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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Challenge 25 is a joke!!!

182 replies

IveStillGotIt · 08/04/2010 23:03

Ive just been to a well known supermarket with ds WHO'S NEARLY 10, and dp, had a full trolly of shopping £80! i.e food, washing powder, general household stuff, and a bottle of wine for myself and a create of lager that was on offer for dp, and the jobsworth at the till had the cheek to ask me for i.d! FFS im 28! ds is nearly 10! dp is 32! We were doing a full weeks shopping, and when she asked me, i pointed out ds and she had the cheek to say "that doesnt prove anything these days" well i totally let rip at her, common sense has obviously went out the window! She just shrugged her shoulders at me and demanded i.d, so i gave her my provisonal photo card license, and she had the cheek to hum and hay over the photo cause ive dyed my hair from dark brown to dark red! A supervisor (who i went to school with) came over and comfirmed it was ok to serve me, then she grudgenly put it through saying "if it was up to me, i dont think your old enough"!!! AIBU or should i put in a formal letter of complaint?

OP posts:
Original poster
IveStillGotIt · 09/04/2010 00:21

I would just like to point out, i was only rude to her AFTER she was rude to me, had she said "he could be your bro e.t.c" i would have had a laugh and a joke about it, but no, she made an insulting comment, looked me up and down as if i was something she trod in, and looked at my 32yo dp (and looks it!) as if he was some kind of pervert going out with an underage girl! Thats why im annoyed, not the fact she i.d'ed me, just her attitude and mannor in which she done it, and the fact she still hummed and hayed about it AFTER i showed her i.d!

OP posts:
Tinnitus · 09/04/2010 00:25

Nice try Coldits, but no one works on a 2D image to guess age, there are hundreds of little pointers and guides in real life.

coldtits · 09/04/2010 00:32

Most of which will be missed by someone ramming goods down a conveyer belet, with approximately 3 weeks experience of being a till worker and 3 months experience of being an adult.

No, she shouldn't have been rude, but being rude to shop assistants is just so lacking class.

ravenAK · 09/04/2010 00:34

It's not the poor cashier's fault - they've been told to obey the company policy.

& it's not that easy to tell 17 from 19 - I did OK on the link, but was way out a few times. & I was deliberately erring on the side of caution, exactly as a cashier would do.

So I just buy alcohol (for me & my imaginary Fagin's gang of 13 year olds - the ones I'd obviously have standing in line next to me as I illegally purchased their booze in Tesco...) online.

Where the fact that I have a valid credit card is sufficient to prove that yes, I am of an age to legally buy it.

mayorquimby · 09/04/2010 00:39

yabu and sound unbelievably rude.

penguin73 · 09/04/2010 00:46

All the arguments you put forward for not being ID'd are invalid - yes you could have a house, family and a 10 year old son (who may or may not look 10) at 24 - and have to do a family shop! The assistant was doing her job which she is legally obliged to do - she will have been told that if in doubt she should check or risk receiving a hefty fine and being sacked if she didn't and you turned out to be U25. Shop staff can be disciplined for not checking if somebody looks borderline even if it then turns out that the customer is over 25.
YABU and disrespectful of that person's legal and professional responsibility.

mummytotwins · 09/04/2010 00:53

As an ex licensee it is very hard to judge peoples ages and people will try any trick in the book to get served with alcohol. We always taught the staff members if there is any doubt ask for i.d, once you have asked for i.d, if they cant provide any they dont get served and even after they have provided i.d it is still your discretion. Frankly my job and a huge fine were not worth someone trying to get a cheeky drink and if someone was rude to me, i.d or not you wont get served, I am a person too, doing my job, trying to earn a living, that is all that checkout person was doing, so she was rude? ok thats not nice but maybe she was having a crappy day too but did you need to have a pop at her, I doubt it, I think a complaint to the manager about her attitude would have got you further. You say you worked in a supermarket yourself, then I am sure you had your fair share of rude and horrid customers, why be one of them, I am sure you had been being horrible to you when you were doing your job!!!

scaryteacher · 09/04/2010 00:57

Challenge 25 is a retailing strategy, not law, and 18 is the legal age to buy alcohol. YABU to be rude to the cashier, but YANBU to be irritated at being asked to show ID. AFAIK if you have a valid credit card, then your age is proved as you have to be 18+ to get one.

As challenge 25 is only a retail strategy, I wonder why the cashier is legally obliged to challenge anyone; and if it legal to fine them is they are wrong. This doesn't have the force of law, so why are the supermarkets trying to make it appear that it does?

ravenAK · 09/04/2010 01:00

Quite.

You wouldn't be getting a fine etc. for serving a 24 year old, so that's a red herring.

You might be falling foul of your terms of employment, though.

Agree with scaryteacher that the agenda behind this is intriguing.

GnocchiGnocchiWhosThere · 09/04/2010 01:01

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cat64 · 09/04/2010 01:11

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Tee2072 · 09/04/2010 07:30

Although you have to be 18 to get your own credit card, apparently your parents can put you on their account whenever. So having a credit card does not prove you are 18.

In any case, as others have said, 18 is the drinking age. Not 25. So the store would not get fined if the OP was under 25. Only if she was under 18.

The whole 25 thing is ridiculous.

Of course, I'm 41 and never get asked for ID.

ProfYaffle · 09/04/2010 07:41

Cat 64: "but once you get into your 30s, 40s, 50s, etc., you don't tend to think to pick up some ID before doing your weekly shop."

I think this is the key to it, the Government want us all to get used to carrying id all the time like good little citizens to soften us up for the introduction of compulsory id cards .....

Meglet · 09/04/2010 07:43

Yabu. why the hell aren't you flattered that she thought you were under 25?

I was gutted the other week when I didn't get ID-d (I'm 35) they didn't even glance to check like they would have a couple of years ago. .

StealthPolarBear · 09/04/2010 07:48

you sound immature, plus 3 years is really not that much of a difference.
She was rude saying "if it was up to me, i dont think your old enough" though - your ID is the decider whoever is asking for it!
I am 30, and was refused as recently as a couple of years ago in M&S as I didn't have ID (not happened since DD was born she has added years to me). It was frustrating and annoying but not the cashier's fault!

Tee2072 · 09/04/2010 07:52

Actually, ProfYaffle, I don't understand people who don't carry ID with them. First of all, if you're driving, you'd better have your license with you.

And if you don't drive (I don't) what if something happens to you? Get hit by a bus, for example, and there is no way to ID you?

As a non-driver Ex-Pat I always carry my Passport with me. And my marriage license, in case the revolution happens and I need to prove my visa is valid.

FioFio · 09/04/2010 07:52

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moondog · 09/04/2010 07:55

wtf is 'Challenge 25'?

And more to the point, what is it with current obsession with turning everything into a 'challenge'?

'style challenge'
'makeover challenge'
'charity challenge'

Naff naff naff.

FioFio · 09/04/2010 07:58

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moondog · 09/04/2010 07:59

You're not wrong there kiddo!

ProfYaffle · 09/04/2010 08:02

Tee - I dont' object to carrying id per se, in fact since I've read about this Challenge 25 stuff on here I carry my driving licence all the time (haven't had to use it ), it's the lack of common sense in it's application plus the feeling that there's some sort of Government 'stealth' agenda going on that irritates me.

I'd be much happier if they were honest and introduced compulsory id cards for everyone (so long as I didn't have to pay for it, but that's another thread)

cheesypopfan · 09/04/2010 08:11

I am 32 and was recently asked for id whilst doing a routine shop. I was annoyed due to the inconvenience, but certainly wasn't rude to the cashier or thought about complaining! I mean, at the end of the day, I can get a bottle of wine elsewhere or bring ID - its not that hard and I would much rather they were vigilant. (it was sligthly annoying when i then bumped into a friend ten years my junior who offered to get my wine for me - long time since I've needed to ask mymates to get me my booze!!)

Poor girl probably hates her job and can't do right for doing wrong. And surely the point of challenge 25 is that some kids do look a lot older than they are. My DS is 13 but could easily pass for 17 without even trying.

fernie3 · 09/04/2010 08:15

A year ago jusr after giving birth to my third child WH Smith refused to sell me a lottery ticket. Thats worse!

AmandaCooper · 09/04/2010 08:16

What really miffed me off was when I took a bottle of wine to the till and when the cashier rang it through it came up on the display "customer is clearly over 25". Charming!

differentnameforthis · 09/04/2010 08:18

"well i totally let rip at her"

Hope you feel good about having a go at someone who is doing their job & could lose it if they don't ask!

She has NO proof that the lad with you was your child & really, what does that prove anyway? He could have been a friends kid, or your brother!

Get a grip! There is so much more to life that being ID & if that is your only problem, well done you!