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AIBU?

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Original poster

To leave my £80 of shopping for the checkout assistant to put away

453 replies

mummytopebs · 07/06/2009 18:51

Was in supermarket doing my shopping got to the till, had £80 worth of shopping in this was 4 cans of john smiths for dh. The drink was at the end of the shopping so everything had gone through, the checkout lady asked for id (I am 29 but do look young but not that young and god its 4 cans of beer with a full shop not some chavvy drink) I said i did not have any on me but i used to work in the said supermarket so said can you call my old manager who will verify my age. She tutted at me and called the line manager who i used to work for, she said yes she is definitly over age it was 6 years when i worked there and i was definitly over 18 then. The jobsworth sorry checkout lady still looked at me distastefully and the manager said it is up to the checkout lady though cos she originally akked for the id. I said can i have it then and she looked at me and went nah !!!!!!!! I said are you joking and hse said no i dont think you are over age!!!!!! So i said well i'll leave it then and she said ok and put the beer down and said thats £80.71p and i said no i will leave the lot - grabbed my dd and flounced out of the shop with an air of triumph.

I dont care if i had been shopping for an hour, i used to work in that supermarket and know she will have to put it all away ha ha ha

OP posts:
scaryteacher · 07/06/2009 23:19

'Challenge 25 is a retailing strategy that encourages anyone who is over 18 but looks under 25 to carry acceptable ID (a card bearing the PASS hologram, a photographic driving license or a passport) if they wish to buy alcohol.'

According to the above it is not a legal requirement to carry id if one is under 25 but over 18, and is a 'retailing strategy'. Therefore as a 43 year old, I should not have to prove my age, as I am not under 18. Legally, where do the stores stand if they refuse to serve someone who won't provide id when asked as it is obvious they are over 18? It would be interesting to see this challenged in court, as surely a 'retailing strategy' can't have the force of law?

Yurtgirl · 07/06/2009 23:21

ruddynorah - is a passport the only suitable id then?
Its a good job I dont drink isnt it as I havent owned a passport in 10 years and dont intend to get one now!

ruddynorah · 07/06/2009 23:22

scaryteacher- the shop has no obligation to sell to the 43 year old AT ALL. regardless.

it isn't a legal obligation to carry ID, bit in order to be served, people over 18 but looking under 25 must carry ID. or the shop will refuse them.

it's really quite simple.

ruddynorah · 07/06/2009 23:23

3 forms of acceptable id are-

passport
photo driving licence
pass accredited id card (used to be called portman cards)

scaryteacher · 07/06/2009 23:23

Why is it good to exceed the law RuddyNorah and make people's lives more difficult? A shop does that to me once, and then I take my disposable income elsewhere.

BexieID · 07/06/2009 23:24

At the end of the day, the managers are supposed to back you up. Tesco have started to do the Think 25 thing and we get shown a scary DVD showing what will happen if you don't ask for ID and the person is underage. We also get test purchases as well. I don't want to be fined thank you very much.

We are supposed to ask for ID everytime we serve the same people, when we've ID'd them before. Even other staff. If I had been the cashier, I would have just got the manger to serve you though. I have even made the lads at work serve their pals when they've told me they are over 18 but not had ID on them.

ruddynorah · 07/06/2009 23:25

they aren't obliged to sell anything to anyone. sure, they want to make a profit so don't want you to go elsewhere. but they also need to protect themselves against fines and closure so will implement whatever system they feel necessary.

the girl could try veet

Yurtgirl · 07/06/2009 23:27

As I said its a good job I dont drink as I dont have any of those id options
I also apparently look about 25 although I am 10 years older

Tis a crazy system

scaryteacher · 07/06/2009 23:34

What if it's a lad who needs to shave? Veet isn't suitable for everyone, and surely there's a 'retail initiative' against buying that as well in case someone tries to sniff it, or light the can. The shops are shooting themselves in the foot and losing customers. The UK is turning into a Nanny state. Next it'll be you must buy 5 fruit and veg and no chocolate!

I can imaging a scenario in which one of my former students thinks they're being funny and asks me to provide id in Tesco, knowing damn well I'm over 40, and doing it for the embuggerance. What happens then? I can of course provide them with id in Flemish.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 07/06/2009 23:36

[conspiracy theorist]

Is this one way of hassling folk enough that they start to think that a national ID card would be A Good Idea?

[/conspiracy theorist]

scaryteacher · 07/06/2009 23:40

Well I did wonder that OLKN - I wonder how much the Government have bunged the supermarkets to encourage this.

ruddynorah · 07/06/2009 23:40

you'd just show them your ID scaryteacher

Yurtgirl · 07/06/2009 23:53

I am convinced a lot of this policy is to get id cards in "by the back door"

lilacclaire · 08/06/2009 00:03

This happened to me in Tesco's the other day and im 33! I ignored the checkout woman at first as I thought I must have misheard her, but she asked again and said I need to be over 25. I said that I didn't have id but I was 33. I still got served the drink, she was quite apologetic and I was over the moon. So I guess she shouldn't have served me then!!

scaryteacher · 08/06/2009 00:13

But if the id is not in English (as I live in Belgium) what would they do?

And no, I would not show them id as (in my scenario) they already know my age. I'd be more likely to call a manager and complain about harassment.

I boycott Morrisons because of this, as they asked my Mum for id to buy a bottle of Baileys once...she is 70 next year. If it was a common sense approach, one might support it, but it is entirely subjective, and I imagine makes sod all difference to the amount of underage drinking that occurs as parents will buy for their kids and let them have the booze from home. The only way to stop under 18s buying booze is to move to dedicated liquor stores, and you have to have a certificate from your local council saying you are over 18.

SparklyGothKat · 08/06/2009 00:19

I am 30 and always get quizzed for ID, I carry it with me, though the other day I was out with my mum and brought some beer for DH and didn't get asked woohoooooo!!

hmc · 08/06/2009 00:20

You scored a bit of an own goal - you spent all that time traipsing around a supermarket and then abandoned your weekly shop at the checkout. If it was me (lets face it, it wouldn't happen to me - I'm well past 18!)I would have asked to speak to the Duty Manager (who presumably wasn't the same person as your ex line manager - the latter showed a stunning lack of managerial competence)

Nahui · 08/06/2009 00:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Nahui · 08/06/2009 00:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

nappyaddict · 08/06/2009 01:13

My friend got a £2000 fine for serving someone under age. They were undercover people sent in by the police.

Once you have asked for ID you can't go back on it. If they don't have any you can't serve them. That's the law. YABU. Why would she risk losing her job and a massive fine she probably can't afford to pay?

scaryteacher · 08/06/2009 01:23

Fine, protect the stores and the staff, but don't be surprised if consumers exercise their rights to shop elsewhere; your employers profits fall and redundancies happen.

I have no objection to those who look borderline 18 being asked for ID, but I think the extension to asking those who are 25 is risible, and asking those of us who are evidently well over 18, frankly ridiculous; as it does nothing to garner the support of the consumer for this initiative, and as has been clearly demonstrated by this thread, it pisses people off. Irritated people will not spend their money in certain stores. As I said earlier, if I am pissed off by the attitude in a shop, I will not shop there again, which is their loss as I spend quite a lot.

nappyaddict · 08/06/2009 01:38

And also managers might lie. I know someone who runs a nightclub. She used to let me in despite knowing I was underage. Technically even though she'd let me in the bar staff could refuse to serve me if they didn't think i was old enough and asked for id and i didn't have any. In court them saying, oh well everyone gets IDed on the door so I didn't ask wouldn't stand up.

The doormen are responsible for IDing anyone they think looks underage but if they let anyone in that is underage I don't think they'd actually get in trouble with the police cos they aren't the ones serving the alcohol. They could let someone in who they think looks old enough but isn't. The bar person could then think hmmm I don't think they're old enough so fairly asks for ID. I've seen loads of people go mad saying I've already been IDed on the door why do you need to ID me again. Well the bar man doesn't know if you got IDed or not does he!

A manager might have said to somebody they know who is underage oh if you want to buy alcohol just tell the checkout assistant to call me over. Fair enough if the manager wants to take the risk but they shouldn't make their staff take the risk. If the manager was happy for you to have it she should have served you herself.

Tortington · 08/06/2009 02:32

i am sure a lot of this was in her mannerisms, tone of voice, glint in the eye, body language etc - that is hard to describe.

there are ways and ways of doing things.

if - as has been said - that the law is indeed akin to the ghurkas unsheathed sword - one those words have been spoken - one has to produce ID then the law is an ass.

i do not understand why, she called the manager - if the manager had no authority in the situation.

Tortington · 08/06/2009 02:33

"im sorry you do appreciate the pickle i am in" would have engendered more support than "nah"

scaryteacher · 08/06/2009 07:25

I am still unsure that this actually the law as opposed to a code of conduct that the retailers choose to follow.

It is the law not to sell to u18s; but I'd love to see the actual legislation that states it is illegal not to show ID to a checkout operator; and that it is illegal (as per the statute book)then to sell you alcohol if you don't have ID on you.