Explain to me why you can't buy alcohol before 10am

Amanda65

PenguinOfDeath wrote: »

That's got to be a jobsworth shop assistant, surely?

What if she had a child with her, would he be banned from the aisle altogether?!

A couple of years ago my OH was in Sainsbury's with my DD, who was 16 at the time and amongst other bits of shopping I had asked him to get he picked up a bottle of Merlot for our dinner that evening. The man on the till refused to sell it to OH as DD was underage, despite the fact that OH explained it wasn't for her (what 16 year old drinks Merlot????) and he was paying for it, not her. The manager was called and he too refused to sell alcohol to OH (who is 50 btw) as DD was with him.

They went outside, DD stayed out of the store and OH went back in, picked up another bottle of Merlot and went towards the tills to buy it. The Manager ran (yes literally ran) through the store after him shouting "I know she's outside and we're not selling you any alcohol" :eek::eek:.

OH left the store, very embarrassed, feeling as though he was being accused of procuring alcohol for minors

aliasojo

coolcait wrote: »

I'm surprised that you haven't come across this before in Scotland.

I'm never usually organised enough in the morning to go shopping before 10am. :D

thatlemming

I've been ID'd for looking at booze before I understand at the checkouts because I'm 21 and I don't even look that, but in the aisle? Stupid.

tooldle

Many years ago, I worked in a small co-op stores. Our licence ran from 11am through to the store closing at 8pm. To the best of my knowledge, it has always been a variable situation. Back when I first started Uni, the College bar was not licenced for Sunday drinking. Wales was dry on a Sunday, for far longer than most of the UK.

sassyblue

aliasojo wrote: »

Why 10 am?

I don't see the logic but I'm happy to be educated if there are reasonable reasons why.

I dropped daughter off at school this morning then headed off to do the shopping. It was 9.30am when I was at the till so the bottle of wine I had in my trolley was taken off me.

Fair enough, I didn't realise it couldn't be sold until 10am but on my way home I got to thinking why that particular time?

Were you shopping in your pyjamas? Was your hair a mess? Just wondering if you looked like a 'lush' - only joking. :rotfl:

I didn't know that rule existed, it's a bit strange it's like the paracetomol rules l think someone who is determined to overdose will only travel to several shops anyway - you won't stop them. Me and DH were full of cold once when we went round the supermarket and bought some paracetomols and cold relief tablets the assistant wouldn't let me have all of them, but she let DH through with the second lot as she said she could see we were ill but she didn't want to let me go through with them all.

And the cigarette rules... l thought our supermarket had lost the keys to the cupboards as the shutters were constantly down, by chance a smoker l work with said they weren't allowed to be 'on show' anymore.

The Government must think we're all going to drink, overdose or smoke ourselves to death, because we haven't got any common sense... :cool:

browneyedbazzi

thatlemming wrote: »

I've been ID'd for looking at booze before I understand at the checkouts because I'm 21 and I don't even look that, but in the aisle? Stupid.

The reason that some supermarkets do this is because proxy sales (where adults buy alcohol on behalf of underage kids) is a real problem. Often kids will go into a shop, have a browse at the alcohol to decide what they want, then go outside and tell their older sibling/friend/local wino what to go in and buy for them.

Supermarkets get a lot flak for selling alcohol cheaply etc so they are very keen to show how responsible they are about alcohol in other ways and this includes being super strict on underage sales and doing what they can to prevent proxy sales as well. By taking all these extra precautions it means that they have a good defence if they are ever caught out by a test purchase (where the council or police send kids in to try to buy alcohol) and are less likely to receive big fines or lose their licence.

A lot of things that appear 'stupid' at first glance have very good reasons behind them that are worth trying to understand before making a judgement.

aliasojo

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

A lot of things that appear 'stupid' at first glance have very good reasons behind them that are worth trying to understand before making a judgement.

Very true.

I thought the aisle thing was silly until you explained the reasoning behind it.

C_Mababejive

In the US,most states ID everyone whether they look 14 or 40. That ensures a consistent and fair approach.

pogofish

Alcohol is available 24/7 in Scotland via many taxi drivers IME. Just say "have him bring a bottle" to the despatcher.

I wouldn't look too hard at the writing on the bottles though - The language on the labels can be surprising.

PenguinOfDeath

fashionlover10 wrote: »

I work in a Sainsbury's and we're told to ID anyone who looks under 25 that picks up an age restricted product (knives, alcohol etc). Not 100% sure why, maybe to deter under age customers from trying to buy those items?
We're not being 'jobsworths' though as someone else mentioned, we're just doing our jobs! We might not make the rules but we have to follow them.

Fair enough , it's just not something I've heard of before