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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to expect a shop assistant to have more common sense than this...

36 replies

jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:15

I was in a local shop today buying a few bits, amoungst those a lucky dip for tonights lottery (you never know i might be the one!! though doubt it and feel probably a pound wasted!) anyway as we went to pay ben (who is 3 yrs old!) was holding my bank card ready to give the lady - it goes into the card machine anyway and the card is in my name, its me who was going to put the pin number in so therefore me buying it, surely only like someone holding my bag up til the point i get my purse out to pay but the woman refused to sell me a lucky dip as ben was holding my card, he wouldnt hand it to me as he knows he gives it to the lady when its time to pay so i told him to give it to her, but she wouldnt take it as wasnt ready for it!!!! am i being unreasonable in thinking this was all a little over the top, if ben was 15 i can see the issue that maybe i was buying it for him, or that it was his card or something but ffs he is 3 and just holding my card before i needed to put pin in etc. The whole fuss made it a joke and a queue formed as it took a good few minutes as her first response to me asking for the lucky dip was sorry i cant sell you that, i was like.. why??? (i am clearly old enough so never thought of this as a possibility!) then she said as he was holding card etc etc so all in all took about 5 minutes before we left the shop from me asking for the lucky dip as even me holding the card with ben was not good enough!!!!! It wound me up a little am i getting annoyed about nothing or was this just a pathetic assistant who took the rules far too literally, i mean me and ben sharing holding the card is surely ok?????

OP posts:
DoThisDoThat · 01/04/2009 13:19

Are you saying she refused to sell you the lucky dip card as Ben was holding your card and therefore an underage person was paying for the lucky dip? If so, she's a stupid cow.

Stretch · 01/04/2009 13:19
Hmm
HecAteTheEasterBunny · 01/04/2009 13:21

no, she was taking the rules about not selling to underage kids and applying them without thinking. An ounce of common sense would have seen her right. OTOH, you don't know whether the boss is a bastard who could actually bollock her for that, stupid as it is!

Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:21

yeah even though i pointed out i was actually paying for it as it was me who was entering the pin number and my card!! absolutely rubbish, she said she couldnt print it out as didnt know who the card belonged to?!?! how many 3 year olds have a bank card?! grrrrr silly i know but it just annoyed me!!

OP posts:
girlylala0807 · 01/04/2009 13:21

Ah...

You cant pay for lottery using cards...

Your fibbing!!!

coolkat · 01/04/2009 13:22

My DH had this, my DD likes to pass the tickets and money. He couldn't believe it either ...

Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:22

yeah even though i pointed out i was actually paying for it as it was me who was entering the pin number and my card!! absolutely rubbish, she said she couldnt print it out as didnt know who the card belonged to?!?! how many 3 year olds have a bank card?! grrrrr silly i know but it just annoyed me!!

OP posts:
Nabster · 01/04/2009 13:22

I asked my 3 year old to choose some numbers (not allowed) and then to give the lady the £1 (not allowed) I was surprised but accepted it. Under 16s are not allowed to buy lottery stuff. I think the shop worker was right to refuse but she could have explained why better.

overweightnoverdrawn · 01/04/2009 13:23

check the date

Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:23

you can in my shop with other things Girlylala0807 though i think not on its own, madness, you can in tesco too here so maybe rules have changed?

OP posts:
Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:24

it was after midday and she was being deadly serious overweightnoverdrawn!

OP posts:
mayorquimby · 01/04/2009 13:24

i would have sold it to you but i can see why she wouldn't.
i used to work in n off-licence so know how strict the guidelines are about selling age restricted items. all it would take is one over-zealous good samaritan and the shop assistant could be in trouble.
why didn't you just take the card fully from your son and hand it over yourself?
if you think she was lacking in common sense then you are equally as deficient in that department as you could have solved the problem in 2 seconds flat by handing over he card yourself .

HecAteTheEasterBunny · 01/04/2009 13:24

you can pay for lotto with debit cards, just not credit cards, i think. I'm sure you can.

Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:25

i can even understand if it was cash but it was on my card and the card is in my name with me entering pin number, he was merely holding it prior to paying!

OP posts:
Gorionine · 01/04/2009 13:26

Could she not see it was your name and not his on the card?

We had that at woolworth once. DD1 (10yo) had a couple of ponds pocket momey to spend. At the cashier she gave her money to the lady who said she could not accept money from a child despite me and DH being there and saying it was ok. Dh had to pay for her I still do not understand the reason behind it. I sent the DCs to the local shop when I need something in emergency and it never has been a problem . Some shops seem to have their own policies.

Gorionine · 01/04/2009 13:26

x posted

KingCanuteIAm · 01/04/2009 13:26

She was right, technically. I have had a similar reaction in the dim and distant past. I just told her to make it a seperate transaction so my dc could "pay" and then i wuld have the card to pay for th lottery ticket. I had to buy something else as well though as you can only pay on a card if you are also buying other things.

You are right, common sense should dictate these things but sometimes the Law has to be followed at all costs (especially if the "cost" was this womans job)

girlylala0807 · 01/04/2009 13:27

Ah maybe im wrong then..

I used to work in a shop an twas not allowed

Gorionine · 01/04/2009 13:28

BTW DD was buying hair clips, not lottery tickets so it had no logic at all!

Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:28

well it was a debit card so maybe thats why i paid on card, i did and have before but never use a credit card so that makes sense!! It was taking more than 2 seconds to get card off him, he was holding it til he needed to give it to lady surely that was acceptable and me taking it off him is not an issue, i did it in the end but it was not easy i canm assure you, he is autistic and lives by his routines so went into a full meltdown as couldnt hand the card over, we have done this every other time i have been anywhere including buying lottery tickets im pretty sure even from that woman herself, taking the card off him was a little unnecessary and proved to cause more problems than it solved for us, why she couldnt take it off him then print the ticket i do not know!!

OP posts:
Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:30

hair clips - thats madness how dare you let a child of 10 buy hairclips with her own money!!!!!

OP posts:
kiddiz · 01/04/2009 13:31

You can pay for lottery tickets with a credit card too. I do so every month in my local supermarket.

Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:34

oh kiddiz dont tell me that ill be buying them more to try and clear the debts and pay for my wedding and end up in more debt!!

OP posts:
Original poster
jennybensmummy · 01/04/2009 13:36

do you think this will be a more lucky ticket now?!?!?!? if i win jackpot ill not be back to tel you all though, ill be sunning it somewhere!!

OP posts:
Nabster · 01/04/2009 13:42

Hair clips could be used to cause harm....