General Chat

Libby thank you

Anne I would not have a problem with that in the slightest. If my daughter was with me and the shop believed the alcohol was for her then I would respect the fact that they are operating within the law as I am sure you would also.

i really think sometimes that supermarkets go overboard.

6m ago i was asked for ID in asda while buying alcohol

IM 49

IM TOLD I DONT LOOK MY AGE,BUT I CERTAINLY LOOK OVER 25 :-D

As of 2011, all four giant supermarket chains, Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's and Morrisons, along with others such as Marks & Spencer, Bargain Booze and Waitrose apply Challenge 25 and are renowned for exceptional strictness in the matter of showing identification.

Adults well over 25 shopping with a younger partner, child or friend have been refused service in some cases because it was thought that the alcohol was being bought for the possibly underage young person. Several stories have made the national news in which supermarket managers have trialled a policy of asking all alcohol purchasers for ID irrespective of apparent age, which has led to senior citizens as old as 86 being refused service.

Currently the law comes down much heavier on those selling the alcohol than those illegally buying it, hence what may be seen as overkill was in fact a deliberate act by these firms to ensure they stayed within the law..

It has also been fuelled by the fact the police are legally allowed to send underage persons to buy drink, seen by some as entrapment.

Personally I always make sure I have my bus pass with me, just in case.

I personally think its redic and what makes me laugh is the hypocrisy of some of the big supermarkets, still selling cretes of beer at knock down prices and cheap liver rotting alcohol

Hayley I agree that they sell some alcohol at ludicrously low prices (probably quite often loss leaders). But this is a slightly different issue because they would still not sell it knowingly to underage drinkers. I do not have an issue with having to show proof of age (I wish somebody would ask me!) and at the end of the day they are protecting themselves and their staff. As rightly pointed out above, there are hefty fines and entrapment is not unknown.

As far as cheap alcohol is concerned, it looks like the government is doing a u-turn over minimum price per unit plans and I cannot help but feel that a key issue is education rather than "nanny state" meddling in prices.

Binge drinking and alcoholism are massive problems in the UK which seriously need to be tackled.
I know an area fairly near to me where the local "drinkers" hang out with their bottles of cheap cider and tins of quintuple strength lager.
And guess where it is?
Right next to a (well known leading) supermarket!
How convenient!
A bit like having a cheap pub right on your doorstep.

Just back from shopping at M&S and talked to one of the managerial people there who said the situation does seem to have been "daft".

She thinks an over-conscientious assistant was to blame as it is *not* general M&S policy to question adults buying wine with a meal deal, whoever is with them.

They are encouraged to make ID checks if they have any tiny doubts about the age of the person buying alcohol or if they suspect alcohol is being bought on behalf of a minor. This hardly ever occurs in M&S, she remarked, as their booze is more expensive than Tesco, Asda etc.

Just curious but, as most of these stores offer home delivery if you order online,can you order wine etc, or do you have to provide proof of age?

No Merlin there seems to be no problem on that score.
I shop online using my debit card but delivery is always taken by my children who are always around at delivery time.
They are the same ones who were asked for ID in M&S but the delivery man hands it to them without question.
In truth, I have only ever had booze delivered in my christmas order...but it was handed to my children.

Sounds ridiculous to me and would be interesting to find out if it is in fact illegal to sell wine to an adult in the presence of others who may/may not be under age and likely to drink it. The other people in the queue with small children /infants could be neglectful and one of their children drink the alcohol or heaven forefend put a little nip in the bottle to help the baby sleep as happened back in the day.


Vera

The law quite clearly state, if the person selling alcohol believes the person purchasing the alcohol is supplying it to person under the age of 18, then they must refuse the sale. these are not silly store policies , the laws on selling alcohol , states quite clearly the person selling the alcohol is the person that can be fined or jailed , or both for a breach of the law,

Spoke to our youngest (mid 20's but looks late teens) about this. She says that she is always ID'd.

They also want to see her boyfriend's ID if he is with her.....and he is in his 30's with a beard and touches of grey hair!

She did the jumping up and down bit in Morrison's once citing as others have done about mothers having obvious school age children with her.

It hasn't affected me but what I find annoying is all this is to stop under age drinking. But nothing seems to stop it so where are the under age drinkers getting their booze?

So there is some discretion. If the person selling the alcohol is confident that the alcohol is not going to be consumed by others (present at the time) they can sell it.
So the shops are not necessarily following the law they are just playing safe. In the circumstances described if the younger women did not have their ID's, the wine would not be able to be sold and therefore the 'meal deal' returned. Still think its ridiculous.

Vera

So would you rather that these shops sold to anyone?
As Robert rightly says, the law is very clear on this issue and the stores are acting responsibly and within the law.
The law does not state that a store/individual has to ID a person. It states the sale of alcohol to a minor or the sale of alcohol to someone on behalf of a minor is illegal.
Thus, they have a perfect right to ask for ID to cover themselves within the boundaries and confines of the law.

Have changed Avi for 1 day only to show all 3 in question

One thing puzzles me. The legal age to consume alcohol is 18 but the shops have set the age at 25, that is +7 over the legal age. so people in their 30s are suspected of being under the legal age limit of 18. Not many 30 year olds look and dress like 18 year olds. So the shops have actually changed the law so that the legal age is 25??

Don't think the shops have actually increased the age for purchasing alcohol - they just check the ages on ID.

If someone works in retail and knows different, please say if this is not so.

NB - I can understand why the daughter to the left of your avatar would be ID'd. She does look young!

Actually, our youngest had a laugh with a check-out assistant. She told her that she expected that a supervisor would be called over to sanction the sale. The assistant said that she was 24 :-)

LOL Detective...
Daughter on left of Avi is the eldest and is almost 26 yrs old.
Photo is just a few weeks old

Errol - No, not sell to anyone. Just use their discretion which is within the law. This was an obvious adult, buying a family meal in the presence of younger adults. I'm sure discretion would have been applied if the loss of a sale of food was involved.

Vera

Anne next time go in by yourself,,,,,, :-D,

M&S worker friend said as much of whats in Gwynne post and if it happens again take it up with floor supervisor.