Age Verification Policy when shopping with partner/child

browneyedbazzi

Young people who drink alcohol are less likely to achieve at school, more likely to be a victim (or perpetrator) of assault, girls in particular are way more likely to be victims of sexual assault and rape. As rates of alcohol consumption in young people goes up, the average age for liver failure comes down.

I don't think that the potential fines/sanctions retailers face for the offences are disproportionate to the harm that is caused by underage sales.

Also, very few offenders get anywhere near the maximum penalties. Most shop assistants who sell for the first time will get an £80 fixed penalty. The maximum fines are there to give judges scope in sentencing where people break the law repeatedly or where there are major problems with a large company that wouldn't even feel a smaller fine/sanction.

fluffnutter

I'm just not sure that focusing on the retailer's part in all of this is the right approach. We have a far wider cultural problem with underage drinking that needs a concerted approach from government, schools, kids, parents, society in general if these problems are to be successfully tackled. Merely making this the shops' responsibility is coming at it from the wrong angle.

Let's face it, teenagers don't find it difficult to get hold of booze, despite the law and shop policy.

browneyedbazzi

I don't think we're approaching it from the wrong angle but I do agree that there is a lot more work to be done from other angles as well. It's a problem that doesn't have one simple solution but will need a lot of work from different angles to make a real improvement.

I focus on the retailer's side of things because that's my job. There are other people out there who work in Public Health who are working on education (for young people, parents and the community) but sadly these things take an awful lot of time to take effect and cost a lot of money (which is hard to come by!).

System

When I worked in an off-license as a student I accidentally served alcohol to a 17 year old girl. In my defence she looked 18 and was pretty fit.

However her Dad came in the next day to make a complaint as she had got hammered. Thankfully the complaint moved on from me as the manager of the shop accused him of being a terrible father. It ended with the man swearing at her and storming out of the store. That was a fun day at work

Evilm

The shop assistants are made to be totally paranoid about this issue. They are told they will lose their job, get a conviction, cost themselves a large fine and cost the retailer a large fine as well. We were shown an almost 'crimewatch reconstruction' type video about it when I did retail for a short while.

If there are a group of people together then they are pretty much told us to be suspicious - we were told to ID everyone in the group if you even suspected one was under 25 unless it was absolutely clear that the younger person was a child related to the elder and the booze definitely was not for them.

To be honest there are too many instances where people have taken this too far (refusing adult +8 year old son/daughter combos etc) but since the retailer doesn't legally have to sell to you they won't be punished for trying to cover themselves.

I only did a short retail stint over the holidays but there were too many people who turned me daring to ask for ID into a huge issue - even though most of them then turned out to be under 25! Only one got overruled by management because the front end supervisor that day happened to know that person and vouched for their age.

angelil

I had a similar incident in a major supermarket a couple of years ago.

I was with my sister at the time and we'd been sent out to get a few things including a bottle of wine for our dad. I would have been about 22 and my sister about 19. I am taller and definitely look my age if not older, whereas my sister is tiny and very babyfaced, and is frequently mistaken for being younger than she is. (Even today - she's 23 - you could pop her in a school uniform and she wouldn't seem out of place.)

ANYWAY - at the checkout we got IDd. I never get IDd and didn't have anything on me at all. My sister did have her ID and presented it only to be told by the idiotic cashier that she wouldn't sell to us. Completely embarrrassing and unnecessary (I used to be a cashier and you have to use your common sense from time to time!!).

SO we left and went to another supermarket down the road. I agreed I would stay outside while my sister went in alone because of what had happened. She came out with no problems...she hadn't been IDd at all in that store. Completely ridiculous. Stores need to really unify their policies, use their common sense and know exactly what they are looking for.

go_cat

The problem is staff who sell alcohol to under 18s can face an on the spot fine of £80 or fine up to £5,000.

Add into this the store / shop fine for one of their staff doing it wrong. Staff are trained in age related sales and terrified if they get it wrong of the potential repucussions drummed into them by their managment. So you can see why they er on the side of caution.

Having said that I no longer get asked for ID aged 37 and I am gutted :T

fluffnutter

go_cat wrote: »

The problem is staff who sell alcohol to under 18s can face an on the spot fine of £80 or fine up to £5,000.

But staff who sell to someone over 18 who then gives the alcohol to a minor can't be. The person committing the crime is the buyer not the seller.

That's what makes a mockery of 'No, you can't have that bottle of wine because you've got your children with you'.

It's a misinterpretation of the law by over-zealous and paranoid retailers. Or perhaps they're our moral guardians. Either way, it's unnecessary and frustrating.

pogofish

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

That isn't true, many places operate a 'Think 21' or similar scheme in order to demonstrate their diligence regarding underage sales (and it is good practice to do so), but there is no legislation that says they have to.

There may not be specific legislation but many local authorities do insist on a "voluntary" policy on age as part of the planning/licencing conditions.

Eydon

My wife was once asked for ID to prove her age in the local Co-op. She didn't have anything on her at the time so offered to show the young chap behind the counter her stretch marks. They sold her the alcohol.

I've never been asked for proof of my age when buying alcohol even when I've had the kids with me - must mean the shop assistants around here have some common sense.