Co-op asking for ID

kungfu_kirby

It is starting to drive me a bit crazy actually. I have been able to buys fags and booze since I was 14. I am now 25 and i am almost always asked for ID to buy tobacco. I wouldn't mind except it means you always have to carry ID, to avoid embarrassing times when you suddenly realise you don't have it, but you desparately want to prove to the (now) smug !!!!!!! that you are 10 years over the legal age! This happens to me in both supermarkets and small grocers.

I once got IDed in Sainsburys in Camden trying to buy a packet of Rizlas! I explained to the guy that Rizlas were just paper, and I didn't believe there was an age restriction on paper!

UKTigerlily

Yep there sure is a restriction on them lol I know it's gone crazy & kids will just send in old enough friends but better safe than sorry, I know I don't earn enough to pay fines !

ti1980

Exactly, an on the spot £80 fine is more than a lot of cashiers earn in 2 days and is certainly more than Saturday cashiers earn in a week!
Might be annoying for customers but to a cashier it is not worth the risk of the fine, getting disciplined at work or losing your job.

Alleycat

woohoo_postingid wrote:

When I was about 17, I worked in John Menzies and asked a girl/young lady for id when buying cigarettes. She said "I'm f**king 22". - Just the behaviour of a 22 year old don't you think. Needless to say, she didn't get served!

Don't suppose that was in London by any chance?

Print_Screen

The stupidest thing happened to me when I was about 21, was being IDed trying to by a bottle of Appletise in the Cinema. I explained to him that Appletise contained no alcohol and is just fizzy apple juice but he would not have it!
I fished out my driving license only for him to look in the fridge and tell me there were none left. This p***ed me off and I just left it and walked off.
But nowadays I would not have not just accepted this. I would have called his manager and asked if it was general policy to ID people for soft drinks and if so what is the minimum legal age for the consummation of Apple juice?

UKTigerlily

omg even jade Goody knows what appletise is surely lol

C_Ronaldo

mrbnewc1 wrote:

Hi

I'm not going to have a massive rant, but just vent my slight annoyance with the CO-OP.

Today I popped in for a few groceries and two lucky dips for tonight's lottery. The very polite woman behind the counter asked me for ID. Being 23, I was shocked that she thought I was under 16 or even anywhere near that age.

I'm in favour of this challenge 21 policy that most retailers are taking part in (mainly for the purpose of underage drinking), but asking for asking sake is such a waste of time. I quite clearly look over 16 years of age....just for the record, I never get asked for ID for anything, including buying alcohol.

Rant over.



Mrbnewc1

she is only doing her job, i dont get askd 4 id in shops,

C_Ronaldo

achtunglady wrote:

I think you may have that wrong as I have just spoken to someone who's sister is a trading standards officer and she said that the store can get out of being fined if they can show that the person selling the item was trained on restricted products, and the seller still gets the fine.

She also said, you can refuse a sale if you believe that it is being bought for a minor, we often used to get kids trying to buy games marked up as suitable for over 18's, while clearly not 18, then they would go to an adult and give them the money to buy the item for them.

achtunglady is right

i worked for sainsburys and a young lad sold alcohol to a test purchaser and he got a fine and lost his job, the store got away with it as they showed to the police that enough training had been given to the kid and he had signed for it showing hed taken the training,

janiebaby29

i work at sainsburys , im 44 by the way and i will ask for id if i have to , NO WAY am i losing my hard earnt money, so if you aint got ID then thats your fault , not mine .
i wont go to prison or pay a fine of 5,000 if i'm in doubt

furrypolka

C_Ronaldo wrote:

achtunglady is right

i worked for sainsburys and a young lad sold alcohol to a test purchaser and he got a fine and lost his job, the store got away with it as they showed to the police that enough training had been given to the kid and he had signed for it showing hed taken the training,

Yes that's right, if the store can show a due diligence defence it's unlikely they will be prosecuted by TS.

It's highly unlikely that TS would take formal action against the individual though, unless they were certain that it hadn't been a mistake and they had knowingly sold to a youngster.

It's more likely they would receive an £80 on the spot fine from the police (if they were present) and possibly lose their job, as would have happened in this case.

I guess shops still like to frighten their staff though by telling them worst case scenarios, even though it's very unlikely. Personally I wouldn't even want an £80 fine, that's a lot of money to suddenly be out of pocket for the sake of asking for ID.

Even though in my job I help enforce this and work to publicise responsible retailing, it still drives me mental as my OH is 11 years younger than me and he is constantly being asked for ID - he doesn't have a passport or driving licence, so it generally has to be me buying the drinks every time we go out!