Seventy two year old man stopped from buying alcohol

[shawty]

Originally Posted by freezin

If checkout operators use their judgement and they are wrong, they personally faces a large fine, losing their job, and a criminal record, and the store runs the risk of having its licence to sell alcohol revoked. I worked for a supermarket last year, where staff were constantly reminded of these risks.

Some of the customers who get challenged are understandably very irate, but I don't blame the staff for not taking the slightest chance. With the threats they face, who can blame them for being paranoid? Why should supermarkets and their staff make a stand against this nonsense? Nobody else does.

People 30 or 40+ do not look 18, some people need common sense.

[PeteTheMusicGuy]

The the only time I've been ever asked for ID was when I was living in Toronto. I never get asked for ID round here.

I wonder if it's the fact that I am a very tall guy

[SydneyHopper]

But, doesn't everyone over the age of sixty seem drunk?

[Mal]

Originally Posted by danielf

25? They are suggesting you have to prove you're over 25 to buy beer now?

Well that's what the operator told me.

Originally Posted by shawty

People 30 or 40+ do not look 18, some people need common sense.

That is my point. I do not look younger than 25 or 21 so how can the till operator risk getting fined and/or a criminal record?

Fair enough, there are people on the borderline where it is better to be safe than sorry, but I have seen them ask people in their 50's and above. Come on, let them use their own judgement, instead of a blanket question.

[Stuart]

Originally Posted by Damien

They can, It's just policy to ask anyone who looks under 21. I guess because some teenagers can look over 18...

I had two friends (well, more than two, but two that illustrate this point).

One, who even at 13 could pass for 18 easily (even to the point they could get served in pubs, or rent 18 videos).

The other, who was 24 and got stopped doing both regularly enough (even at a local club, Langtrys in Beckenham, that has a reputation for allowing under-age girls in) that she routinely carried proof of her age.

Back to the point:

I can see that what has probably happend is that the store published this policy. The manager, wanting to look efficient to his superiors has probably asked his staff to go above and beyond what is required by the policy, so the woman has enforced the policy a little rigidly..

Either that, or the lady was in the middle (or at the end) of a long shift, and *really* wasn't thinking (I worked for Blockbuster, been there, done that).

Either way it is good sense for the store to apologise, even if they are in the right.

Originally Posted by shawty

People 30 or 40+ do not look 18, some people need common sense.

I agree but it's not just the checkout operator that needs common sense, it's the government and the police who have induced the present situation, and the under age drinkers themselves. The checkout operator should not be carrying the can for under age drinking unless they sell to someone who is obviously under age.

Checkout operators should not be placed in a position whereby they feel they need to be so cautious, and they have been placed in that position by the rigid enforcement of the law. That's the way the law is applied now.

[Graham M]

Cigarettes are the same age limit as alcohol now for anyone who's 16th birthday didn't come after the new legislation came in

Originally Posted by Zeph

Cigarettes are the same age limit as alcohol now for anyone who's 16th birthday didn't come after the new legislation came in

And so are Tippex and razor blades! The list of products for which the checkout operator must assess age is growing ever longer.

[grungernut]

If checkout operators use their judgement and they are wrong, they personally faces a large fine, losing their job

When the person is visibly a pensioner this is just a pathetic line and the stores are just taking it too far as there was no chance of a fine here. This was a case of "we have been caught out before so we will treat everybody the same cos our staff are too dumb to figure it themselves"


Bottom line,if you want to buy alchohol, DO NOT go to morrisons, simple really.

[Graham M]

Originally Posted by freezin

And so are Tippex and razor blades! The list of products for which the checkout operator must assess age is growing ever longer.

It was long enough last time I was in retail! You can't help feel sorry for these people surely

Yet nobody is allowed to buy more than two packs of Paracetamol from the same store. Which is a laugh.

[Graham M]

Originally Posted by Enuff

Yet nobody is allowed to buy more than two packs of Paracetamol from the same store. Which is a laugh.

Why is that a laugh?

Originally Posted by grungernut

When the person is visibly a pensioner this is just a pathetic line and the stores are just taking it too far as there was no chance of a fine here. This was a case of "we have been caught out before so we will treat everybody the same cos our staff are too dumb to figure it themselves"

Bottom line,if you want to buy alchohol, DO NOT go to morrisons, simple really.

Asking someone if they are over 18 is NOT against the law (although asking an elderly man is ultra, ultra cautious). Selling alcohol to someone who is under age IS against the law, with checkout operator held personally responsible. The store at the centre of this 72 year old's complaint had been fined before, and the checkout staff had been asked to ask everyone as a precaution. Do you know that it wasn't this particular member of staff who was a guilty party in the previous fine? If she had been on the receiving end of a dressing down by the police? The staff are not dumb, and don't like having to ask any more than customers like to be questioned. If people obeyed the law, staff would not be put in this position.

What is the problem if asked politely if you are over 18? If you are, it's simple enough to answer 'yes', collect your goods and be on your way.

Originally Posted by Zeph

Why is that a laugh?

Because you can walk out of that store into another and buy two more packs, then out of that store into another etc etc...

[SMHarman]

and when you, your partner and your children are sick and you go into a store to by such drugs for all of them the limit means that in your weakened state you need to go back 24 hours later as the lot of you have got through the amount you can buy in one shop!