101 replies to this topic

[Ben_O]

 

I have seen this too. Been behind people at the checkout a few times when the parent has been refused due to having their children with them.

 

The checkout person doesn't know they are related. The people involved could just be acting. If both produce ID then you can tell that they are related although it would be irrelevant as it would show whether they are old enough to buy it themselves or not.

 

But i am talking about children, not teenagers who want their mum to pick them up some cider to sit in the park with.

 

These instances have been where they have their huge weekly shop on the checkout along with wine, beer and spirits so i think it is a bit OTT to refuse service knowing full well that the children won't be able to prove their age is over 18 and that it is hugely unlikely that these drinks will be for them.

[M J W J]

 

 

I have seen this too. Been behind people at the checkout a few times when the parent has been refused due to having their children with them.

 

The checkout person doesn't know they are related. The people involved could just be acting. If both produce ID then you can tell that they are related although it would be irrelevant as it would show whether they are old enough to buy it themselves or not.

 

But i am talking about children, not teenagers who want their mum to pick them up some cider to sit in the park with.

 

These instances have been where they have their huge weekly shop on the checkout along with wine, beer and spirits so i think it is a bit OTT to refuse service knowing full well that the children won't be able to prove their age is over 18 and that it is hugely unlikely that these drinks will be for them.

 

 

You have to make one rule that is fair on all. As you say. Its highly unlikely, but that doesn't mean it won't happen and it only takes one person to do something stupid which gets the police involved resulting in store managers getting prosecuted, people loosing jobs, etc, etc.

 

While I was in Nottingham every so often I would get a group of youngsters ask me to buy them alcohol when I went into the tesco express on the end of my road. One group was probably only about 12. I refused (obviously) every time and told the security guard.

 

The people at the checkout aren't refusing you service on all goods, just the restricted ones so again there is no need to leave all your shopping just to be spiteful. You can still buy the rest of it.

[Cooperman]

This what the act actually says:

 

SALE OF ALCOHOL TO CHILDREN

A person commits an offence if he sells alcohol to an individual under 18.

A person charged with an offence has a defence available that they believed the individual was 18 or over, and they had either taken all reasonable steps to find out the individual's age or that no one could reasonably suspect from their appearance that they were under 18. 'Reasonable steps' means asking the individual for evidence of their age, and that the evidence would convince a reasonable person.

 

It makes no mention of anyone of any age who may happen to be accompanying the purchaser and, in law, the purchaser is the person who actually pays for it. If a person obviously over 18 who appears to be over 21 makes the purchase using his/her credit/debit card with his/her name on it, or pays by cash which is handed to the check-out operative, then that person is the purchaser AND NO-ONE ELSE IS. So this nonsense about not selling, for example, to me, a 74-year old, because I am accompanied by my under-age Grandson is preposterous, insulting and stupid. I would then decide not to further such a company's profits by buying anything else there and they could then put my entire trolley full back on their shelves and I would write to their CEO telling him exactly why I had done it. This is nothing to do with the law, it is to do with either a 'Jobsworth' attitude and/or lack of staff training in order to save money.

[Anthony30]

It's a very awkward/embarrassing situation if your the customer, with no ID.  

[Cooperman]

It should never be embarrassing. If a prospective purchaser claims to be over 18, but appears that he/she might be under 21, ID can and is reasonably requested. There is no surely issue with that.

The issue comes with someone who claims to be over 18 and appears to be over 21, where the law says that ID is not required.

So when a parent, who is obviously well over 21 and who is accompanied by a child, is the purchaser, then the law say no ID is required. If a vendor then asks for ID from either or both they are acting beyond what the law requires and a prospective buyer is quite entitled to take the view that they don't wish to continue to carry out ANY transaction with that vendor. The other, and completely stupid, answer would be to allow the check-out person to remove the alcohol from the goods. Then pay for the rest and take the young person back to the car where he/she could sit whilst the adult went back into the store, put the required alcohol into the trolley and checked out with no younger person present. How stupid is that? But the law does not require that and a store cannot make up the law to suit it's 'Jobsworth' or poorly trained staff.

[BronkoMini]

Had another ID session in tesco they asked all of us for id, when we all had our own baskets and set dividers between the shopping on the till, yet the only person with alcohol was the girl at the front, it's messed up.

[Ben_O]

Cooperman has explained perfectly, the point i was trying to make..

[Cooperman]

Had another ID session in tesco they asked all of us for id, when we all had our own baskets and set dividers between the shopping on the till, yet the only person with alcohol was the girl at the front, it's messed up.

 

They have absolutely no right to do that and are acting far beyond what the law requires. They are 'bang out of order'.

You would have been quite right to leave the produce on the belt or in the trolley and walk out, but best then to write to the store manager telling that the reason you have taken such action is to cause the company to explain the law as written, not as perceived by him and his staff, and to apply it as intended, not as someone might wish.

Shoppers can 'vote with their feet'. No wonder Tesco's are in a financial pickle if their staff are all so inept. It seems as though some of their most senior personnel might be receiving summonses for far more serious law-breaking than not ID-ing an 18-year old!

Edited by Cooperman, 22 December 2014 - 05:59 PM.

[Ben_O]

. No wonder Tesco's are in a financial pickle if their staff are all so inept. 

On a few occasions, i have had to return items to Tesco because i wasn't happy with them.

 

EVERY time i do, the folk on customer services always dispute it and say they can only issue refunds on items if there is something wrong with them and NOT if i just don't happen to like it.

Even despite the fact it says on the packaging that if you are not 100% SATISFIED with the product they will give you your money back but they still argue it. Thing is, i am not the kind of person that will walk timidly away.

 

I started dealing with Tesco by phone since and they always say i need to take it to the store for a refund but i just tell them of the bad experiences i have had with customer services in store and refuse.

They usually tell me to dispose of the item and refund me by post.

 

I shop in Tesco far less now because i find most of the staff rude and i find alot of them to act above their station thinking they are the cat's whiskers, especially when they asked me for ID on a packet of Rizla papers this afternoon.

WHAT A JOKE!!

[jb93]

Just got ID'd for christmas crackers 

[Berrybox]

I once got refused alcohol in Tesco because I had bumped into a friend by the door. We had a brief chat and went our separate ways but because I had been seen with another young looking person for 2 mins I was refused the sale! I had my ID! Absolutely ridiculous..

[Cooperman]

I've just been out to dinner with my 20-year old Grandson and the subject of this thread came up.

He was recently in Tesco and was buying about £100 of groceries, plus some wine.

With him was his 18 year old young lady. He was asked for his ID, and no issue with this, but his young lady had no ID with her and they refused to serve him. He required the Manager, who also refused to sell him the alcohol, so he left the entire trolley load, went to Sainsbury's and bought the same stuff. This time his young lady sat in the car and there was no problem. They then went to my Grandson's flat where they cooked dinner and enjoyed their wine.

Who the hell do Tesco's think they are to act as judges of what a law says when reading it properly will show the intent. It is all so clear in the wording of the Act that a fool could understand it, but not that supermarket presumably.

[Bubblebobble]

I stopped going to Tescos about 3 years ago , purely for the fact the food is siht for the money . Its not cheap for what it is . The food is poor quality and should be a lot less . I can get better quality for less from lidl/aldi or sainsburys . The meat is terrible with no flavour and all of the veg lastes no more than 24 hours , already looking tired on the shelf  . I travel about 5 miles to go to a great butcher , and his stuff is not only cheaper but like night and day in taste and quality . And you can get the correct bits for the correct cooking , and things they dont sell in supermarkets .

 I now get washing stuff /toiletries in budget places /b&ms etc , fruit veg and dry stuff from lidl aldi sainsburys , and meat from the butcher . 

 

I wont ever go back to tesco .

[MaxAndPaddy]

Not only do I make my 17 year carry his cider to the checkout, but I make sure he hands me his bank card to pay for it and I have never had a problem....I don't however let him drink in the park   

 

it is NOT illegal child between 5* to 16 alcohol to drink at home or a private residence, but you can't buy it for them apparently, doesn't really make sense. I'd be more worried about giving free drinks to five year olds, than making your own teenager pay for their own (responsibly consumed in their own home booze), but then I guess the law isn't designed for that.

 

*he wasn't allowed to drink alcohol at five

[lyndseyp27]

I remember once when my mum took my friend and i shopping for a house party we were having for my 17th birthday.We literally filled the trolley with the usual childish crap (WKD/Breezers/Vodka/Shops/Sourz/Gin etc) and because my friend and i had loaded the trolley with it all my mum was refused service at the till. That i can kind of understand haha. We just sent her in on her own 5 minutes later and they couldn't prove it was for us that way.