ID check when buying non alcoholic lager!

Wintermute

To be honest I very rarely get ID'd (I'm 25), but when I do it's no big deal and I'm happy to go along with it as it's their !!! on the line if they don't do it even if I do think it's ridiculous (being ID'd with people who are clearly younger than me is always fun, especially when I have tattoos on display).

I had a laugh with a woman in Waitrose the other week when the till made a beeping noise (to tell her to ID me) for a small bottle of Mirin, I think I said something along the lines of "does it want you to ID me for that, how desperate does it think I am?", I volunteered my ID which she declined and then she went on about how she used to work in Somerfield and they were meant to check everybody no matter how obvious it was and that I'd be surprised about what some of her customers would buy to consume.... On that note I recently heard some young girls discussing getting drunk on mouthwash while travelling home from work on the bus.

gordikin

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

On that basis then, do you have to show your ID to buy a christmas pudding

It will happen!

Wintermute

gordikin wrote: »

It will happen!

Poundland's good like that, it seems to request ID for anything sold in the tools section, I once had a Poundland staff member start to ask me for ID for a box of assorted screws then I think it clicked how ridiculous it would sounds then thought better of it.

Mk14:37

Can I just say thanks to the OP for sticking to her (?) guns and ensuring that a supervisor was called to remedy the situation? Far too many in the same situation would have just given up and let p155-poor service win the day once more.

Snuggles, you weren't wrong and shouldn't feel guilty. The law should be upheld, but the law is to refuse sales to the under-18s (or for their consumption). The Think 25 policy in many stores is a common sense practice because looks *can* be deceiving, and both companies and individuals can be heavily punished (though fines and loss of license) for mistakenly selling to minors. But refusing to sell a) non-alcoholic drinks b) to a clear adult is plain ridiculous.

Mk14:37

juno wrote: »

Just because they can say it's alcohol free doesn't mean it has no alcohol. It can legally have less than 0.5%. They were right to ID you.

No they weren't. Shandy Bass has less than 0.5% alcohol and can be sold freely, without an alcohol license.

Sharon87

Once I was on checkouts at Asda and was about to ask ID for the item I put through the till - when you're on checkout sometimes you zone out lol. So I looked at the product and saw they were tea spoons. Me and the customer laughed about it after I said the till wanted to see ID for spoons! I think it said 'check the customer is over 16 or 18' lol.

Screws I can imagine being a product needing ID - sharp metal can cause harm with silly teenagers.

I always used common sense - one person from that store ID'd me once for alcohol, she knew me as well, and knew I was over 18, you have to be over 18 as a permanent checkout staff member.

The worst place I've had to ID people is the cinema, it was so hard to judge their age - easpecially teens around the 12 and 15 age mark.

4743hudsonj

To be fair, if i was a checkout worker having to respond to a promt, id probably do something similar just to cover my back, why should i get a warning or possibly a fine for the inadequacy of asking for ID.

In this situation i would have asked for a supervisor to confirm it was ok if the customer didnt have or didnt want to give ID. Of course common sense will then prevail but like i said, checkout workers have to be VERY careful these days.

Fruitcake

Snuggles wrote: »

I've just had the most ridiculous experience in Morrisons. I was buying Cobra 0%, which I buy regularly in Morrisons, and I have never been asked for ID before. Today the checkout lady looked at me and said, I need some ID. I had no idea what she was talking about at first, as I'm 38 (and look it!), so I've never had to show ID before, even when buying actual alcohol!

I eventually twigged, and pointed out that the Cobra has no alcohol in it. She looked at the packaging to confirm this, then said, the till buzzed though, so I still need to see ID!! I then told her I buy it all the time and have never been asked for ID before, and pointed out again that it's not alcohol. Her response was simply, but I still need to see ID.

I couldn't believe the stupidity of the situation and I'm afraid I got a bit stroppy, which I feel bad about now, as I'm sure she thought she was doing the right thing. Eventually a supervisor came over and straight away said, it's non alcoholic, it's fine.

Do checkout operators really have no discretion to use their common sense??

Yes they do have the necessary discretion.

A) If the till prompts the operator to ask for proof of age for an item that doesn't actually require it, they can authorise the sale the same way they would if proof of age was required. Hopefully they would then report that an item has been incorrectly tagged so the supermaket can correct the mistake.

If the item does need verification of proof of age they have the following options: -

This person is buying alcohol, are they over 18?

1) Yes, authorise the sale.

2) No, prohibit the sale.

3) Not sure, ask for proof of age.
Customer over 18?
Yes, authorise the sale
No, prohibit the sale.

The process for authorising sales in examples A) and are exactly the same.


In your case the operator may not have known that Cobra Zero didn't require proof of age, but should not have asked you for it as, at 38, it would be obvious it wasn't required.

Having pointed out that there was no alcohol in the product, the operator should have noted this and told a supervisor, not still asked for proof of age.

It all comes down to how well the staff are trained. Hopefully the supervisor will have now retrained the operator and got the product retagged so it won't get flagged again.

Fruitcake

juno wrote: »

Just because they can say it's alcohol free doesn't mean it has no alcohol. It can legally have less than 0.5%. They were right to ID you.

Cobra Zero is one of the few "Zero" beers that has zero alcohol by volume. This is written on the label/packaging. The OP pointed this out to the till operator who agree that this was correct.

Whoever programmed the till/scanner/stock-control computer was wrong to tag it with "proof of age/ID required"

The till operator was wrong to still insist on proof of age for an alcohol free product, and since the OP is 38, the operator would have been wrong to ask for proof of age even if they had been purchasing alcohol.

Mankysteve

Fruitcake wrote: »

The till operator was wrong to still insist on proof of age for an alcohol free product, and since the OP is 38, the operator would have been wrong to ask for proof of age even if they had been purchasing alcohol.

Why would they be wrong if they had reason to believe the person may be under 18?

Also expect in cases like this a supervisor/manger are not allowed to override a till operators decision to Id and refusal to serve if not.