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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:
coldtits · 09/04/2010 11:06

it's absolutely nothing to do with being fluffy headed. If you're annoyed about it, do something proactive. tearing strips off a shop assistant will only make you feel better, which in itself is appalling.

angelbabe1982 · 09/04/2010 11:20

Hi all! I work in a supermarket on the checkouts, so let me give you the facts in one post:
1, Check 25 is a scheme promoted by the government, trading standards and the alcohol industry to help minimise underage sales and drinking.
2, Police carry out numerous 'sting' operations to catch people out - if staff serve an underager we lose our job, get £1000 fine and a criminal record - not something most people can afford to do. the shop gets £5000 fine and loses their licence.
3, Can you lot who are criticising (sp) this policy guess someones age and be right?
4, Check 25 provides a guideline age for us to look for - if we think someone looks under 25 we ask for id, no id no sale.
I have had crates of beer, bottles of wine etc thrown at me and been verbally abused because people haven't had id - you think i would put up with this for a power trip? Also, if you get arsey with the poor person trying to do their job, you may be -told- asked to leave the store, be banned from all those particular stores and, depending on wgat you have said or done, be charged with (I think) breach of the peace and intimidation!
If you think the shops are being unreasonable, why don't you try serving often nasty members of the public?
whew rant over

Casmama · 09/04/2010 11:22

Good post angelbabe.

venusonarockbun · 09/04/2010 11:31

Agree angebabe. I too am faced with daily abuse, aggression and being called a 'jobsworth' by customers simply for doing my job. I often dont agree with what I have to do but its my job and I dont make the rules.

FioFio · 09/04/2010 11:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Remotew · 09/04/2010 12:10

It's not fair on shop assistants, I agree. This government should come clean and make it compulsory for every citizen to carry ID but they know there would be an uproar, laws would have to be changed/challenged etc. Then everyone who buys age related products should be told to flash their ID, whether 18 or 80.

We were never asked for ID when we were teens. We got asked our age and lied, of course. However at 16 we were sat in a bar with half a cider and black rather than pouring vodka down our throats in the park.

Underagers can get hold of alcohol anyway in fact it's worse now, more drugs etc, but that's a different subject. So it's all a nonsense.

StealthPolarBear · 09/04/2010 13:11

tummytime - you are joking?? think she wins
I can't believe people can get so offended by this!

OrmRenewed · 09/04/2010 13:13

I don't get challenged.

Ever.

Not any more.

purits · 09/04/2010 14:46

angelbabe: it may have been cathartic to have your rant but you didn't address the problem.

"3, Can you lot who are criticising (sp) this policy guess someones age and be right?"

Yes, I am capable of telling the difference between an 18 year old and a thirty year old. I can understand IDing someone in their early twenties but not late-twenties or thirties - that is just the cashier being stupid.
The law says that alcohol can only be served to 18+ years. Challenge 25 adds seven years on, to be on the safe side. Cashiers are now adding another five on top of that, to be on the safe side. It's all about shops/cashiers covering their backsides and not caring about customer service, so are you surprised that customers are narked about it?

angelbabe1982 · 09/04/2010 15:35

purits - we have to make an on the spot decision about this and sometimes under pressure ie if the shop is busy.
I have been working with age restricted products since i was 18 (am now 28), so have 10 years experience trying to guess peoples age. Women especially are difficult to judge age. Why should I (and other shop workers) be abused just for doing our jobs? Is it ok the shout and have a temper tantrum because someone thinks you are younger than you are?
purits - i suggest you try working serving alcohol and I hope you don't get caught selling to underagers - lose your job, lose £1000, get a crimianal record! Why are you angry we cover our backsides? Wouldn't you with that risk?
Why can't people accept this policy and just have id when they shop?
abouteve has the right idea - if people want to buy age restricted products, they should have to produce id regardless of age - take the onus off the people who REGULARLY get abuse because of this!!!

Saltire · 09/04/2010 15:50

I have said this before - all this is a ploy by the Government to bring ID cards by stealth. I don't own a driving licence or a passport.
So do I just not buy alcohol - which legally, because I am 39, I can buy - according to the law.

My mum is 64 and has neither driving licence or Passport. She looks 64, yet was refused a bottle of wine recently because she had neither passport or driving licence.

purits · 09/04/2010 15:52

"Why should I (and other shop workers) be abused just for doing our jobs?"

Because you are not doing your jobs, that's why! Can you justify tummytime's mum being ID'd at age 64? Was the cashier was 'just doing their job' or were they being an unthinking jobsworth? There are too many examples of cashiers being OTT with regard to this, they have lost public sympathy.

purits · 09/04/2010 15:53

There you go. Another example of an OAP being ID'd. That's why people are cross angelbabe.

purits · 09/04/2010 15:57

We should all start a protest at this.

Next time someone is asked for ID, take aaagggeeesss getting it out of your handbag. If we slow down the tills then the supermarkets might start taking notice (and the cashiers: don't they get reprimands for being slow on the tills?).

Saltire · 09/04/2010 16:07

But I can't do that because I don't have ID. Because it's not a legal requirement to carry ID in this country.

wickedwitchofwaterloo · 09/04/2010 16:12

I have to agree with the majority here, you acted like a bit of a child tbh.

I'm the same age as you and clearly look about 12 apparently so no matter what, I always have my ID in my hand before they can even ask me for it.

Just take the compliment next time and for the love of God don't write a letter of complaint. The poor girl was only doing her job... and, she was quite right, a 10 year old son proves nothing as he may not have even been your son OR you could have had him at 13/14, thus making you UNDER 25

purits · 09/04/2010 16:12

Ah but you can spend 10 minutes searching all your pockets, emptying the contents of your handbag on the conveyor belt, phoning your husband to ask him where you left your Library Ticket.

purits · 09/04/2010 16:14

Oh isn't a Library Ticket valid ID?
I'm sure I must have something.

Saltire · 09/04/2010 16:15

Forces ID cards - which have picture and date of birth, and are issued by a Government department (MOD) aren't "legal" ID either for showing proof of age

manchestermummy · 09/04/2010 16:23

I'm 31 and was asked how old I was the other day while buying beer for DH. I'm suffering with morning sickness, had had a full day of a tantruming 2yo and looked and felt like death. This cashier is my new friend...

To the OP - YABU. Don't ever "let rip" at a checkout operator: save it for a manager.

purits · 09/04/2010 16:35

No, no. Everybody follow my plan. Don't let rip at anybody, just waste their time. Time is money.

They don't really care about under-age alcohol, they only care about the fines that they might incur. If we start hitting back with timewasting (i.e. costing them money) then they might reconsider how they are implementing this rule. No-one here is objecting to the law, they objecting to how supermarkets are implementing Challenge 37 25.

GinSlinger · 09/04/2010 16:43

whilst I can see that you felt annoyed by it I really don't see the point of reacting in the way that you did - you had the ID with you and it only creates unnecessary bad feeling for you and the cashier. If you hadn't had any ID with you then that's a different matter - but I agree with everyone else who says that the matter should be raised with a manager/supervisor.

{GinSlinger retires to ponder when she became so pompous}

scaryteacher · 09/04/2010 17:34

'Check 25 is a scheme promoted by the government, trading standards and the alcohol industry to help minimise underage sales and drinking.'

So, if it is a POLICY, it is not LAW and therefore we don't have to abide by it, and don't have to carry ID. A policy does not have the force of law, so actually the stores are being silly going along with this. They are doing the Govts work for them.

ilove · 09/04/2010 17:50

If you're in the Leeds area and were shopping at Sainsburys, it was probably me that ID'd you. And I don't care HOW pissed off you get, if you look borderline, no id = no sale. And if you're the twat who screamed at me and ranted and raved because I wouldn'tsell you Resident Evil for your 9-year-old son, after I had refused to sell it to him directly, quite frankly, grow up, get a life and fuck off away from my till.

Saltire · 09/04/2010 17:54

Scary - of course they are, because the Government want us to carry ID, and this is an easy way to do it

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