Somerfield managers attitude

WestieFan

Well done those passengers.

It seems there are still some people in the world with a conscience.

There is hope in this world

hollydays

I would see if the barmaid who served you would be prepared to back you up and write a letter,which you could send to sommerfield h.o.Also i would make an appointment to see the Manager,and ask him why he refused to serve you.If he says it was because he could smell alcohol,thats not acceptable.If he says your eyes were glazed,you were staggerring-thats acceptable.

Bossyboots

The actual rule is that may not serve you if you appear intoxicated as opposed to if they know you have had a drink, so the barmaid did nothing wrong.

Bossyboots

hollydays wrote:

I would see if the barmaid who served you would be prepared to back you up and write a letter,which you could send to sommerfield h.o.Also i would make an appointment to see the Manager,and ask him why he refused to serve you.If he says it was because he could smell alcohol,thats not acceptable.If he says your eyes were glazed,you were staggerring-thats acceptable.

The barmaid of course would only know that the OP had drunk just two pints in her pub. He could have bought more from the off-licence between leaving there and going to the supermarket.

It is a clear cut situation here. They are allowed to refuse to serve alcohol if they choose to and if the manager smelt the alcohol and made a judgement call on that, that was entirely his decision.

He could probably have handled it better, that is the issue here. As the moment is passed, no-one else can verify the state of the OP at the time and the store will back their manager for doing what he believed was right at the time. They might want to apologise for his lack of discretion in the way he handled it which after all is down to their lack of appropriate training but it was his right to decide whether or not to serve the customer regardless of his age.

carrie483

On a similar note, My husband went to our local Spar store to get a couple of cans of beer. There was a bunch of boys hanging around outside so my hubby said hi as some of them are our neighbours kids. When he went to pay the night manager accused my husband of buying the drinks for kids. He was gobsmacked. When he got home i put in a formal complaint. They were amazing. Made the night manager apologize and told us (although it was no excuse and he was disgusted with them) the reason was because Spar had been caught serving underage people and been fined loads of money.

Sorry, i know it is off topic but my point is that if you make a formal complaint it does get taken seriously.

I wouldn't be surprised if you find this happening alot around that shop. All out locals ones are now asking ID for EVERYTHING. I got id'd for a scratch card (16) and i'm 22! And i don't think i look 16. Although i bet i'll be wishing i did in a few years :rolleyes:

hollydays

Bossyboots,disagree with your approach.I have had to approach people who have been drunk,and take them aside and tell them we could not serve them.And they do take offence and they have complained.I did in a way so as not to embarass them.Some shop Managers are just jumped-up little Hitlers and no-one deserves that treatment.The point I was making about the barmaid was quite simple,if she serves the poster regularly and knows her to be a moderate drinker and can state she wasnt staggerring etc when she left whilst thats not 100% proof (but this is not a court case!) that would indicate he wasnt drunk.If she refuses(she just might not want to be bothered) nothing has been lost.as for them having the right to refuse to serve-yes but on reasonable grounds not on a whim.As for it being his descision,it was clearly a bad descision of a poor,inexperience Manager who needs to learn some respect.To clear up another point,the law doesnt forbid you from serving someone who has been drinking,only forbids you to serve someone who is obviously drunk-i havent checked this so if i am wrong i apologise.

hjb123

hollydays wrote:

If he says it was because he could smell alcohol,thats not acceptable.If he says your eyes were glazed,you were staggerring-thats acceptable.

Why is it not acceptable if he could only smell alcohol? The OP admitted he had been drinking also. The managers have a responsibility. Personally I think the manager was within his rights.

Bristolfarmer

As a licensee the store manager can refuse anyone alcohol if they appear to be drunk. Obviously in this case he appears to have got it wrong, but I would rather managers erred on the side of caution. However he should have handled it better. And to the poster talking about buying for others, it's so hard working in shops now when adults blatantly buy for underage kids who are standing outside their shop asking for drink or fags. Again I would rather the shop was careful and refused the sale, the manager of course can handle it better but it should have been sorted in the shop, not at a head office level, where the night manager was only trying to be both legally and morally correct. That's just from an ex convienance store worker!

hollydays

Well if I had drunk a small cup of beer and stood next to you, its likely you could smell it on my breath.That doesnt make me drunk.A shop can refuse to serve anyone,thats not in question.
Bristolfarmer,i agree shops have a hard time,but if someone comes in,an adult to buy alcohol for a kid-they have committed the offence of purchasing alcohol for a minor.The store CANT get into trouble for that.Stores should be more aware of accepting crummy fake id from kids-there got that off my chest.

Bristolfarmer

hollydays wrote:

Bristolfarmer,i agree shops have a hard time,but if someone comes in,an adult to buy alcohol for a kid-they have committed the offence of purchasing alcohol for a minor. Shops can get convicted for knowingly selling alcohol to someone who is buying it for underage. The .Stores should be more aware of accepting crummy fake id from kids-there got that off my chest.

True, but then companies that sell this fake idea that looks very much like normal id shouldn't be allowed either.

I'm all in favour of samping UNDER 18 on kids heads and letting it rub off when they turn 18 - so much easier!!!! :rotfl: Of course that is a joke, I just wish kids wouldn't ask and their older m8s wouldn't buy!