Sainsburys refused to sell OH a bottle of wine

Charming_Monkey

A few years ago I had driven (my then 72 year old) dad to Sainsbury's and we ended out in side by side queues I purchased alcohol no probs (in my 30's) The "little girl" who served my dad asked for ID!!!!! The sales girl who served me almost wet herself laughing and had to explain that she didn't have to card everyone!

I think Sainsbury's have issues with the quality of staff they are able to recruit.

datostar

I complained to the checkout operator in Asda when she sold me a bottle of whisky without questioning me and requiring ID. I had my bus pass ready.

AlwaysWorking

Charming_Monkey wrote: »

I think Sainsbury's have issues with the quality of staff they are able to recruit.

That's a bit of a generalisation.

Amanda65

AlwaysWorking wrote: »

That's a bit of a generalisation.

I agree- it would appear this is not just Sainburys staff

I have had a holding response from the Customer Services Manager (not, you note, from the Customer Services DIRECTOR to whom my complaint was addressed!) saying that they are looking into it and will be back to me in 7-14 days. I will keep you posted !!!!!!!!!!!!!

MegaGun

Typical of them

fantasy_dreams

Can someone explain to me on what grounds they are refusing the sale ?

It is perfectly legal for any child to drink alcohol at any age. It is just illegal for them to buy it (and for some reason they are not allowed to consume it in the bar-area of a pub, restaurant and saloon areas are fine). It is theoretically even legal for an adult to go to a shop and buy alcohol for a child, morally it is another thing.

There is no law in the UK that forbids underage drinking. The law is very strict on the fact though that underage people are not allowed to buy alcohol.

ginnersinner

It is in fact an offence for an adult to go to a shop and buy alcohol for a child:-

Licensing_Act_2003_sec_149 wrote:

(3) A person commits an offence if-


(a) he buys or attempts to buy alcohol on behalf of an individual aged under 18

So far as I can ascertain, there is no offence of selling alcohol to an adult who is going to supply it to a child, so really the supermarkets are worrying over nothing. The thing they're getting their knickers in a knot about is the fact that they can only defend themselves against a charge of selling (directly) to a person under 18 if they can show they checked ID and that ID would convince a reasonable person that the person was over 18.

Unless anyone can tell me different, a supermarket worker - or off-licensee - cannot be charged with an offence if they sell to a person over 18 who is going to supply it to a person under 18.

fantasy_dreams

yes, you are not allowed to buy on behalf of the child, but you are allowed to buy alcohol and then decide to give it to a child.
It is really a weird law...

rippedoffbyspark

I can understand where the supermarkets are coming from upto a point.
but its getting out of hand i mean it not like your going to take your 12 yeat old kid shopping and she gonna say mum can u stock up on the lambrini and a pack of cigars is she , she more likely want some sweets etc and the latest edition of smash hits etc. im 28 and i went to sainsburys on my own to put lottery on and would they serve me nope. so i had to go all way back home get my id just for lotto lol. but my girlfriend is only just 5ft and she comes with me and get served straight away lol.
i think supermarkets need to use there common sense sometimes. and if a mum or dad goes in with his dd or ds then serve them... NOT chase them round the aisles sayin put it back etc

Mankysteve

when your sat on checkouts its always in the back on ones mind that I could sent to prison for three months if I serve someone under-age or get fined up to £5000 in the worse case. The next store down from they fined an operator or serving someone under-age and it wasn't the basic £300 on the spot penalty either.