General Chat

This has happened to me twice in recent weeks.
All of my children are over the legal age limit, but often come shopping with me.
They do look younger than their ages ( 20-25yrs) but that's not the point.....
On two occasions, whilst purchasing a £10 meal deal which includes wine, I have been told that unless my daughters provide proof of age, I will NOT be allowed to purchase the alcohol.
I was told that this was store policy, even although it is MY shopping and I am PAYING for it
The family in front of me were not challenged, and clearly had primary school aged kids with them, nor was the woman behind me who had an infant in a pram.
We all had wine in our shopping baskets
Do you think the store should be allowed to differenciate/ discriminate between an adult in the company of young adults as opposed to an adult in the company of children?

I think that stores should use a bit more discretion in these matters. Any underage teenagers wanting alcohol would not stand with someone who was buying it for them at the checkout - they would be lurking outside!

I find it perfectly acceptable. As far as the store were concerned you could have been purchasing for your daughters who in their eyes looked underage.

I also think it's bl**dy ridiculous.

Too many companies worried about getting their backsides kicked so go over the top with rules, a sort of one size fits all approach.

The assistants are under pressure to stick to the rules the only way it seems is either to ensure that young adults have some form of ID (if they are young looking they must have trouble elsewhere) or say ok call the manager if you don't serve me the wine you can keep the rest of the trolly!

Then again you could neck the whole bottle at the checkout so long as the kids can drive home :-D

Regards,
Mayfield

If they sell alcohol and it is for somebody under age, the shop aassistant themselves can get a hefty fine. If you were a shop assistant would you want to risk it?

remember not so long ago aman in his 20s was buying a video which i think was for over 12 or something as silly and the assistant would not sell him the video because of their over 25 rule

If it's an of age adult buying it then that's that....the shop assistant has no jurisdiction over what happens once they walk out of the shop....so shouldn't be held accountable...if in doubt CCTV will be able to exonerate the cashier should the need arise.

My daughter had this problem and in the end carried a photo copy of her birth certificate.

That was my point Errol, the shop assistant is in a poor position but if a responsible adult with ID is prepared to confirm to the manager they not supplying to under age drinkers and in this case those with them are over 18 he/she would be able to show that reasonable care was taken.

Any one who buys alcohol can sell it on or give it to under age drinkers at home.
I saw on breakfast TV that the average age for children having a small quantity of wine with a meal at home is 13.
I think ours were allowed to try it at 14. If that's a known fact no one who has children should ever be served then ;-)

Regards,
Mayfield

i was a weekend regiuler at my local from about the age of 14
landlady had a fit when i went in for my 18th birthday drink

remember at school they asked if anyone went to the pub and when i put my hand up the teacher asked how much i paid for my beer(i assume to catch out the liars)
the look on his face when i quoted bar and lounge prices for mild and brown and mild

Anne have you thought it may be a compliment perhaps the assistant is taking you for sisters :-)

Thanks everybody.
I still think that if M&S are to enforce this, it needs to be fair... and challenge every adult with children.
For all the store knows, the woman behind me in the queue might be dosing her child with wine every night.
LOL
Eldest daughter is almost 26yrs old and was asked for ID for the purchase last night's euromillions ticket!

Your girls must look lovely and youthful, Anne. Good for them! :-)

my daughter who is 30 dont even bother waiting now for shops to ask her for ID
she just show it to them even when she has her two children with her age 10 and 8


daughter says to cachier when i have my pus pass im hopeing ill look 30


:-) :-) :-) :-)

My daughter is thirty, looks younger and always carries id with her. At Christmas she was refused the purchase of a bottle of mulled wine because although she had her's, her husband didn't have his and Sainsburys have an age 25 rule. He is 32 !!!

The assistant then said that they must have been very young when they had their daughter, she was just over a year old at Christmas, despite already looking at my daughter's id to confirm her age, which said she was thirty.

At that point she told them they could keep the basket of shopping and went somewhere else. M

I don't understand why people get so uppity about showing proof of age. Both the shop assistant and the shop/company can be fined huge sums plus lose their license so surely it is better that (a) they protect themselvbes and (b) show some responsibility towards the supply of alcohol to under age drinkers.

I often wonder what other people actually see when they look at my eldest daughter.
She does look younger than 25, but she is not a child

Euromillions lady last night must have thought she was under 16yrs.
In the last 2yrs.:
Has been asked for ID at the cinema.... the film was a 12A
Has been refused a dessert in a restaurant, after being told that the specials were for grown ups only.
Asked how old she was when buying a .... cup of coffee!
Then the worst insult of all...
Was asked if she was starting the "Big School" after the summer break.

Is she not very tall Anne, some people equate height with age. Still it will be an advantage when she is older.

It's not so much being asked for id but the fact that an adult was purchasing the wine not the person that was asked for id.
So next time send your younger people to stand out of the queue and go through alone.
How can a person with small children be allowed to buy wine but not a person who has teenagers with them. Daft to me.