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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think asking for proof of age if you look under 25 is a bit much?

71 replies

skybright · 26/08/2009 09:05

I was asked for photo identification when buying cig's yesterday. It might have been a little funny if i had any apparently acceptable ID with me but i had ...NHS photo card,a credit card and a switch card ...all this was not enough!.

So at the age of 31 i was refused cigarettes..what do people under 25 do now? Carry ID all the time.

Surely an age gap of 7 years is a little extreme.

BTW i think she thought i looked about 24 which is six years over the age limit anyway .

OP posts:

skyblu · 26/08/2009 11:35

Yes it was - you had to be 16 for cigarettes then. I was 23.

dawntigga · 26/08/2009 11:38

Both myself and dp were asked for proof of age in a pub on my 40th birthday, I managed to keep my sense of humour and the landlady had a quiet 'word' with the server.

Doesn'tQuiteLook40ButDefinatelyLooksOver18Tiggaxx

sweetnitanitro · 26/08/2009 11:44

YAB a bit U. If a cashier sells booze to someone underage then they personally get fined. I know if I worked in a supermarket or pub I'd be bloody careful who I sold booze or cigarettes to. It's not that much hassle or money to get one of those proof of age cards, I used to have one before I learned to drive.

mayorquimby · 26/08/2009 11:56

when i used to work in an offie i used to misjudge this horribly a lot of the time. especially with japaneese people they seem to stay young looking into their 30's (if that's not too bnp'ish sounding) because i was just crap at telling peoples age on sight alone. i once asked for id off a guy who i thought looked about 16/17, turns out he was 28.
sometimes it's hard to judge and often times i found myself asking for i'd and then immediately realising by the persons reaction to being asked that they were clearly of age. but if a manager was standing near by and heard me ask for id, at that stage i'd committed to having been weary of their age so would have to refuse them if they didn't have valid id.

rimmer08 · 26/08/2009 12:25

its actually 18 for buying fags now

Pikelit · 26/08/2009 12:50

ds2 is a publican. He gets particular pleasure in being asked for photo ID when buying alcohol.

Trikken · 26/08/2009 12:53

yes, I know its 18 for fags now, I was just wondering if it was before it went up as skyblu said she didnt look 15 at the time so was making sure i understood correctly. lol

Thunderduck · 26/08/2009 12:57

I'd be delighted if anyone asked me to provide proof of my age. I have never been asked to do so, not even as a teen.

Thunderduck · 26/08/2009 12:59

Though to be fair I don't drink alcohol or smoke or do anything really that requires me to provide proof of age, but it'd be nice to be asked on the rare occasions when I buy wine to cook with or as a gift.

ErikaMaye · 26/08/2009 14:19

My 33 year old DP got asked for ID when buying a bottle of wine the other week - he was over the moon!

But yeah it is frustrating...

sherby · 26/08/2009 14:24

I am asked for ID everyweek by the SAME PERSON in the SAME SHOP. He has now seen my ID about 50 times and he still asks for it every bloody week.

That is taking things way beyond a joke.

skyblu · 26/08/2009 14:36

Sherby that's funny Sorry!!

I know it's probably not funny for you and incredibly frustrating but really, what a twonk he is!
Next time, take in your whole family album as he obviously likes looking at pictures of you that much!

Thunderduck · 26/08/2009 14:38

Sherby where do you shop? I want to go there.

sheepgomeep · 26/08/2009 15:39

I work in asda and we do have the under 25 policy.

That guideline is there to protect the shop assistant too, its not you that will get arrested on the spot, marched off the shop floor, suspended, a hefty fine and the strong possibility that you will lose your job at the end of it..

I id someone who looked about 24 last week. They wanted to buy an 18 rated dvd and I challenged her age. It turned out that she was 17. can you imagine if she would have been working under cover.. I could have lost my job

Carry id if it offends you. I'm not risking my job over snobby attitudes.

Original poster

skybright · 26/08/2009 16:03

sheepgomeep... Do you think my attitude was snobby?

I understand the policy it's just that i did have photo ID that proved that i could not possibly be under eighteen so it was very frustrating.

OP posts:

sherby · 26/08/2009 20:11

I did ask him why he repeatedly asked for my id and was told that if a licensing person was in the queue behind me and didn't see him ask for it he would be in trouble

EmNotPGYet · 26/08/2009 20:31

Since the Think 25 policy came in I get IDed every time I buy alcohol in a supermarket, though not in pubs, for some reason (I'm 28, 29 on Saturday).

The other day was the weirdest. I was in Sainsbury's and I bought a pack of extra strog mints, some washing powder and some indigestio tablets. I got asked for ID I fumbled in my purse and handed over my driving licence, but with hindsight I really wish I had asked just why I would need ID to buy indigestion tablets. Absolutely bizarre!

mumeeee · 26/08/2009 23:47

Teladi DD2 18 has a Citizencard while most supermarkets will take this card, andalso some bars will except it. she has found that most bars and nightclubs won't acceot it so she now has to carry her passport around when she is going out for the night with her friends.

ravenAK · 27/08/2009 00:10

ID cards by stealth. Simple as.

There are lots of very valid reasons for the citizens of a country to object to being forced to carry ID cards. Much easier for the government if we're softened up first with a couple of years of tiresome ID'ing over routine purchases.

I've a background in the licence trade, & no problem with ID'ing suspected under 18s. Although, to be fair, it's extremely easy to obtain fake Citizencards on t'internet...

Tbh, if we give it the benefit of the doubt for even a minute, & give some sort of credence to the notion that this policy exists to protect teenagers from themselves: well, it's not '30-somethings who might just possibly be artificially aged 17 year olds' who are the problem. It's not even genuine 17 year olds having the odd can who are the problem. It's 12 year olds & up who are getting other adults, including parents, to buy for them, & this policy does nothing to address that.

I've not been ID'd in a supermarket - I'm 38. The day I do, Laithwaites will be getting the business, & Sainsbury's won't.

sheepgomeep · 27/08/2009 13:04

We have to follow till prompts so re the indigestion tablets, well I think they are regarded as medication and are lumped in with pain relief tablets etc.

sorry if I sounded a bit short but I face abuse (and some of nasty, telling me to fuck off etc) nearly day. I am doing my job, shop assistants are treated like scum anyway by pleasant people and the id thing makes it a lot harder.

But it's a job and as there is precious little else in my town I'm stuck there.

But please next time you lot get id just think of the poor shop assistant who ask you. It's just as embarrassing for them as it is for you. We could potentially lose our jobs our jobs if we don't get it right.

sheepgomeep · 27/08/2009 13:05

sorry for the typos.. dd2 distracting me

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