Co-OP and the tale of age verification

peachyprice

UK2010 wrote: »

Exactly. Retail is a big brother environment. The staff will when prompted because it could be any one of a number of undercover checks including mystery shoppers, some will use discretion some may be new or have recently been told off for getting something wrong and will want to use caution.

That's all well and good but the manager should have known it was an error and that ID wasn't needed.

biscit

maninthestreet wrote: »

Binge drinking isn't covered by the 2003 Licensing Act, and checking someone's ID when they attempt to buy alcohol won't reveal whether they are prone to binge drinking or not.

No, but the binge drinking moral panic is part of the reason the authorities are so tough on enforcing said act isn't it?

Storck

sherbetfountain wrote: »

I hope you son doesn't sell alcohol to anyone being that he is only 17 and he is not allowed to!

Personally I don't see why I should have to go to the expense of getting a passport, when I have no intention of going abroad anytime soon, to buy anything containing alcohol. (would this also include cleaning products?)

I do not drive therefore I cannot just obtain a driving licence, and provisional licences were previously not suitable ID.

To the OP, even if your forms of ID are not classed as suitable I think this is ridiculous, as a citizen card is far easier to obtain fraudulently than I suspect a Government issued ID card is.

Someone under 18 is allowed to sell alcohol if they get permission from someone over 18 that is working at the time.

The reason for only having the three forms of ID is so that the people serving know what they can and can not accept. I wouldn't know what a GSZ card looked like or how old you had to be to get one.

oldone_2

UK2010 wrote: »

Can't some people just carry the ID that is needed instead of deliberately not carrying it which is exactly what the op said they will do just so stamp their feet should they ever get asked. It's deliberately causing a situation just for the sake of complaining!

For goodness sake why should we have to carry any I.D. It is not a legal requirement - yet.
Those who say why not just carry I.D and move on, are sleepwalking us into a police state where everyone will soon be required to carry a National I.D card and show it on demand to any designated officials from the council roadsweeper to the police.

This Think 25 (soon to be Think 30) campaign exists to soften us up into accepting a National I.D card. Russia of the sixties would be envious of how far Labour have gone in micro-controlling our lives.

For the record, my wife doesn't drive, doesn't have a passport, so can never ever buy a wine cooking sauce. Monty Python is alive and well.

loracan1

pimento wrote: »

My 17 year old son works part time at the Co-Op and if he sells cigs or booze to an underage it isn't the Co-Op who gets into trouble, it's him. I'd rather he turned 20 people away wrongly than get done for selling something to an underage person.

He's not a jobsworth, just a kid.

Until he's 18, your son ought to be seeking confirmation (by law) that the person he is selling to is of age from either a supervisor or another member of staff - irrelevant of how old the customer looks*. He's not the one that would face a fixed penalty of £80 or a possible £5,000 fine. (I hate having to check for age from a distance - can never see the wrinkles or frown lines)





*Just crossed my mind that these stories of 80 year olds getting asked for ID might just be a 17year old having to confirm they can sell the alcohol?

inca_2

Seriously, all of those who are agreeing that it's ok to ask for ID for cooking sauce, do you really believe that?? I'm 26, I sometimes get ID'd for a bottle of alcohol or cigarettes, I have no problem with that. If I'm going to be buying either of those things I will take ID with me just in case and take it as a compliment. It has no impact on my life if I'm unable to buy them, the only implication is inconvenience, yet to the person selling them the implications could be much bigger so I understand why however old I think I look that they have every right to ask me for ID.

However, for a cooking sauce??? that is ridiculous, surely most of you can see that??!! If the self-service machines don't ask someone to check your age for something then I don't see that you need ID to buy it? Doesn't mouthwash have alcohol in it? where do you draw the line? The worst bit is that a manager didn't even seem to have the common sense to agree to the sale!

Nukumai

oldone wrote: »

For goodness sake why should we have to carry any I.D. It is not a legal requirement - yet.
Those who say why not just carry I.D and move on, are sleepwalking us into a police state where everyone will soon be required to carry a National I.D card and show it on demand to any designated officials from the council roadsweeper to the police.

This Think 25 (soon to be Think 30) campaign exists to soften us up into accepting a National I.D card. Russia of the sixties would be envious of how far Labour have gone in micro-controlling our lives.

Bravo. I agree 100%

voiceofreason

UK2010 wrote: »

Can't some people just carry the ID that is needed instead of deliberately not carrying it which is exactly what the op said they will do just so stamp their feet should they ever get asked. It's deliberately causing a situation just for the sake of complaining!

You're talking bloody rubbish, quite frankly.

There's no "ID that is needed"; it's not a legal requirement to carry ID at any time and I for one am less than willing to carry identification with me to satisfy shops' laziness and unwillingness to properly train and educate staff in the face of legislation (which, let's be clear, is the root of this "think!21"/"think!25"/"noneedtothink!foryourself" cr*p).

Have a good dump to clear your head and then have a proper think about the issue.

RadoJo

You're correct nobody is required to carry ID on them as a matter of course, but if you want to purchase something for which it is required, it makes sense to have it with you, in the same way that nobody has to have a driving license or passport unless they want to drive or travel abroad. It's no inconvenience to the retailer to not sell a customer an item, whereas it is an inconvenience to the customer, meaning the onus is on the customer to ensure that they are prepared to provide the proof needed that they are entitled to purchase retricted items.

Clearly from the stories on here, this is an increasing problem as enforcement of the laws is tightened and stories like this are getting more and more publicity, so surely the much talked about 'common sense' approach would be to carry an acceptable form of ID with you to avoid such situations. I synmpathise with people who don't have any form of ID, and can understand why people would be put out at having to obtain something separate (which is only proving your age incidentally, not an ID card in the sense that some people seem to be implying), but it seems to be do that or suffer the inconvenience, and seeing as that's what people are complaining about, the simplest way to avoid it seems to be to comply. I can't see a campaign to loosen restrictions getting anywhere, so it seems that accepting the situation is the only way forward.
Personally, I would rather benefit from cheaper products than have to pay the inevitable increase in costs which stores would pass on to customers if they had to ensure that every member of their staff could identify any form of ID presented to them and had the knowledge and authorisation to over-ride the tills to avoid IDing someone inappropriately.

UK2010

voiceofreason wrote: »

You're talking bloody rubbish, quite frankly.

There's no "ID that is needed"; it's not a legal requirement to carry ID at any time and I for one am less than willing to carry identification with me to satisfy shops' laziness and unwillingness to properly train and educate staff in the face of legislation (which, let's be clear, is the root of this "think!21"/"think!25"/"noneedtothink!foryourself" cr*p).

Have a good dump to clear your head and then have a proper think about the issue.

Voice of !!!!!!!!! I think you need to take your own advice more than anything!