I failed a test on an underage sale at work,...but it wasn't fair-play!!! (sorry, longgg)

[mysonben]

Hi,
I work as a cashier in a bid superstore.
For a few months now we have had this new "think 25" scheme running.
Basically if we feel a customer looks like they could be under 25 years old we must ask for some ID, before doing the sale, if no ID is presented we must refuse the sale.

The police does regular "out of the blues" spot check on cashiers.
They will send in an underage teenager to the store to try to buy alcohol, cigarettes or dvds,... to see if we authorise the sale and break the law or not.

I have worked for my employer for nearly 6 years, and have always followed the rules, i often make a fool out of myself by asking for ID even if they look well over the 25 limit.

Well guess what, i had about 30 mins left out of my shift when my employers decided to do an 'in-house' test on me.
So they sent this girl to my checkout with an 18 classified dvd. The only thing is the girl in question works at my store, on checkouts, and she was even still wearing her work uniform too.
So when she gave me the dvd , i simply asked her casually "you are over 18 aren't you?", she replied "oh yaeh!", i looked at her again and asked again "you're sure yeah???" , she said "of course!".
Like a fool i trusted her, because she is a fellow cashier working at my store.
I though surely she won't lie she is a colleague,...she knows the rules herself.

Well, she suddenly called a supervisor over who said to me in front of customers and other cashiers "you failed an underage test!"
They left me, gobsmacked, feeling humiliated with no explanation for a further 25 mins.
Then when i was closing down my till, i called another supervisor informed me that this failure could be taken to the manager's office and i could face losing my place on tills.
I was livid!

What a dirty, dirty trick!
I really feel that these kind of stunts will put a bad atmosphere between staff.
As i tried to explain, should they have sent someone from another store or at the very least from another department other than checkouts, and not wearing their uniform i would have refused the sale.
I fell like they have been really unfair.

Sorry , it's so long.
Anyone knows where i stand on this?

Thanks.

Hello, my partner has just failed one of these test from the police, they sent some one in the store to buy a knife and my partner always asked for ID, it seemed to her that the bloke buying the knife looked 25 so she served him and then the police came in and said that she failed the knife test and that she didn't ask him for ID. They asked her name and date of birth and address and warned her if it happens next time she'll be in court!!! She later found out that the bloke was 18!!! So in all fairness she failed nothing. These police tests are ridiculous, why send someone in that looks old enough to buy the knife then tell the person serving that someone that theyve failed their test and then threating her with court.
In your situation however that 17 year old shouldn't be on the checkouts as she has to serve alcohol and knifes and I am pretty sure that 17 year old should be 18 to serve these things, so in all fairness the company is wrong.
And to put you down in front of the customers is very unprofessional, I would join a unionand see what they can do for you or go to citizens advice.

These police tests are ridiculous, why send someone in that looks old enough to buy the knife then tell the person serving that someone that theyve failed their test and then threating her with court

The reason is obvious, the test is for borderline cases, so shops selling dangerous items like guns and blades enforce the law correctly where the legal age is 18 and someone who is underage tries to buy the item illegally.

The OPs case was at best 'morally dubious' (setting her up to fail), at worst duplicitous and deceptive towards their staff, probably to cover their arses. Effectively they have thrown the OP under a bus just to show compliance, very mean indeed.

Glad it worked out OK for you, OP.

in your situation however that 17 year old shouldn't be on the checkouts as she has to serve alcohol and knifes and I am pretty sure that 17 year old should be 18 to serve these things, so in all fairness the company is wrong

All the big supermarkets have a policy to control the sale of alcohol by a 17 year old, all they do is ring their bell for those items and an older member of staff comes to the till to carry out the transaction. Everything else they can sell unsupervised. Supermarket tills are great work experience for 17 yo's

But your bosses weren't testing the legality of selling to under 18s they were checking that you were adhering to their own "challenge 25" scheme.

You clearly didn't think that the colleague was anywhere near 25 so you should have challenged her. You didn't.

All this stuff about it being unfair and sneaky doesn't really come into play, it's irrelevant who the person being challenged is.

Urgh. Zombie thread.

why do people DO that???