Alcohol - Challenge 29 by a 17 year old!?
Discussion
A strange one this.
In Asda doing a big shop with the missus. Whilst we are putting things through the till I go back and pick up another item and put it on. By the time I come back I hear that my girlfriend has been ID'd by the girl at the till. There is some cans of cider I put in the trolley.
Although she is 23 and I thought this was a bit over-efficient I offered to show my ID as hers was in the car. The girl at the till now tells me that we *both* would need photo ID in order to get served!?
I say that this will mean us holding up the queue and my girlfriend going out into the carpark and coming back, but she persists... While this happens the girl from the other till has obviously overheard this all this and recommends calling the manager over - who soon arrives.
The situation is explained, and the manager decides to us that we cannot be served and the 'rule' is that both of us would need ID where there is a suspicion that alcohol is being bought for someone else and the buyer is with anyone who looks 21 or younger. Fair enough, I say, but surely as a manager you can now see I am a responsible 29 year old drinker, and my girlfriend at 23 may possibly be 21, but do you really think that she is 17!?
I then asked then if that is the situation, what about adults that shop with their kids, or teenage kids? Do they get rejected? What about if I take the cans and go and pay at another till separately if it is an issue with the till system asking for ID as then the queue behind us and the scene surrounding us will subside with my girlfriend trekking all the way out to the other side of the supermarket and car park?
No. No ID for *both*, no sale. OK, sod it... my girlfriend goes out to our car, gets her driving licence, shows it to the girl and waits for her to count out the years of age from the date of birth to confirm she is 23 as stated. The pressure dies down a bit, then she asks to see my ID.... I make a joke of this as I have not been ID'd for about 8 years being 29 and I told her that whilst I have a beard now, I don't have one on the photo - but hand it over anyway....
Now, here's the crux. In her trying to cover over the situation she chats to us about the rule and how difficult it is before telling us it is her 18 birthday next week...
So, I didnt say at the time, as I wanted to get my facts straight, but in all of this palava where the girl and the manager keep telling me that the reason at 29 years old I must produce ID is to stop them getting a £5000 fine, they have overlooked that a minor has served me the alcohol in the first place!?
Does anyone know the exact law on this. It is my understanding that the sale must be supervised by an adult, but is the girl on the other till who overheard this 'enough'. I wouldnt usually be bothered, if it wasnt for the irony of it after the ridiculous situation that had just occurred!
In Asda doing a big shop with the missus. Whilst we are putting things through the till I go back and pick up another item and put it on. By the time I come back I hear that my girlfriend has been ID'd by the girl at the till. There is some cans of cider I put in the trolley.
Although she is 23 and I thought this was a bit over-efficient I offered to show my ID as hers was in the car. The girl at the till now tells me that we *both* would need photo ID in order to get served!?
I say that this will mean us holding up the queue and my girlfriend going out into the carpark and coming back, but she persists... While this happens the girl from the other till has obviously overheard this all this and recommends calling the manager over - who soon arrives.
The situation is explained, and the manager decides to us that we cannot be served and the 'rule' is that both of us would need ID where there is a suspicion that alcohol is being bought for someone else and the buyer is with anyone who looks 21 or younger. Fair enough, I say, but surely as a manager you can now see I am a responsible 29 year old drinker, and my girlfriend at 23 may possibly be 21, but do you really think that she is 17!?
I then asked then if that is the situation, what about adults that shop with their kids, or teenage kids? Do they get rejected? What about if I take the cans and go and pay at another till separately if it is an issue with the till system asking for ID as then the queue behind us and the scene surrounding us will subside with my girlfriend trekking all the way out to the other side of the supermarket and car park?
No. No ID for *both*, no sale. OK, sod it... my girlfriend goes out to our car, gets her driving licence, shows it to the girl and waits for her to count out the years of age from the date of birth to confirm she is 23 as stated. The pressure dies down a bit, then she asks to see my ID.... I make a joke of this as I have not been ID'd for about 8 years being 29 and I told her that whilst I have a beard now, I don't have one on the photo - but hand it over anyway....
Now, here's the crux. In her trying to cover over the situation she chats to us about the rule and how difficult it is before telling us it is her 18 birthday next week...
So, I didnt say at the time, as I wanted to get my facts straight, but in all of this palava where the girl and the manager keep telling me that the reason at 29 years old I must produce ID is to stop them getting a £5000 fine, they have overlooked that a minor has served me the alcohol in the first place!?
Does anyone know the exact law on this. It is my understanding that the sale must be supervised by an adult, but is the girl on the other till who overheard this 'enough'. I wouldnt usually be bothered, if it wasnt for the irony of it after the ridiculous situation that had just occurred!
A minor can sell you alcohol legally - but first they have to gain permission to do so from a supervisor that is NOT a minor and the supervisor must remain with them observing whilst they complete the sale.
Whilst I don't know the wording of the law - the above is what I got from a Sainsbury's manager one day when I bothered to ask.
The business about needing to see both your IDs was a bit OTT IMO but it is NOT legal to sell to someone if they have reason to believe it's for consumption by a minor - the purchaser can be fined and, I believe, so can the retailer - this according to my local Tesco's poster warning about doing it...
Whilst I don't know the wording of the law - the above is what I got from a Sainsbury's manager one day when I bothered to ask.
The business about needing to see both your IDs was a bit OTT IMO but it is NOT legal to sell to someone if they have reason to believe it's for consumption by a minor - the purchaser can be fined and, I believe, so can the retailer - this according to my local Tesco's poster warning about doing it...
They are very cautious over s.146 of the licensing act 2003 (selling alcohol to children). Far too cautious it sounds.
A 17 year old can serve you. I believe they just need to be 'authorised' by someone over 18. I don't know the specific part of the above act that relates to this (as I will lose the will to live reading through it).
A 17 year old can serve you. I believe they just need to be 'authorised' by someone over 18. I don't know the specific part of the above act that relates to this (as I will lose the will to live reading through it).
If I buy alcohol in our little Co-Op in Portlethen, (Aberdeenshire), and the young girl serves me, (I assume she is under 17 or whatever it is), she has to get the supervisor, (middle aged person), to authorise it.
This may be a Scottish rule, not sure if it applies in England.
P.S. I would be chuffed if she asked for my I.D.
This may be a Scottish rule, not sure if it applies in England.
P.S. I would be chuffed if she asked for my I.D.
I've had this too- in Tesco about a year ago.
My Girlfriend, also 23 was asked for ID because in our weekly shopping we had 4x cans of larger.
I showed my I.D. and my girlfriend didn't have hers on her. They wouldn't serve us, saying that she might be underage and I could be buying it for her. Even though we argued the same point, ie. parent buying alcohol with they're 15/16yr old with them, you wouldnt not sell them alcohol they couldn't see our point.
We left the shopping on the conveyor belt and walked out. We now shop at Morrisons lol
My Girlfriend, also 23 was asked for ID because in our weekly shopping we had 4x cans of larger.
I showed my I.D. and my girlfriend didn't have hers on her. They wouldn't serve us, saying that she might be underage and I could be buying it for her. Even though we argued the same point, ie. parent buying alcohol with they're 15/16yr old with them, you wouldnt not sell them alcohol they couldn't see our point.
We left the shopping on the conveyor belt and walked out. We now shop at Morrisons lol
wouldnt have bothered walking back to the car and all that, would have just pushed the shopping on the floor and said, oopps, sorry, ill not bother having any of that now its on the floor, thanks all the same.
then passed a friendly hope you die soon! as you left the store to head off to buy your shopping at the next one.
then passed a friendly hope you die soon! as you left the store to head off to buy your shopping at the next one.
Saw something reasonably similar in Tesco's recently, an under-18 working the checkout and someone quite obviously over 18 (we're talking obviously over 40) taking a few bottles of wine through. Checkout girl shouts to older person on next till that they're selling alcohol, and other person without looking shouts back to check their ID. Rather sheepishly the girl asked for ID, meanwhile I thought the over-40 year old's face was about to explode it went so red, as it turned out because she didn't have ID with her and the older checkout person was too lazy to turn around and see the situation.
On the opposite side of that though, my other half's family own a shop that sells alcohol and has employed older school kids etc in the past. If one of those kids thought it would be clever to sell alcohol to one of their mates and got caught or the shop reported then the family business would get royally bu**ered.
On the opposite side of that though, my other half's family own a shop that sells alcohol and has employed older school kids etc in the past. If one of those kids thought it would be clever to sell alcohol to one of their mates and got caught or the shop reported then the family business would get royally bu**ered.
Martin_Bpool said:
I've had this too- in Tesco about a year ago.
My Girlfriend, also 23 was asked for ID because in our weekly shopping we had 4x cans of larger.
I showed my I.D. and my girlfriend didn't have hers on her. They wouldn't serve us, saying that she might be underage and I could be buying it for her. Even though we argued the same point, ie. parent buying alcohol with they're 15/16yr old with them, you wouldnt not sell them alcohol they couldn't see our point.
We left the shopping on the conveyor belt and walked out. We now shop at Morrisons lol
I thought about doing that, but we had just spent an hour getting £100 of shopping.... of course hardly the pattern of an adult accosted outside the shop to nip in and pick them up a four pack!My Girlfriend, also 23 was asked for ID because in our weekly shopping we had 4x cans of larger.
I showed my I.D. and my girlfriend didn't have hers on her. They wouldn't serve us, saying that she might be underage and I could be buying it for her. Even though we argued the same point, ie. parent buying alcohol with they're 15/16yr old with them, you wouldnt not sell them alcohol they couldn't see our point.
We left the shopping on the conveyor belt and walked out. We now shop at Morrisons lol
cj_eds said:
If one of those kids thought it would be clever to sell alcohol to one of their mates and got caught or the shop reported then the family business would get royally bu**ered.
When you get caught the THIRD time you will be fined, its not going to 
your business up that much.FiveStar said:
cj_eds said:
If one of those kids thought it would be clever to sell alcohol to one of their mates and got caught or the shop reported then the family business would get royally bu**ered.
When you get caught the THIRD time you will be fined, its not going to your business up that much.
I'll leave their 
arryb said:
I blame this new rule - now that this new "if you look under 21 then we'll ID you" has been brought it, it has meant that 23 year olds and older are being ID'd despite the fact that they're blatently older than 18 because they 'might' be under 21....
Errmm....isn't that the idea?since when has 21 been an age of legal bearing in the UK anyway? 18 to vote, buy alcohol etc so why do retailers (in league with Govt) choose 21? oh course, sorry, the americans have 21 as their legal age to drink so we piggyback on that. feck off.
i'd have left the shopping and walked....
i'd have left the shopping and walked....
I've been in a similart position in a supermarket. It's not really the fault of the checkout staff, they're just following orders. Hardly worth losing your job over if you get it wrong or ignore instructions.
When it happened to me I was 23, luckily one of the staff who knew me turned up just as I was turning nuclear (it was a friday night and I'd just got back from a 600 mile round trip and needed that Grolsch from it's swingtop bottle of goodness) and sorted it out.
When it happened to me I was 23, luckily one of the staff who knew me turned up just as I was turning nuclear (it was a friday night and I'd just got back from a 600 mile round trip and needed that Grolsch from it's swingtop bottle of goodness) and sorted it out.
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