Proof of Age / ID

[Yew]

As an aside a young female colleague of mine (over 18 & possibly over 21 too at the time) was refused alcohol at a branch of Tesco when I happened to be at the next till. I offered to assist by verifying that she was over 18 and producing my Police warrant card & other bona fides. Was this acceptable? - No, it was not! Also I was informed that I personally was being refused the sale of any alcohol (I did not wish to purchase any so the point was moot) in case I later supplied my colleague with it. It was all rather surreal.

This in one form of behavior I feel is truly vile, They have no evidence that you would supply the aforementioned product to the your colleague, sales are made to an individual, not a group, whom that individual associates with, no matter their age, is not evidence that they will or wish to supply alcohol to them. The law simply catches out the innocent, whilst allowing those who wish to circumvent the system can get away with it.


Interestingly most staff have a different reaction when a mother and child go throug a till with a bottle of wine... Pure age discrimination.

 

[WestCoast]

I work part-time as a checkout operator at a big supermarket chain, which applies a challenge 25 policy. We are told to accept a Drivers License, Passport or PASS card. I do actually see quite a lot of PASS cards as the local council issues them under a proof of age scheme. Foreign documents are a grey area really, I'd accept them though.

I'm one of the few operators aged under 25 working on the checkouts at my store, but I can't be any less strict. I've never IDd any parents with their kids, even if I have my suspicions about a father and teenage daughter buying a few bottles of WKD in with a weekly shop (its not my place really is it?). I have IDd groups of young people together before though. I employ common sense and am reasonable with people, I wouldn't however take anyone's word for a customer being overage from anyone. Managers at this company are not allowed to overrule staff asking for ID.

 

[Nym]

I've seen this happen! The mother raised her voice, and most of the customers around all the tills were staring in disbelief at the cashier in question. You should have seen the face palm expression on the Manager who turned up to resolve the situation!

And how is the situation of for example, mother / father and teenage daughter / son (daughter less likely to get IDed to be honest) any different to a 25 year old and their 16 year old partner who will not be drinking? (Because they're 16...)

Certain till assistants don't like this pointing out to them when they ask me for ID, provided to prove that I am 25 and then when asking for his are supprised when I ask why, then point out he's 16 and will not be consuming alcahol... Leaves them lost and confused most of the time.

(Then again, neither of us drink blue WKD at home, have been known to have this, or derivatives thereof while out, but not while at home...)

PS: He's 18 now...

 

[tony_mac]

It is against the law to sell alcohol to someone if they are purchasing it on behalf of someone under 18, and it's something drilled into colleagues when they are trained.

As far as I can tell, that isn't correct.

After all, how could the seller possibly have any control over that? Every single buyer could be purchasing for somebody under 18.

It is an offence to buy it on behalf somebody under 18, but not to sell it.
Yes, if they know it's for somebody under 18, then they could be complicit in that offence, but being vaguely suspicious that the buyer is committing an offence really shouldn't qualify (or nobody in the country would be selling Rizla!)

Seeing as it's also an offence to sell alcohol if you are under 18, I wonder if I could ask for i.d. from any checkout staff that look under 25

 

[WestCoast]

Seeing as it's also an offence to sell alcohol if you are under 18, I wonder if I could ask for i.d. from any checkout staff that look under 25

No, since our employers make us prove our identity, never mind just our age!

At the end of the day, most of us are reasonable and sensible people. But at my employer they regularly do internal audits with people that management deem to look under 25. That's in addition to the very serious Trading Standards tests. If we don't ask for ID, it can land us in very hot water.

Telling what someones age is at a glance can be extremely difficult. Try it next time you're in a shop, can you tell the difference between someone who's 24 and 25 in under 10 seconds? I rely on my job to help me through Uni. Even if I don't agree with the policy, I'm going to err on the side of caution if it means keeping a stable income!

In addition to this, on Friday and Saturday nights, my store had a big problem with kids hanging around in the car park asking adults to purchase alcohol for them. When these kids got a crate of beer, the store was flamed by the local press and the council wasn't best pleased either*. So we've had to be super careful during those times as well. It's no wonder some of the staff dread age-restricted sales.

*AFAIK, nothing happened to the customers who purchased alcohol for the kids (or they were never identified), as this is a criminal offence. The store took most of the blame!!

 

[deltic1989]

I have been refused service for age restricted products in a variety of establishments. Not because of a lack of acceptable Identification as I carry my Driving Licence as a matter of course, but because I have 1 or other or all 3 of my children with me.
It should be noted at this point that my eldest child is my Son at 6.
I don't tend to take it too personally now I just go across the road to the competitor and have a laugh with the cashier there about it, but the first couple of time this happened I felt like the cashier was trying to make some sort of comment about my parenting I even said "Oh yes because I'm going to allow my Son to drink this bottle of wine and smoke these cigarettes". There is doing your job and then there is taking the Mickey, a lot of people can take these situations very personally.

The best one that I ever had though was at a Wetherspoons in Northampton though.
According to their rules I cannot purchase alcohol if I have a child or children with me unless I buy a meal. If I buy a meal then I can drink until I fall over. Please tell me how that makes any sense whatsoever?

 

[richw]

I have also been refused service in a supermarket whilst having my children with me, My eldest is 3 and my other is 1.
The same cashier then served me when my wife and I had put the children in the car, and I went back in on my own whilst wife stayed with kids in the car. I wouldn't normally of bothered but I was short of time and we were entertaining that evening, so having a bottle of wine was quite important for the entertaining!

 

[TEW]

As far as I can tell, that isn't correct.

After all, how could the seller possibly have any control over that? Every single buyer could be purchasing for somebody under 18.

It is an offence to buy it on behalf somebody under 18, but not to sell it.
Yes, if they know it's for somebody under 18, then they could be complicit in that offence, but being vaguely suspicious that the buyer is committing an offence really shouldn't qualify (or nobody in the country would be selling Rizla!)

Seeing as it's also an offence to sell alcohol if you are under 18, I wonder if I could ask for i.d. from any checkout staff that look under 25

It has to be sold knowing that it is for somebody under 18. So it's only really applicable if you become suspicious of the sale. If there's a group who look about 18 you'd ask for ID from all, but you don't check with every customer that they aren't buying alcohol for under 18s. It only applies to alcohol too, not other age restricted products like Tobacco. You can sell alcohol if you're under 18, provided the sale is supervised by someone over 18.

 

[BrownE]

(I even present my MOD 90 army ID too)

An MOD90 is not a valid form of ID outside of the Ministry of Defence. Where I'm currently working, which is part of the MoD no longer accepts just MOD90s from visitors, it must be accompanied by another form of photo ID. Of course some banks, building societies, pubs and clubs will accept it anyway because it meets the requirement of a name, age and (on old style MOD90s, a) signature. However, the security features are poor, the strongest security feature is arguably the written warning on the back reminding people unauthorised possession, use, retention is a criminal offence.

 

[trentside]

An MOD90 is not a valid form of ID outside of the Ministry of Defence. Where I'm currently working, which is part of the MoD no longer accepts just MOD90s from visitors, it must be accompanied by another form of photo ID. Of course some banks, building societies, pubs and clubs will accept it anyway because it meets the requirement of a name, age and (on old style MOD90s, a) signature. However, the security features are poor, the strongest security feature is arguably the written warning on the back reminding people unauthorised possession, use, retention is a criminal offence.

Once witnessed a friend of a friend almost get his MOD90 confiscated by bar staff in a Walkabout Bar - she was convinced it was a "fake ID". Fortunately my friend also had an MOD90 and was able to convince the woman it was a real thing, and point out the wording on the back. It wasn't accepted as ID by the bar staff, and given the way he was treated, we soon made our way elsewhere.

 

[redbutton]

I know this won't help the OP but can anyone confirm that certain States in the U.S. issue non-driving driving licenses so people who can't drive can still have an acceptable form of I.D.?

Yes. Every state offers a state ID card that is identical to the driving license with the exception of the driving privilege. I bet you could Google Image search some examples. Try "non-driver identification" or "state ID card".