Tesco not selling alcohol

brentslater

I'm a 23 year old man, who looks quite a bit older, and have a 22 year old girlfriend, we went to my local store in Blandford Forum, Dorset to do a monthly shop for my flat, I decided that I wanted to get a couple of cans, I live on my own and work so I like to relax with a drink sometimes in the evenings which I'm perfectly entitled to do.

When we got to the till I was asked for identification, I was ok with this, its a complement I guess but then they asked for my girlfriend's ID, she wasn't buying any of it and non of it was for her which I explained to the lady on the till but she insisted, luckily my Girlfriend had the ID (being 22) but she still questioned us about what it was for to which I told her the till girl that it was non of her business.

She reluctantly served me but argued throughout.
Behind me in the Q was a gentleman a couple of years older than me, IMO about 30 and a girl about 10. Obviously this gentleman is entitled to buy the alcohol but I asked the girl if they would be refused as this girl was clearly under 18 to which she said no. I asked her if this was discrimination but she wouldn't reply.

I will never shop in tesco again after the way I was treated and fully intend to write to the store and the head office about the terrible rules.

TDQO

I always carry ID for this reason and if I've forgotten it then fair enough. It's not just the cashier who could get sacked, the manager of the store is the offical licensee and it's them who has to go to court and justify the actions of their staff.

My sister has been a licensee for years now and has had to go to court several times to show that she properly trained her staff and that the member of staff simply made a mistake or the test-purchaser looked far older than 18 and so it's reasonable that they were served.

If she'd lost any of those cases she would have lost her license to sell alcohol and so been sacked from her job and unable to get another one in the same business for a minimum of 3yrs.

vodooelephant

I got ID in Tesco . . . not bad I am 30 in march, it made my day :j

Mrs_Ryan

I dont have a problem buying alcohol... I think the last time I was ID'd was when I went into my mate's local shop on my way to her house and bought some booze (cant remember what) the woman peered at me suspiciously and said 'Are you over 21? Is the alcohol for you?' I showed her my driving licence and said 'Its for me and my mate to share.' She looked unsure so I said 'Im xxxxx's mate, ask mate's husband who works in the shop if you like.' So she went away and came back with mate's husband who confirmed I was indeed over 21 and so was his wife!
She was terribly embarrassed and apologetic but I shrugged it off - I used ot work on a till and know what the consequences are. The most overzealous ID'ing I've ever had was when I went into the store where I worked to buy a bottle of wine and the cashier knew I was old enough to buy it but she asked for my ID anyway - I thought that was a little overzealous!
At the end of the day, yes the rules should be there but so should common sense - like the stories you read about old age pensioners being refused alcohol as the cant prove they are over 18....

mazza111

A similar thing happened to me in Tesco Metro. Went in between xmas and new year and bought a half case of beer, a bottle of wine and a few last minute fresh bits. Went through the express checkout, girl came and authorised the alcohol sales, then went to get cigarettes.

18 yr old daughter lifted the beer to carry to the car for me, 12 yr old son lifted the bag to carry the other shopping (with the bottle of wine in it). Standing in the queue for the kiosk the girl said to me, she (my daughter) can't carry that out the shop. Why not? Because she didn't have ID with her. Explained about my disability, and I was quite willing to let a member of staff carry it out for me, but I couldn't. They got all arsey and the manager came down, started saying something like... If you have been refused for alcohol I am not going to sell you cigarettes!!! I was like... !!!!!!?!?!

Explained to the manager about what had happened, that i hadn't been "refused for alcohol", explained about my stupid hands, and he sold me cigarettes. But STILL he insisted that I carry the case of beer out to the car myself. After much debate I ended up walking out with my daughter carrying the beer saying something like...

"well they can't stop you, It's my beer, I have already paid for it!"

Needless to say they didn't follow us to the car and strange they didn't say anything about the bottle of wine sticking out the top of the bag that the 12 yr old was carrying...

maninthestreet

mazza111 wrote: »

A similar thing happened to me in Tesco Metro. Went in between xmas and new year and bought a half case of beer, a bottle of wine and a few last minute fresh bits. Went through the express checkout, girl came and authorised the alcohol sales, then went to get cigarettes.

18 yr old daughter lifted the beer to carry to the car for me, 12 yr old son lifted the bag to carry the other shopping (with the bottle of wine in it). Standing in the queue for the kiosk the girl said to me, she (my daughter) can't carry that out the shop. Why not? Because she didn't have ID with her. Explained about my disability, and I was quite willing to let a member of staff carry it out for me, but I couldn't. They got all arsey and the manager came down, started saying something like... If you have been refused for alcohol I am not going to sell you cigarettes!!! I was like... !!!!!!?!?!

Explained to the manager about what had happened, that i hadn't been "refused for alcohol", explained about my stupid hands, and he sold me cigarettes. But STILL he insisted that I carry the case of beer out to the car myself. After much debate I ended up walking out with my daughter carrying the beer saying something like...

"well they can't stop you, It's my beer, I have already paid for it!"

Needless to say they didn't follow us to the car and strange they didn't say anything about the bottle of wine sticking out the top of the bag that the 12 yr old was carrying...

I would make a complaint to Tesco about their lack of disability awareness.

andyrules

This country has descended into a nation of binge drinking youngsters, and whilst nothing is done to stop that rot then I will remain unconvinced that the pressure put onto responsible stores to observe the 'under 21' rule is working.

Yes, there are unscrupulous small store owners who would sell alcohol to a baby, but refusing a sober 20 year old a thimble of mulled wine in M&S whilst Christmas shopping with her mum is doing no more than paying lip service to a law that (allows people of 18 to drink) seemingly upholds a generation to drink to oblivion every night.

Gers

Here's a summary of the laws - they relate to 'purchasing' and 'location' mostly.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Parents/Yourchildshealthandsafety/WorriedAbout/DG_10026210

debtfreein4years

this happened to me yesterday evening. neighbour gave me a lift to tesco's so that i could get my shopping done and cause her daughter is 16 i wasnt allowed to buy any alcohol. its a stupid rule, i get why they have to id people and i am fine with that, but refusing to serve me alcohol just because my neighbours daughter was helping me unload my trolley and pack is a joke. worse part is her mum had been allowed to purchase wine again wtih her daughter helping to pack her shopping.

strong worded letter to tesco complaints about their staff's lack of commonsense. i think it is age discrimination as so what if i want to puchase any adult beverage but have a minor with me (im 23 and her mum is in her 40's). what age child are you allowed to shop with and purchase alcohol with? would i be allowed to purchase wine if i had a baby with me or not just in case i decided to be an irresponsible person and gave a baby wine. its an absolute joke. the only people you are not allowed to serve alcohol to are a policeman on duty, an underage person and someone who is already intoxicated. i didnt fall under any of those categories so why did they refuse the sale of a couple of bottles of wine?

rant over and off to do complaint letter.

nellytheelephant

I was in Tesco with a friend who's 35 (I'm 23), she got ID'd but doesn't carry ID... Being 35 she doesn't tend to... But I had mine, and they accepted my ID to let her buy alcohol.. Bizarre...