 to purchase anyway in those days/in that shop.

Of course the customer was angry. He did what you asked by producing ID and you still refused the sale. You are at work in a customer-facing role, to represent your employer, not yourself and your hypotheses, however we'll intentioned. A parallel would be refusing to sell condoms to a male customer because you thought he might be a rapist. He might, but you can't take responsibility for his law-breaking behaviour.

You're getting a hard time here OP when I'm sure there would be another thread in similar circumstances if something had happened with people outraged saying "who sells one knife to an 18yr old in an area with high knife crime it should be banned etc etc "

Can totally see why you felt uncomfortable and think be honest with manager in chat and ask for clear company guidance on it

You were blatantly discriminatory and I should imagine you’re in for a bolocking from your manager.
When you’re at work you need to act in a professional manner and not act on prejudice.

I think you're getting a hard time here, OP. Whether you were right or wrong I can totally see why you froze.

Good luck with tomorrow

I think as a retail worker on what's presumably not a very high wage, it's already asking quite a lot to expect you to police who is or is not legally allowed to buy knives or other objects potentially open to abuse. To discpline you for hesitating when someone technically met the criteria but for whatever reason aroused your suspicions would be wholly unreasonable imo.

I don't know what the legalities are but I'm pretty sure the customer is never "entitled" to be allowed to purchase. There have been numerous threads here about MNers being refused alcohol because they're accompanied by kids, for instance, and however uppity they get about their wine o'clock needs they ultimately just have to suck it up. If your manager reckons he can make better decisions about this than you, then either he needs to come to the till every time you have concerns or you need more/better training.

I would just reiterate that you felt concerned. (And fwiw I would share your concerns.)

It’s a very odd purchase being the only item so I would say that you were not sure because of this and what would be the policy in this particular case. Also you couldn’t say anything in front of the customer because you were worried about his reaction. Considering this you would appreciate some training or explaining policies at least.