strange Tesco experience

Helix

lufcgirl wrote: »

I can understand if you look under 21 to be ID'd, it's a fine line between 18-21 but 25 is ridiculous. And I thought 21 is government guidelines anyway.

No the government is behind the move to Think 25. They have recommended that shops + pubs/clubs switch to it, they won't force them though.

oldone_2

I think the problem is two fold. What we are seeing is a knee-jerk reaction by the Government to accusations that they are encouraging binge drinking youngsters by increasing licensing hours. Rather than control the sale of alcohol by allowing only off-licenses to sell the stuff, they are putting the onus on supermarkets to sort the problem out.

This has led to supermarkets placing the main resposibilty of enforcement on to till operators with threats of loss of job,fines and prison.

We now have buck passing from the government to the supermarkets to the the till staff.

The answer is simple.Tightly control alcohol sales as happens in Sweden/Denmark.
This will never happen as supermarkets will never willingly give up the huge profits they make, and the govenment will never do anything because of the political clout supermarkets have.

Absinthe_Fairy

Looks like the BBC has picked up on the story (though it's Asda not Tesco in this one) -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/8169564.stm

woohoo5210

lufcgirl wrote: »

This rule is crazy...still, even two months on from my incident in Tesco I still refuse to go back on principle. I started a thread about it too when it happened.

I'm 25, and I look about 21 (lucky me!). I can walk in a bar/pub and get served with shots of absinthe (not that I do drink it) no problem without ID, yet if I walk into Tesco I can't even get a bottle of wine for dinner without ID. If they are that hellbent on enforcing this, why not change the legal age of drinking to 25?!

I don't agree with you at all on the above point. If the cashier doesn't think your of age to buy alcohol then you get ID'd. If you don't have ID then no sale, why not just bring ID with you? Whether you can get served in a pub is neither here nor there, the rules of the shops are if you look under 25. For the sake of handing over ID which takes about 30secs I really don't see why you can be annoyed. People getting refused with their children is ridiculous, but I still don't see why you don't just take ID with you. If you live in Scotland come September I think EVERYWHERE including pubs are going to be suddenly a whole lot more careful about selling alcohol.

You'll find it tough getting served elsewhere as all major supermarkets are Think 25, and in fact Tesco was the last to adopt this.

KaosLisa_2

I'm so glad Im not the only one who had this problem. I'm 22 but I look very young (ive been told around 16!) so I carry my ID everywhere with me and half the time I have it ready to go before I even get to the checkout because I know I'm going to be asked. I've had a few problems though with Tesco.

Once I was buying a few cans of cider with my ex boyfriend and they asked me for ID as always and then asked him even though he clearly looked years older than me (He's 24 but looks alot older) and the fact I had proved I was 22 I felt it was completely stupid that they asked him.

I've also been buying alcohol on my own, been asked for ID and again had it ready as it happens all the time and the woman on the checkout has said the person on the picture isnt me!! Now I know my driving license picture is now 5-6 years old, but there's clearly no doubt in it its me! She eventually asked the woman on the till behind her who agreed it was me but I felt completely embarassed by the whole situation just because someone has no common sense!

I know theres rules and policies the checkout staff have to follow, I too have been checkout staff but I feel sometimes its just way over the top and sometimes just a little bit of common sense needs to be used.

muffintop

fergies_army wrote: »

Trading standards use this excact scenario to catch the stores out, TS officer attends till with underage volunteer. Purchases an age restricted item then hands it to the kid then walk out seperatly to see if challenged etc etc.

No they don't.

My brother is a trading standards officer and as I've been asked for ID three times in as many months (Tesco, M&S and Sainsbury) and I'm 32 and look it, I was discussing this with him.

TS send in 15 year old children to buy alcohol and monitor it from a distance. If the sale goes through, then the officer swoops. They used to use 13 year olds to buy ciggies from machines in pubs too, but I think one has to be over 18 to buy ciggies now so they may have gone up to using 15 / 16 year olds.

Just for the record, Trading Standards policy is "Think 21." If the person looks under 21 or under, ID should be requested. The supermarkets have taken this to "Think 25" apparently.

I'm all for checking ID but I think it's wholly ridiculous to be refusing to sell alcohol if one is with someone younger than 18.

muffintop

mwilletts wrote: »

.

take a look here: http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/en/ukpgaen_20000030_en_1

heres the relevant section:


Proxy purchase
5. Prior to the Act, the law did not prohibit an adult buying alcohol on behalf of a child in off-licensed premises. This has been referred to as "proxy purchase". The Act creates a new offence of buying or attempting to buy alcohol on behalf of a child in any licensed premises. A similar offence has existed in Scotland since 1976. A defence is available if the adult had no reason to suspect that the child was under 18. A parent who bought alcohol and subsequently gave it to his child would not commit an offence. The offence covers those who act as the agents of children in contracting sales. A parent contracts the sale in his or her own right, and is not acting as the child's agent or go-between to effect the child's own purchase.

And if this is how you are being trained, no wonder there is so much confusion when anyone tries to purchase alcohol...

If this is right, it's an extremely poorly drafted statute - no doubt as a knee-jerk reaction to the problem of underage drinking. Surely this is meant to stop the situation I often encountered as a student when roving gangs of kids would approach me outside an off-licence as I was going in and ask if I could buy them a can of cider. I always refused. There were plenty of people I saw who didn't.

The statute makes no sense - either an adult can buy alcohol, take it home and allow children to drink it at home, or they can't. It shouldn't matter whether or not the adult is a parent.

I cannot believe there would ever be a successful prosecution under this legislation. You'll let me know if there is!

frugallass

I'm 40 and have been asked for ID on 2 occasions in Asda - the first time I was flattered and the second time I was a bit peeved off.

Occasion 1 - was with daughter and boyfriend, huge weekly shop loaded on the conveyor belt, including 1 x 4 pack of Boddingtons for hubby

operator - "I need to ask for ID"
me - "I'm buying, not them"
operator - "I still need to ask for ID"

Occasion 2 - same as above but purchasing 1 x bottle of white wine

operator - "have you got ID please"
me - "I'm buying, not them"
operator - "you could be buying it for them"
me - "but I'm not, it's for me"
operator - "I still need to see ID"
me - "how does that prove who I am buying it for"
operator - "I can't sell the wine to you unless you show me ID"
me - "ok, no problem"

It's ridiculous - I've been told I look young but I deffo don't look under 25 so I don't understand why they need my ID

thepearce

Absinthe_Fairy wrote: »

Looks like the BBC has picked up on the story (though it's Asda not Tesco in this one) -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/8169564.stm

This is coming up soon on "South Today" (local news) too - just seen it mentioned.

lufcgirl

woohoo5210 wrote: »

I don't agree with you at all on the above point. If the cashier doesn't think your of age to buy alcohol then you get ID'd. If you don't have ID then no sale, why not just bring ID with you? Whether you can get served in a pub is neither here nor there, the rules of the shops are if you look under 25. For the sake of handing over ID which takes about 30secs I really don't see why you can be annoyed. People getting refused with their children is ridiculous, but I still don't see why you don't just take ID with you. If you live in Scotland come September I think EVERYWHERE including pubs are going to be suddenly a whole lot more careful about selling alcohol.

You'll find it tough getting served elsewhere as all major supermarkets are Think 25, and in fact Tesco was the last to adopt this.

The issue was never with regards to myself providing ID as I always carry it with me. The issue (as was explained on a previous post) was that I went in Tesco to buy some alcohol and was refused to be served on the basis that my OH didn't have ID with them. Now they're Irish, on a visit over and I would never expect someone to carry a passport around a city centre with them when it is their means of getting home. They had a credit card and teaching council ID on them, even with the explanation they wouldn't serve me and there were Uni kids on other checkouts (a Tesco local) being served without any ID at all. In the end I dumped all our shopping and left.
I don't care what the hell anyone says about the policy, regardless of my OH's age and wether they had ID, Tesco have no idea what I'll do with that alcohol once I leave that store. I could walk outside and give it to a group of Chav's and what could they do...nothing. But I'm persecuted for being with someone who looks their age on the basis I'm supplying an alcohol to a minor, when they actually have no proof at all of that.

Innocent till I'm proven guilty in this country my backside.