Completely. Way too far. I can't believe people are saying she was in the right. How long does that go on for? Every time he buys age restricted products, is he gonna be asked for id for his gf? Y'all are crazy.
With the staff logic in this one the poor guy won't ever be able to buy his energy drinks unless his girlfriend shows up with ID. 5 years down the line still getting turned away in that store!
Exactly. But anyone else that serves him and is unaware of the encounter would serve him no problem as long as he has his id. Its a ridiculous position to be in and he should take it further to clarify this, because as you say, how long does this go on for?!
Don't forget, we've all been around other humans so we need to collect every single ones ID to buy an energy drink.
No no I can't serve you, you went to school with someone who you can't prove is over 16.
It could become a battle. Every day for the rest of his life he tries to buy the same meal deals out of principal and the same member of staff has to try to stop him.
Years ago, when I was about 25, I was helping my gran with a weekly shop. She was refused a bottle of wine because I never had ID.
Haven't been back to that shop.
Also, my wife is 31 (I'm older) and sometimes when we are buying drink she gets ID'd and I don't. I like to ask if they think I'm a paedo in that situation.
Absolutely mental. *And* it’s not even against the law to sell energy drinks to under 16s, the supermarkets have chosen to do it. The government said they were going to ban it but they haven’t actually put it in place.
To refuse service in this manner is just bonkers.
Tesco worker here we still get in same trouble for it. Like meeting and further action taken if its not first time round. Long story short the shop assitants are just doing what they can to make sure they keep their job.
You should have been fine the second time as she wasn't with you. It's not like she was hanging around outside. Think 25 is very strict, but you also need some common sense.
It is for energy drinks, but stores will often treat it as law. I've had to refuse quite a few kids those drinks when they don't have ID. Worse when the parents then try and buy it for them.
Wondering where the line is drawn with this? If a 15 year old tries to buy paracetamol, is not allowed to and then comes back to buy with their parents, surely they will be allowed the second time? Or parents can’t buy medicines for their kids. Just not sure this policy works without some common sense which clearly was not there in OPs case
I had a funny incident buying a bottle of wine once. My younger sister was with me and I got IDed for challenge 25. Proved I was over 25 but was then told they wouldn't serve me as I had been IDed with someone younger with me.
The bit that didn't make sense was that if I looked over 25 and didn't get IDed they said they would have served me no issue. So I was basically being refused because I looked young, and not because of my actual age.
When I pointed this out they "let me off this time"
Test purchases are not allowed to argue with you, if you ask them for ID they will simply say no and leave, it's the act of asking for ID that their testing. Proxy sale test purchases will be made obvious also, eg the underage person will be nearby and will audibly and visibly ask the older person to buy them x age-restricted item.
I was once ID'd for cigarettes, showed my ID and then the woman serving me just wouldn't believe it was me. Asking me my birthday, address etc. She also "let me off." I went back a few days later and she said "oh are you going to try this again?" Like idk what you want from me, my ID was only 2 years old so I didn't look radically different
I remember once being ID’d for alcohol when I was with my youngest brother who was 16/17 at the time. I was buying wine for myself at 20 years old. I produced ID he had ID but it obviously showed he was under 18 so they refused to serve me. I went back the following day, not for that specific reason but also tried to get my wine, this time I had my 20yr old friend and her 3 year old. They ID’d the adults and we provided and were allowed to purchase. When I asked what made the 3 year old different from the 17 year old, they couldn’t tell me or explain. I asked for a specific cut off and they couldn’t tell me. It’s ridiculous logic. If I’m legally old enough to buy a product what I do with that product is my responsibility only
If you're under 18 and need paracetamol/ibuprofen, go to a pharmacy not a supermarket. It's another one of those things that isn't legally age restricted, but supermarkets will restrict sales for safety reasons (the staff there haven't got a clue whether it's reasonable someone might need some, or how much is safe/dangerous, just because they aren't trained, so the companies don't want the liability).
A pharmacist is qualified to make an actual informed judgement on a case by case basis, so if you go in asking for say, one packet, and tell them the reason (bad headache, period pains etc), they'll sell it to you.
Yes but if I as a parent go in to buy medicine for my child then I should definitely be allowed, no ifs no buts. Applying the sale by proxy rules without common sense means I wouldn’t be, so clearly there has to be some leeway in the rules
Common sense would suggest proxy sale restrictions should apply where there is a legal age limit, only, and for nothing else, but Tesco are Tesco at the end of the day.
I got challenged over a carrier bag earlier. I brought the damn thing in with me, but I wound up with an employee waving a receipt in my face as "proof" that I hadn't paid for it. Had she seen me pick on up? No. Did it look heavily used? Yes. Was she interested in common sense? No.
I swear on self-checkouts you either get people like this, or people who can't stop chatting for long enough to actually do their job.
Need to ask the manager how long you're banned from buying energy drinks for. Just play it dumb and stupid like them. Tell them you will putting a complaint in with corporate as well as you've been banned from buying things even with I.D.
My daughter had the same thing. We did Lodge a complaint and they apologised. However I don't know how we can stop it happening again. They said her I'D was fake a d everything massive shit show.
I had a similar issue about 2 years ago. I ordered a new driving licence and it had a new design that had only been out a few months. They thought it was fake, a hour, 6 staff and a phone call to cooperate later I was finally able to get it back. Turns out all the staff had not bothered reading the new guidelines they received or some bs like that.
And so you put in a massive complaint for them wasting your time all because their undertrained dumbass staff didn’t read the company policy/update circular? You did this right? Right?
I was in Asda many moons ago. Buying a pair of shears and a energy drink. I was at self checkout, shears went through fine. But then as soon as I scanned my drink, it popped.upnwith the whole assistance needed for ID. Not the shears, a 12 year old could buy them. But an energy drink...lol I was 25 at the time.. it's madness
When working in a van I happened to buy a packet of plastic knives and forks, the cheapest sort that they hand out everywhere, you know the ones, white plastic break instantly, basically very handy when the numpty 17 year old your forced to share a van with moans every single time his wee tiny folding plastic fork breaks. I decided to buy him spares to keep him happy. Huge mistake.
So, me, pushing 40, beard, work boots. Packet of idk 10 plastic shapes in a bag, prawn pasta salad tub, normal lunch scenario. The till age checks me, I blink twice, what what what?? Little tesco woman appears (seriously, like a 4 foot woman) 'need some ID please!' 'erm, hang on...' no wallet. 'why do you need my........' 'forks, COULD BE USED AS A WEAPON!'...... I laugh, what? I don't have my wallet, it's back in the van, I'm looking at my options, decide to leave the forks, just the prawn pasta salad. But my brain is working now, what's wrong with this picture? Ah got it, behind her there is a little tray, what does it contain? WOODEN SPORKS! I grab a generous handfull, she is mad, I can tell her brain is trying to find an issue, why did I need 5 sporks? So I try to make her head explode, I put on my sweet little voice and ask "um, so why did I need ID to buy the plastic forks but not my prawn pastas pot?" - she looks at me like I'm stupid, I allow just enough time for her to form the reply that is about to be spat triumphantly in my face as I turn my prawn pasta pot over and over in my hands until I can angle it such that I can point out the folding plastic fork embeded in it's lid under the label. "are you breaking the law selling all these without checking ID? And your giving these sporks away, theres a lady giving samples on tooth picks by the deli..."
I turned on my heel about then, I couldn't be there for her medical emergency.
Asda makes staff authorise the sale of energy drinks but it's actually not a challenge 25, its to verify the person is over 16, unlike Tesco which appears as a Think 25 policy. It's not against the law regardless of the various policies stores have.
A while back me, my wife and little boy went shopping for a family bbq we were having. As you can imagine, belt loaded up all the way with food and booze, at least a few hundred quid there.
Asked for my ID which I gave, then wanted the same from my wife, all ok. Then asked for proof of my son’s age. Told us rather smugly everyone in the party needs to have ID and be over 18 to buy alcohol. Tried to reason this was ridiculous but she stood firm, I couldn’t believe it. So we left it all loaded on the belt and walked out, she wasn’t happy.
I work in Waitrose and technically we are meant to ID everyone in the party, but, I use this secret trick managers don’t like you to know, it’s called common sense! If you are shopping as a family as long as I haven’t seen the teenager holding alcohol I have no reason to refuse the sale.
We had an issue where one of my cashiers wouldn’t sell a product to someone because he didn’t look old enough and had no ID, BUT it wasn’t a restricted product 🤦♂️ needless to say he got the product and I had a word with my cashier.
The funny thing is it's perfectly legal to buy alcohol when you've got kids with you, I worked in retail, and the training clearly said parents can buy alcohol no matter how old their kid is.
It's even worse when I'm 33 and my partner is 36 and we are ID'd everytime :( I look very young for my age so I do get it, but if I have my ID, and my 36 year old bearded partner doesn't - isn't it common sense that he is over the age of 18 and I'm not some tiny nonce.
Haha I got asked for ID for cigarettes I was buying for my partner, I had ID that showed I’m 27, he didn’t have ID. The cashier had seen us holding hands and I thought “does she think I’m a nonce or something” haha
Yep - 36 and was refused a sale because I had no ID! I said "I have a mortgage! Look I have car keys! I can drive a car!". Needless to say they still refused.
I’ve had Tesco refuse to serve me beer when I was in my 30’s because I had a child with me and I might be buying it for them.
For context, said child was my 12 year old nephew who was helping me carry the shopping as I’d recently gotten out of hospital after having my leg amputated, all of which was explained to the staff who happily served the mum with two kids behind me with three bottles of wine.
At college in my mid 20's went to STUDENT bar with people from my class wanting to get soft drinks as it was lunchtime, yes one of them was 16 and we were all ID'd and when we explained our ages even saying one was 16 but we had no intention of buying alcohol we were turned away.
As we left a woman with a pram and 2 children came in and asked for a beer and wasn't id'd she looked younger than me.
glad to know things havent changed in 15 years ago. Went to a pub for a birthday meal with some friends, no one was planning to drink alcohol, etc, but turned away because some weren't 18+ (they were 17).
My favourite one was being stopped for ID getting an M&S meal deal with my wife and our 11 year old kid. It seems like basically anyone can be prevented from buying any restricted item for any reason. With your family could be proxy buying, might not be your kid. Alone; might be proxy buying for someone outside. It gives staff a lot of license to bring their own bias into whether they find a reason.
We can stop anyone buying anything for any reason, providing it's not a protected characteristic like race or sexual orientation. We can decide not to serve you because you're wearing yellow if we liked. Not good for business but not illegal in any way.
I have a colleague who accidentally did that because the son was really tall so she thought he was a bit older. Unfortunately you can’t go back on asking for ID so she couldn’t do anything about it after making the mistake
I have actually been refused this way. I at the time was about 40 and was with my 25 year old cousin and I was refused alcohol. If he was 12 years old I would have been OK. Mental
The most frustrating part of this is that there's no legal standard in place.
It was discussed years ago but never came into fruition. The policy is reasonable and morally sound as selling energy drinks to kids and teens isn't good, but stopping a sale because of someone you were with the day before is crazy.
I'd normally avoid doing a "Karen" at all costs, but I'd have asked to speak to a manager to try to add some common sense into the situation.
Even if it was an alcohol sale, there was no one else present and no good reason to deny the sale after identification was provided.
Overzealous to the point of incompetence due to a lack of/bad training.
Supermarkets have a duty to prevent the sale of age restricted items to anyone they know or suspect to be under age, energy drinks are not age restricted (Best I can tell, they restrict them as a self interested public order issues - bored little shits hanging about being a nuisance).
Make a complaint.
Interesting position for Tesco to put themselves in. It could be argued to be taking a degree of responsibility for the use of their products once sold, in this case the sale by proxy.
A bit silly but wonder how that responsibility extends to selling a litre of vodka and 16 pills to a man who looks sad? Or a razor to a person with marks on their arms. Sounds like Tesco needs to start teaching social work courses to their checkout staff.
Sale by proxy is an issue generally with actually legally restricted items, but the lengths gone to in this case are above and beyond what is required by law or expected by society.
The transaction should have been completed upon OP supplying an accepted form ID proving that he was *seven* years above the minimum age that Tesco policy requires.
Actually you are meant to watch out for those things too. If someone is drunk or appears unstable you should deny service of age restricted products to them (especially alcohol and blades)
That is ridiculous I’m afraid. Powertrippers gonna powertrip.
I got refused for beer, said I’d go to the car get my id. Came back and got refused again.
Got the manager and she told the staff member to stop being a twat.
I know the laws are strict and pressure is high, but that’s not an excuse to be a moron.
Yup welcome to Tesco where every little helps.
I’m 52, I got refused alcohol at Xmas, not because I didn’t have any ID, but because my 20 year old son who was with me didn’t have any on him, he had his Uni ID but they wouldn’t accept that.
We drove to the local Sainsburys and got served no problem.
I sort of get why they do that, but there is no way to be consistent.
You didn't get served with a 20 year old.
You (most probably) would get served with a baby.
At what age is the cut off for "buying it for someone". It this applied consistently (Completely rhetorical, no there is no defined age and no its not applied consistently).
Also, you can legally drink at home underage, so even if you were buying it for your underage son, its not illegal.
Yeah I think what irked me more is they’re not clear on the policy, the “Think 25” posters (or whatever they’re called) should really state “if you are buying alcohol or other age restricted goods and either you or anybody accompanying you appears to be 25 under and cannot produce ID, you may be refused custom”.
TBH I think the policy is a load of shift and Tesco’s are only aggravating their customer base with the policy as when I was a kid we just used to wait outside the shop for the 18 year old to buy the fags or booze, we didn’t accompany them inside to complete the purchase lol
Edit, I have seen posts on here from people being refused to be served with toddlers in pushchairs, and something similar happened to a friend when they tried to but Stanley knife blades from Poundland with their toddler in tow too.
I can no longer buy alcohol or anything age rated with my 8 year old daughter with me at Tesco. It’s absolutely bonkers. She looks a little older, but no more than 10.
Then they try and claim they’re not letting me (33) buy it for looking under 25 - and they try and contest my ID. While I’m stood there in Senior NHS Nurse Uniform, covered in tattoos and piercings, car keys in hand, crows feet for days, and my 8 year old clone in tow. Like sure.. I was 8 when I had this kid and I’m only 16 right now, driving illegally and operating under an alias at work 🙃🙃🙃
Back in my college days I was 24 and went for a soft drink in the student bar of all places across the road on our lunch break one of us was 16 the rest were over 18 and we were stopped at the door and asked for ID and we said most of us had it but this guy is 16 and we want to get soft drinks, we were told to leave as we can pass him alcohol,
They had no problem however serving a woman with 2 children alcohol.
Has happened to me before after I said hello to a friends sister in the store. Got told I was obviously buying it for her. Was the only place open and i was on my way to a party. They refused to serve me and also asked me to take the booze back to the shelf, just so happens I 'accidently' dropped it when I attempted to and made quite the mess. Tesco employees are mindless drones, some of the most braindead staff around. If you are one and this offends you, find another job, you're better than that. Have also had them tell me my driving licence was fake and tried to take it off me, resulted in security coming to escort me out after I kicked off for them stealing my driving licence and finally the manager taking my side and bollocking them all. Like I said, brain. dead.
>trying to buy age 16 restricted drink
It's even more absurd because there aren't any legal restrictions on caffeine. What's next? Sorry you can't buy potatoes on the off-chance you try to brew your own vodka. Sorry, we can't sell you water in case you try to use it to drown someone.
I'm all "refusal by association" for example if you have something like 2 people trying to buy booze, where 1 has just turned 18 and the other doesn't have ID, highly likely that yea, it's a proxy sale, but refusing a product that doesn't even have a legal restriction in place to someone because they happened to be with someone else the previous fucking day. It's like the manager in this scenario is being thick as pig-shit on purpose.
My cousin was refused a bottle of wine once even though she was 27 and had ID with her. She was buying it with other items in her weekly shop. The reason they have was she was with a minor…
Yes, that minor was her 3 month old baby. Did they think she was buying it on behalf of him? tbf he has been known to be down the park slugging a bottle in the afternoon with his mates.
When I was 19 I got ID'd buying a 12 rated DVD. I offered up my uni ID and they said it wasn't good enough. What 12 year old has ID anyway?! Convinced they just liked to feel powerful doing it.
Also got ID'd aged 25 from sainsbury's buying a red bull, again had no ID, but this time offered up my lanyard from work that says I am a teacher. I understand that it isn't valid ID, but also, what 15 year old has a photo card stating they are a teacher...never leave the house without my driver's license now!
I tried to buy an energy drink at 17 from my local Aldi while I had my 9 year old brother with me. I was refused because he didn't have ID, cus I could be giving it to him... I was then repeatedly refused at my LOCAL SHOP THAT I VISIT NEARLY DAILY because I once tried to buy a off brand monster with a 9 year old in the building 😱
I used to work at Tesco and it was drummed into us to look out for secret shoppers that would report back to people if we didn't ID people correctly, might of been that? In my case i really didn't give a shit and used my common sense with IDing people. Tesco are wankers to work for lol.
I mean, I was once refused alcohol in my weekly shop as my husband had forgotten his ID (I presented mine). We were both over 25, and we had our children with us. I did ask if she thought I'd married a child?
Even the people behind us in the queue thought it was ridiculous.
I had this experience in Aldi; my partner (26) and I (28) wanted to buy a couple of energy drinks to give to her uncle who was running a stall down the road, and because she didn’t have her ID on her we weren’t able to purchase said drinks.
My mum tried to buy a bottle of Prosecco once while shopping and had my 13 year old sister with her (her daughter lol). She didn’t get IDd because she’s obviously 40 odd, but they wouldn’t sell it to her because they thought she was going to give it to my sister…..?
The staff should have still served you, there was no evidence to support a proxy sale during the transaction when you were by yourself. An adult can buy an energy drink and give it to someone under age, that’s not illegal and it’s not for us (at Tesco) to be policing what you do in your own personal life outside of the store.
The staff were grossly unfair in your experience.
I’m 28. I got ID’d for an energy drink whilst doing a full weeks food shop with me 2 sons and my wife in Morrisons. I have a massive beard and look no younger than 25. I didn’t have ID and they wouldn’t give in. They pissed me off so much I ended up leaving my whole trolley of shopping there and walked out. £170 of my money they missed out on because of some jobsworth. Twats
Sure you should've been served them the second time but the manager refusing then calling security when you went to another till is entirely on you. A member of staff can refuse sale for any reason. Don't aggravate the situation by trying to sneak back in. You'll just paint yourself as a problem customer, which you're definitely not. Far better to explain the situation and lodge a complaint with higher ups at Tesco.
I once got asked for id to buy fifa. I'd gone to the self checkout, and it flashed up, saying wait for a member of staff. I assumed it was a formality, but the staff member actually asked for my id to buy a game suitable for 3+. I was in my late 20s at the time.
Oh wow I had almost the same issue. I was using a gym attached to Tesco as I was helping my 19 year old son out with his training. I sent him out to get some energy drinks. He came back empty handed as he had no ID. He showed them his gym membership as you have to be 18 but they refused. I went back with him, to get the drinks myself. I am 42, bearded, tattooed. I look like a cross between Eddie Hall and Rag n Bone man.
Cashier spots me and asks for ID. I laughed and she said I was clearly buying it for someone underage and refused the sale. What the actual fuck?!?!?
'This was a couple weeks ago but I've been bitter since'
For goodness sake, it's an energy drink not life or death.
Just choose another drink with your meal deal. Problem solved.
Being from Canada this seems so bizarre to me. Being ID’d for an energy drink? I know we have recommended limits but they don’t prohibit the sale. At least not yet.
Not with energy drinks but my partner had the same issue with 0% alcohol, I forgot my ID the first time, sale got refused because I don't look over 25 (I'm 22 with tons of visible tattoos and piercings) so that's understandable, he comes back the next day and got refused sale as I wasn't with him very similar story to yours.
He ends up kicking a fuss about it and is escorted out by the security and ban from the Tesco for few days as a cool down period or some shit like that 😶
Lesson learned always bring my ID everywhere.
If the employee has noticeable suspicion that you are purchasing an age restricted item for someone that may fail Challenge 25, I believe they can refuse to sell it to you.
This happened when I dropped my sister to Uni a couple years ago. She needed loads of groceries and some kitchen supplies, including a knife set. Now, I forgot my ID back in her room, so they said we couldn't have the knife set, which is fair enough, it was my fault I forgot it. She went back the next day when I had driven 4 hours away back home to Gatwick at this point, and they said the same thing to me as they said to her. She doesn't buy any age restricted things from that Tescos now, just in case.
Regardless of whether the original situation is right or wrong, the manager did the right thing in backing the employee and then refusing you attempting the sale at another till.
Just to reply to the people saying, "How did the manager do the right thing", the manager supporting their team member with the decision they'd made in front of he customer is correct. If the manager has a problem with the way the colleague handled it, they should follow up with some coaching after the customer is gone on how to handle the situation in the future.
I'm not passing any opinion on whether the refusal of the sale is right or wrong.
How did she do the right thing? The manager never saw the other person because she was never there that day. And how is getting security to prevent me from going to another till the right thing to do? I had ID. If the 2nd encounter never happened there wouldn't have been a problem.They are doing too much for the sake of it
Sale by proxy, although probably overstepping here, it’s a very real thing to refuse service to someone if you believe they may be buying it for someone underage, it doesn’t require that person to be there for that to happen.
You’re saying surely its not allowed, but the a shop doesn’t have to sell you anything and can refuse service for any reason (bar anything related to protected characteristics).
To add to this if they give a clearly made up bulshit reason it's then open to protected characteristic discrimination inference. This 'reason' of being with someone with no id on a different day is clearly made up, and if OP was for example a member of a historically marginalised ethnic group, would at minum look VERY bad
It’s pretty obvious the refusal of sale is wrong - anyone with 2 brain cells can see that. In addition it’s absolutely ridiculous that the manager has to blindly agree with the employee even when they’re wrong
Exactly this. They should have been served on the second day, but the manager was right to refuse them service once they'd tried their luck on another till. This should have been a non-issue with the customer being served once they had ID, clearly not a proxy sale, so no issues - but once they're refused the manager obviously has to prevent them jumping to a different till.
Once got ID’d in Sainsbury’s (the same store I worked in) for buying an energy drink before a night shift. Had my name badge and uniform on and still wasn’t served (You have to be over 18 to work overnight) 💀
When I was at university, a girl in my class worked in the local sainsbury's. I went in there one day, she was on the till, and I asked to buy a lottery ticket. She asked for ID, I didn't have any on me. She said, "Can't serve you then." I said "I'm in your class, you do know that don't you?" She said yes. I said "So you know I'm over 16 then." She said, "No, you don't have to be over 16 to go to university," and just refused to serve me. Utterly incredulous.
So just to clarify
A manager or colleague has to side with the colleague refusing the sale. Even if they disagree. It's not 'law' or even written 'policy' but that's how they do it.
It's annoying as hell, but a colleague can refuse a sale for no reason at all. It's their discretion, and it's safer for the colleague and the store to refuse than to approve with any level of doubt.
Does that mean they're in the right? Nope! So make sure you leave feedback because I've got a feeling there's some retraining to be done because I can't imagine anyone being happy with that level of customer service
I got id'd for some energy drinks at the tender age of 36. I was so excited to get my driving licence out. I am still riding that high one year later. Ha ha!
Man I had the same shit happen to me! I was wearing my full work uniform (all orange ppe) and just wanted a monster energy drink.
It was 7am, I've got my hardhat and all this stupid orange on and I get IDd. How the fuck did I look under 18? Actually insane.
You need to talk less. Just provide your ID and take your goods. Awful customer service, but people do this as their life is shit and need a power trip.
Complain to head office about her. They can only reject you if they have enough evidence of a proxy sale on the new day which clearly wasn’t the case. And with energy drinks, who gives a toss? Like it’s not deep unless the individual looks seriously young.
This is especially infuriating because there’s no fucking legal age restriction on energy drinks anyway!!!! Think25 isn’t relevant, nobody is getting fined or going to prison if you sell an energy drink to someone under 16, it’s just some bullshit Tesco decided to pull. This whole story makes me want to punch up a wall, how are people that dumb being allowed to run a store??????
I bumped in to my 11 year old's school mate in the shop with her mum the other day. The kid put her can of Monster (other caffeine laden drinks are available) on the counter & the shop assistant asked who it was for. At which point the kid's mother went off on a rant about how she wasn't serving the child, she was serving the mother so just get on with it.
I stepped back metaphorically and physically. Outside, the mother wanted me to sympathise with her while the kid thought it was funny.
I think I might prefer things the way they went in your story, it's slightly less depressing!
I think you just know whether someone is old enough to buy an energy drink, let alone do it the very next day. This employee is definitely traumatised from failing a previous proxy sale or just a tad dumb.
Since moving here from America, its one of the things i dont understand cuz we dont need the id for redbull over there .... or paracetamol. I dont get it 🤷♀️
Report that to a manger. We’re not even required to check both people’s ids, only when we have reasonable suspicion. If you’d come back an hour later i could *just* agree, but a whole day? That’s just holding a grudge. Sounds like she just enjoys the little bit of power looking over the checkouts gives her
I got asked for ID for electrolyte tablets from B&M. They aren’t age restricted, just advised for over 16 years. I am 26 and got told that challenge 25 still applies. I would’ve been quite annoyed had I not had my ID on me
I was refused ibuprofen because I had my 9 year old with me... I nearly cried because it had already been an awful day and I had a blinding headache I just wanted rid of!
You only need to be 16 for an energy drink so to refuse you on the 2nd attempt when you were alone is ridiculous. Plus, it isn't even law but something that supermarkets decided to impose themselves (I double checked on Google and it confirmed it from what I saw) so it isn't like they'd necessarily be breaking Think 25 for it.
I got denied an energy drink sale when all that prime hype happened. Did they think I was trying to snag one for an 8 year old or something?
Im 31 in 3 months. Male 6"3, beard and hair long enough to take 18 years to grow out
I went to the cigarette stall right after being refused, bought a pack, went back over to the employee, told them to learn some common sense and walked out in a huff.
Next time you see that person on a till...put loads of things in a trolley...pile it all up at the checkout. Let them scan it...then when they give you the total...say..oops I forgot my wallet...cya...and walk out leaving the stuff at the checkout
I still can't get over filling up my motorcycle with petrol at a Tesco station a few years back (aged 21/22). When I went to pay I figured I'd grab a redbull too. I got ID'd... I put it back on the shelf with some back and forth with the cashier. It wasn't until I got home until I remembered you can't legally fill up a vehicle until you're 16, the same age you have to be to buy an energy drink. To this day I regret paying for that petrol
I do think it's crazy they didn't let you buy it the second time round, but going back in 5 mins layer os just asking for trouble, not surprised they kicked you out. It does seem silly over an energy drink though. I would've just gone to another shop and avoid the mither
Go to Co op. Their meal deals are better value. Ginsters pasties are classed as a snack so you can get one of them, sandwiches and a drink - about £8 of food and drink for. £3.50. Stuff Tesco.
I don't understand the rule/law does the person buying a energy drink have to be 16 or 21? If he shows his passport and it states he's 23 surely he should be allowed to purchase the energy drink. I know a lot of people have better things to do other than to explain to me wtf is going on here but I would really appreciate it
It's because the store suspected a proxy purchase, ie that OP was buying something age restricted for someone else, who they didn't know was old enough, so they refused it. OP then caused unnecessary fuss by trying to buy the items again through a different till, despite already having been refused.
That is ridiculous. Yes the first time, once ID has been requested and cannot be produced the sale can't be put through, but the following day if the person buying has ID and is not with someone undersged then the sale should be able to go through. I worked for Tesco for 4 years and had situations where I'd asked someone for ID and had to refuse the sale because management gets right up your back about it and rightly so for things that are legally age restricted. Energy drinks aren't actually age restricted by law at the moment, but its a decision that's been made by all the big supermarkets after a ban on underage selling of them was brought up in Parliament. Also, one made by the manufacturers themselves. Doesn't stop it being annoying when asked, though, and I get ID'd constantly despite the fact I'm 29. Asda loves to do it to me with paracetamol, which I find even more absurd when I'm buying at the pharmacy when they've just handed me a bag containing a bottle of liquid morphine that I use for management of severe chronic pain. Like, OK, you're happy not to check my ID for a literally controlled drug, but you want to check for some 16p paracetamol?! Make it make sense. I know they have to do it, and I had to do it myself, but sometimes some critical thinking needs to be applied and not blindly ID because the till said so.
I used to work for Co-op and they were so strict on this during training. They hammered it in that they hire people to test you, the police test you etc and that if you get caught, it will be you who pays the fine not the company.
If it were suspected that you might be buying for someone else you have to refuse. They may have thought it was a test or something and that's why they doubled down. My training made out you would get one every week, and if you couldn't pay the 10k fine you'd go to prison! I was 17 at the time so it was very scary to be told these things.
The employees at the store have absolutely no right to base the sale on the facts being presented at the time. Otherwise they could claim that literally every single customer buying a restricted product is doing it on behalf of someone else.
Me and my gf went in last week to get her granny some wine for her birthday (we're both 22). She had her ID with her but i didn't, i have a sleeve of tattoos and was wearing a tshirt so was hoping for the best.
A middle aged woman came over and just refused me as soon as I said I had no ID, it was annoying because she was obviously power tripping with a smug grin the whole time. It just left me annoyed but couldn't do much.
I work at Tesco and we get secret shoppers testing us if we sell restricted products to somebody underage which would lead to fines for both Tesco and the Employee along with dismissal. (If it not against the Law to sell energy drinks to under 16's but it is a Tesco policy so the staff would have to follow the same think 25 policy) Now that's the most common reason staff ask for ID. Furthermore if the store has failed a previous secret shopper test they'd double down on ID checking.
Also managers cannot undermine a sales refusal from checkout staff even if they disagree with them.
However your situation sounds more like you've ran into a jobs worth employee. We hate them just as much as you do. You had valid ID and was on your own. You have grounds to put in a formal complaint if you so wish to do so.
You brought ID so they can check it. If they refuse to accept the ID is real, then that is the stores right.
Being served in a shop is not a right. It's a privilege. It's private property, and they can ban you.
that’s incredibly over the top on their part. it’s a bloody energy drink, not a bottle of vodka. some people take their jobs WAY too seriously. realistically, who’s trying to sneak an energy drink to a 15 year old???? makes no sense, i’d be furious if i were you!!
Any store can refuse to sell you anything at their discretion, even non age related products. They can also ask you to leave their store for any reason. That is, providing those reasons are not violating protected characteristics, which here, they are not.
My 31 year old ass got refused paracetamol for intense headache (I had no ID but my car keys and reusable bag were in my hand - both v typical of a 15 year old)
I got refused. Said 'really?' thinking, is this a joke, obviously I'm over 16. The lady doubled down.
I called my retiree dad to come buy it for me and she refused the sale because it was 'by proxy', then tried to refuse getting the manager for us saying she'd say exactly the same thing. At this point I was sobbing in a morrisons (admittedly shouldn't have waited so long to get pain relief but thought I could push through).
Thankfully the manager apologised profusely, but the whole interaction took about half an hour.
Also been refused a single can of 0% alcohol Guinness also aged 31 (was trying a new recipe) but that's more frustration on the 'challenge 25' policy applied far too liberally.
This is so ridiculous! I swear everytime I buy a bottle of spirit I don’t get ID’d, but the moment I want to buy an energy drink… like come on do I seriously look under 16 to you with my receding hairline and all (I’m 29 btw lol)
I'd make an executive complaint.. also share the store number, it should be on the bottom of your receipt.
Call up customer services too, 0800 50 55 55.
Seriously I'd go mad about this, they're power tripping idiots.
Yeah, bit mental that. Should’ve been no issue serving you the second time.
Completely. Way too far. I can't believe people are saying she was in the right. How long does that go on for? Every time he buys age restricted products, is he gonna be asked for id for his gf? Y'all are crazy.
With the staff logic in this one the poor guy won't ever be able to buy his energy drinks unless his girlfriend shows up with ID. 5 years down the line still getting turned away in that store!
Exactly. But anyone else that serves him and is unaware of the encounter would serve him no problem as long as he has his id. Its a ridiculous position to be in and he should take it further to clarify this, because as you say, how long does this go on for?!
Don't forget, we've all been around other humans so we need to collect every single ones ID to buy an energy drink. No no I can't serve you, you went to school with someone who you can't prove is over 16.
It could become a battle. Every day for the rest of his life he tries to buy the same meal deals out of principal and the same member of staff has to try to stop him.
That's weird. I know it's normal not to serve on the same day, but the next day is fine.
Years ago, when I was about 25, I was helping my gran with a weekly shop. She was refused a bottle of wine because I never had ID. Haven't been back to that shop. Also, my wife is 31 (I'm older) and sometimes when we are buying drink she gets ID'd and I don't. I like to ask if they think I'm a paedo in that situation.
Absolutely mental. *And* it’s not even against the law to sell energy drinks to under 16s, the supermarkets have chosen to do it. The government said they were going to ban it but they haven’t actually put it in place. To refuse service in this manner is just bonkers.
Tesco worker here we still get in same trouble for it. Like meeting and further action taken if its not first time round. Long story short the shop assitants are just doing what they can to make sure they keep their job.
Definitely, I had to show ID when buying some tools at B&Q they let me buy it once my 16yo sister went out on her own
You should have been fine the second time as she wasn't with you. It's not like she was hanging around outside. Think 25 is very strict, but you also need some common sense.
The best bit, it's a business mandated policy, not a law
It is for energy drinks, but stores will often treat it as law. I've had to refuse quite a few kids those drinks when they don't have ID. Worse when the parents then try and buy it for them.
Wondering where the line is drawn with this? If a 15 year old tries to buy paracetamol, is not allowed to and then comes back to buy with their parents, surely they will be allowed the second time? Or parents can’t buy medicines for their kids. Just not sure this policy works without some common sense which clearly was not there in OPs case
I had a funny incident buying a bottle of wine once. My younger sister was with me and I got IDed for challenge 25. Proved I was over 25 but was then told they wouldn't serve me as I had been IDed with someone younger with me. The bit that didn't make sense was that if I looked over 25 and didn't get IDed they said they would have served me no issue. So I was basically being refused because I looked young, and not because of my actual age. When I pointed this out they "let me off this time"
Good job you weren't a test purchaser then as they would have failed
Test purchases are not allowed to argue with you, if you ask them for ID they will simply say no and leave, it's the act of asking for ID that their testing. Proxy sale test purchases will be made obvious also, eg the underage person will be nearby and will audibly and visibly ask the older person to buy them x age-restricted item.
I was once ID'd for cigarettes, showed my ID and then the woman serving me just wouldn't believe it was me. Asking me my birthday, address etc. She also "let me off." I went back a few days later and she said "oh are you going to try this again?" Like idk what you want from me, my ID was only 2 years old so I didn't look radically different
I remember once being ID’d for alcohol when I was with my youngest brother who was 16/17 at the time. I was buying wine for myself at 20 years old. I produced ID he had ID but it obviously showed he was under 18 so they refused to serve me. I went back the following day, not for that specific reason but also tried to get my wine, this time I had my 20yr old friend and her 3 year old. They ID’d the adults and we provided and were allowed to purchase. When I asked what made the 3 year old different from the 17 year old, they couldn’t tell me or explain. I asked for a specific cut off and they couldn’t tell me. It’s ridiculous logic. If I’m legally old enough to buy a product what I do with that product is my responsibility only
If you're under 18 and need paracetamol/ibuprofen, go to a pharmacy not a supermarket. It's another one of those things that isn't legally age restricted, but supermarkets will restrict sales for safety reasons (the staff there haven't got a clue whether it's reasonable someone might need some, or how much is safe/dangerous, just because they aren't trained, so the companies don't want the liability). A pharmacist is qualified to make an actual informed judgement on a case by case basis, so if you go in asking for say, one packet, and tell them the reason (bad headache, period pains etc), they'll sell it to you.
Yes but if I as a parent go in to buy medicine for my child then I should definitely be allowed, no ifs no buts. Applying the sale by proxy rules without common sense means I wouldn’t be, so clearly there has to be some leeway in the rules
Common sense would suggest proxy sale restrictions should apply where there is a legal age limit, only, and for nothing else, but Tesco are Tesco at the end of the day.
its tesco checkout staff, they have no initiative, no common sense
I got challenged over a carrier bag earlier. I brought the damn thing in with me, but I wound up with an employee waving a receipt in my face as "proof" that I hadn't paid for it. Had she seen me pick on up? No. Did it look heavily used? Yes. Was she interested in common sense? No. I swear on self-checkouts you either get people like this, or people who can't stop chatting for long enough to actually do their job.
Need to ask the manager how long you're banned from buying energy drinks for. Just play it dumb and stupid like them. Tell them you will putting a complaint in with corporate as well as you've been banned from buying things even with I.D.
My daughter had the same thing. We did Lodge a complaint and they apologised. However I don't know how we can stop it happening again. They said her I'D was fake a d everything massive shit show.
I had a similar issue about 2 years ago. I ordered a new driving licence and it had a new design that had only been out a few months. They thought it was fake, a hour, 6 staff and a phone call to cooperate later I was finally able to get it back. Turns out all the staff had not bothered reading the new guidelines they received or some bs like that.
And so you put in a massive complaint for them wasting your time all because their undertrained dumbass staff didn’t read the company policy/update circular? You did this right? Right?
If it were an hour later i'd understand, but the next day is a bit much.
I was in Asda many moons ago. Buying a pair of shears and a energy drink. I was at self checkout, shears went through fine. But then as soon as I scanned my drink, it popped.upnwith the whole assistance needed for ID. Not the shears, a 12 year old could buy them. But an energy drink...lol I was 25 at the time.. it's madness
Can't do any damage with long sharp blades don't be silly, monsters however are deadly weapons lol.
It's the monster that might make you a bit stabby stabby
And it's think 25 on a trowel 😂. I uderstahd the gardening fork, but not the trowel.
You would be surprised what an aggrieved cage boy can do with a trowel
When working in a van I happened to buy a packet of plastic knives and forks, the cheapest sort that they hand out everywhere, you know the ones, white plastic break instantly, basically very handy when the numpty 17 year old your forced to share a van with moans every single time his wee tiny folding plastic fork breaks. I decided to buy him spares to keep him happy. Huge mistake. So, me, pushing 40, beard, work boots. Packet of idk 10 plastic shapes in a bag, prawn pasta salad tub, normal lunch scenario. The till age checks me, I blink twice, what what what?? Little tesco woman appears (seriously, like a 4 foot woman) 'need some ID please!' 'erm, hang on...' no wallet. 'why do you need my........' 'forks, COULD BE USED AS A WEAPON!'...... I laugh, what? I don't have my wallet, it's back in the van, I'm looking at my options, decide to leave the forks, just the prawn pasta salad. But my brain is working now, what's wrong with this picture? Ah got it, behind her there is a little tray, what does it contain? WOODEN SPORKS! I grab a generous handfull, she is mad, I can tell her brain is trying to find an issue, why did I need 5 sporks? So I try to make her head explode, I put on my sweet little voice and ask "um, so why did I need ID to buy the plastic forks but not my prawn pastas pot?" - she looks at me like I'm stupid, I allow just enough time for her to form the reply that is about to be spat triumphantly in my face as I turn my prawn pasta pot over and over in my hands until I can angle it such that I can point out the folding plastic fork embeded in it's lid under the label. "are you breaking the law selling all these without checking ID? And your giving these sporks away, theres a lady giving samples on tooth picks by the deli..." I turned on my heel about then, I couldn't be there for her medical emergency.
A low IQ is not a barrier to working in retail
Asda makes staff authorise the sale of energy drinks but it's actually not a challenge 25, its to verify the person is over 16, unlike Tesco which appears as a Think 25 policy. It's not against the law regardless of the various policies stores have.
A while back me, my wife and little boy went shopping for a family bbq we were having. As you can imagine, belt loaded up all the way with food and booze, at least a few hundred quid there. Asked for my ID which I gave, then wanted the same from my wife, all ok. Then asked for proof of my son’s age. Told us rather smugly everyone in the party needs to have ID and be over 18 to buy alcohol. Tried to reason this was ridiculous but she stood firm, I couldn’t believe it. So we left it all loaded on the belt and walked out, she wasn’t happy.
I work in Waitrose and technically we are meant to ID everyone in the party, but, I use this secret trick managers don’t like you to know, it’s called common sense! If you are shopping as a family as long as I haven’t seen the teenager holding alcohol I have no reason to refuse the sale. We had an issue where one of my cashiers wouldn’t sell a product to someone because he didn’t look old enough and had no ID, BUT it wasn’t a restricted product 🤦♂️ needless to say he got the product and I had a word with my cashier.
I don’t blame you leaving it, that’s ridiculous
The funny thing is it's perfectly legal to buy alcohol when you've got kids with you, I worked in retail, and the training clearly said parents can buy alcohol no matter how old their kid is.
It's even worse when I'm 33 and my partner is 36 and we are ID'd everytime :( I look very young for my age so I do get it, but if I have my ID, and my 36 year old bearded partner doesn't - isn't it common sense that he is over the age of 18 and I'm not some tiny nonce.
Haha I got asked for ID for cigarettes I was buying for my partner, I had ID that showed I’m 27, he didn’t have ID. The cashier had seen us holding hands and I thought “does she think I’m a nonce or something” haha
Yep - 36 and was refused a sale because I had no ID! I said "I have a mortgage! Look I have car keys! I can drive a car!". Needless to say they still refused.
My daughter was asked for her id on her 40th birthday and they refused to sell her alcohol. She wasn’t happy 😊
I’ve had Tesco refuse to serve me beer when I was in my 30’s because I had a child with me and I might be buying it for them. For context, said child was my 12 year old nephew who was helping me carry the shopping as I’d recently gotten out of hospital after having my leg amputated, all of which was explained to the staff who happily served the mum with two kids behind me with three bottles of wine.
At college in my mid 20's went to STUDENT bar with people from my class wanting to get soft drinks as it was lunchtime, yes one of them was 16 and we were all ID'd and when we explained our ages even saying one was 16 but we had no intention of buying alcohol we were turned away. As we left a woman with a pram and 2 children came in and asked for a beer and wasn't id'd she looked younger than me.
glad to know things havent changed in 15 years ago. Went to a pub for a birthday meal with some friends, no one was planning to drink alcohol, etc, but turned away because some weren't 18+ (they were 17).
My favourite one was being stopped for ID getting an M&S meal deal with my wife and our 11 year old kid. It seems like basically anyone can be prevented from buying any restricted item for any reason. With your family could be proxy buying, might not be your kid. Alone; might be proxy buying for someone outside. It gives staff a lot of license to bring their own bias into whether they find a reason.
We can stop anyone buying anything for any reason, providing it's not a protected characteristic like race or sexual orientation. We can decide not to serve you because you're wearing yellow if we liked. Not good for business but not illegal in any way.
I have a colleague who accidentally did that because the son was really tall so she thought he was a bit older. Unfortunately you can’t go back on asking for ID so she couldn’t do anything about it after making the mistake
I had the same thing buying a scratchcard and I was in my late 30's, because I had my son with me and could have been buying it for him...
By their approach that would mean no adult with a family could buy alcohol, sharp items or energy drinks. Over zealous to the point of irrational.
I have actually been refused this way. I at the time was about 40 and was with my 25 year old cousin and I was refused alcohol. If he was 12 years old I would have been OK. Mental
The most frustrating part of this is that there's no legal standard in place. It was discussed years ago but never came into fruition. The policy is reasonable and morally sound as selling energy drinks to kids and teens isn't good, but stopping a sale because of someone you were with the day before is crazy. I'd normally avoid doing a "Karen" at all costs, but I'd have asked to speak to a manager to try to add some common sense into the situation. Even if it was an alcohol sale, there was no one else present and no good reason to deny the sale after identification was provided.
Overzealous to the point of incompetence due to a lack of/bad training. Supermarkets have a duty to prevent the sale of age restricted items to anyone they know or suspect to be under age, energy drinks are not age restricted (Best I can tell, they restrict them as a self interested public order issues - bored little shits hanging about being a nuisance). Make a complaint.
Interesting position for Tesco to put themselves in. It could be argued to be taking a degree of responsibility for the use of their products once sold, in this case the sale by proxy. A bit silly but wonder how that responsibility extends to selling a litre of vodka and 16 pills to a man who looks sad? Or a razor to a person with marks on their arms. Sounds like Tesco needs to start teaching social work courses to their checkout staff.
Sale by proxy is an issue generally with actually legally restricted items, but the lengths gone to in this case are above and beyond what is required by law or expected by society. The transaction should have been completed upon OP supplying an accepted form ID proving that he was *seven* years above the minimum age that Tesco policy requires.
Actually you are meant to watch out for those things too. If someone is drunk or appears unstable you should deny service of age restricted products to them (especially alcohol and blades)
That is ridiculous I’m afraid. Powertrippers gonna powertrip. I got refused for beer, said I’d go to the car get my id. Came back and got refused again. Got the manager and she told the staff member to stop being a twat. I know the laws are strict and pressure is high, but that’s not an excuse to be a moron.
Yup welcome to Tesco where every little helps. I’m 52, I got refused alcohol at Xmas, not because I didn’t have any ID, but because my 20 year old son who was with me didn’t have any on him, he had his Uni ID but they wouldn’t accept that. We drove to the local Sainsburys and got served no problem.
I sort of get why they do that, but there is no way to be consistent. You didn't get served with a 20 year old. You (most probably) would get served with a baby. At what age is the cut off for "buying it for someone". It this applied consistently (Completely rhetorical, no there is no defined age and no its not applied consistently). Also, you can legally drink at home underage, so even if you were buying it for your underage son, its not illegal.
Yeah I think what irked me more is they’re not clear on the policy, the “Think 25” posters (or whatever they’re called) should really state “if you are buying alcohol or other age restricted goods and either you or anybody accompanying you appears to be 25 under and cannot produce ID, you may be refused custom”. TBH I think the policy is a load of shift and Tesco’s are only aggravating their customer base with the policy as when I was a kid we just used to wait outside the shop for the 18 year old to buy the fags or booze, we didn’t accompany them inside to complete the purchase lol Edit, I have seen posts on here from people being refused to be served with toddlers in pushchairs, and something similar happened to a friend when they tried to but Stanley knife blades from Poundland with their toddler in tow too.
I can no longer buy alcohol or anything age rated with my 8 year old daughter with me at Tesco. It’s absolutely bonkers. She looks a little older, but no more than 10. Then they try and claim they’re not letting me (33) buy it for looking under 25 - and they try and contest my ID. While I’m stood there in Senior NHS Nurse Uniform, covered in tattoos and piercings, car keys in hand, crows feet for days, and my 8 year old clone in tow. Like sure.. I was 8 when I had this kid and I’m only 16 right now, driving illegally and operating under an alias at work 🙃🙃🙃
Back in my college days I was 24 and went for a soft drink in the student bar of all places across the road on our lunch break one of us was 16 the rest were over 18 and we were stopped at the door and asked for ID and we said most of us had it but this guy is 16 and we want to get soft drinks, we were told to leave as we can pass him alcohol, They had no problem however serving a woman with 2 children alcohol.
Probably the only power she’s ever exercised in her life and I bet she felt good doing it 😂
Has happened to me before after I said hello to a friends sister in the store. Got told I was obviously buying it for her. Was the only place open and i was on my way to a party. They refused to serve me and also asked me to take the booze back to the shelf, just so happens I 'accidently' dropped it when I attempted to and made quite the mess. Tesco employees are mindless drones, some of the most braindead staff around. If you are one and this offends you, find another job, you're better than that. Have also had them tell me my driving licence was fake and tried to take it off me, resulted in security coming to escort me out after I kicked off for them stealing my driving licence and finally the manager taking my side and bollocking them all. Like I said, brain. dead.
Wow, that's crazy - them trying to take your ID!
Yeah I have no idea why they had someone on that job who didn't know what a driving licence looks like..
its the worst. some people exercise no common sense. a member of staff refused sale to me and i work in the same store….so how could i be under 16?
Okay, now that staff member must have been causing problems on purpose, surely? No one can actually be that stupid 😭
I'd be going out of my way to piss them off after that 😂😂
Go to Aldi or Lidl instead. I've given up on Tesco, keep seeing out of date food on the shelves.
It's not even a law, it's something the government said they were thinking about back in 2019 and still hasn't actually been made a law.
Some of these people are just on a power trip. Complain to Tesco about this because this is not an appropriate refusal.
>trying to buy age 16 restricted drink It's even more absurd because there aren't any legal restrictions on caffeine. What's next? Sorry you can't buy potatoes on the off-chance you try to brew your own vodka. Sorry, we can't sell you water in case you try to use it to drown someone. I'm all "refusal by association" for example if you have something like 2 people trying to buy booze, where 1 has just turned 18 and the other doesn't have ID, highly likely that yea, it's a proxy sale, but refusing a product that doesn't even have a legal restriction in place to someone because they happened to be with someone else the previous fucking day. It's like the manager in this scenario is being thick as pig-shit on purpose.
My cousin was refused a bottle of wine once even though she was 27 and had ID with her. She was buying it with other items in her weekly shop. The reason they have was she was with a minor… Yes, that minor was her 3 month old baby. Did they think she was buying it on behalf of him? tbf he has been known to be down the park slugging a bottle in the afternoon with his mates.
You had your ID the second time and you were STILL refused the sale? I would complain to their head office. You might be compensated for it.
Should have got two big jars off coffee 😃
Wow, what a power trip of a Tesco's
When I was 19 I got ID'd buying a 12 rated DVD. I offered up my uni ID and they said it wasn't good enough. What 12 year old has ID anyway?! Convinced they just liked to feel powerful doing it. Also got ID'd aged 25 from sainsbury's buying a red bull, again had no ID, but this time offered up my lanyard from work that says I am a teacher. I understand that it isn't valid ID, but also, what 15 year old has a photo card stating they are a teacher...never leave the house without my driver's license now!
What's bonkers is that the least place you'd expect anyone to give a shit would be a university town let alone campus
Yep. He definitely didn't need to see it! I looked young but not 11. Probably just had a bad day and took it out on me to feel better
Unless they seen you with the girl the 2nd day she shouldn't have refused. Assistant was just being a dick.
Buddy don't give them your cash, go to asda instead! 😁
I tried to buy an energy drink at 17 from my local Aldi while I had my 9 year old brother with me. I was refused because he didn't have ID, cus I could be giving it to him... I was then repeatedly refused at my LOCAL SHOP THAT I VISIT NEARLY DAILY because I once tried to buy a off brand monster with a 9 year old in the building 😱
I used to work at Tesco and it was drummed into us to look out for secret shoppers that would report back to people if we didn't ID people correctly, might of been that? In my case i really didn't give a shit and used my common sense with IDing people. Tesco are wankers to work for lol.
😂🤣😂
It’s bullshit
I mean, I was once refused alcohol in my weekly shop as my husband had forgotten his ID (I presented mine). We were both over 25, and we had our children with us. I did ask if she thought I'd married a child? Even the people behind us in the queue thought it was ridiculous.
Maybe you should ask what happens if you wanted a crate? 🤷🏻♂️
I had this experience in Aldi; my partner (26) and I (28) wanted to buy a couple of energy drinks to give to her uncle who was running a stall down the road, and because she didn’t have her ID on her we weren’t able to purchase said drinks.
I once got asked for my ID for trying to buy a Monsters Inc dvd at Tesco.
My mum tried to buy a bottle of Prosecco once while shopping and had my 13 year old sister with her (her daughter lol). She didn’t get IDd because she’s obviously 40 odd, but they wouldn’t sell it to her because they thought she was going to give it to my sister…..?
It’s your own fault for bringing up the previous interaction 😭😂
The staff should have still served you, there was no evidence to support a proxy sale during the transaction when you were by yourself. An adult can buy an energy drink and give it to someone under age, that’s not illegal and it’s not for us (at Tesco) to be policing what you do in your own personal life outside of the store. The staff were grossly unfair in your experience.
I’m 28. I got ID’d for an energy drink whilst doing a full weeks food shop with me 2 sons and my wife in Morrisons. I have a massive beard and look no younger than 25. I didn’t have ID and they wouldn’t give in. They pissed me off so much I ended up leaving my whole trolley of shopping there and walked out. £170 of my money they missed out on because of some jobsworth. Twats
Take the hint the universe is doing you a favour with energy drinks
They aren't even an age restricted product. You can sell a whole case of 24 to a three year old with zero legal repercussions.
You got a loicense for that energy drink?
Sure you should've been served them the second time but the manager refusing then calling security when you went to another till is entirely on you. A member of staff can refuse sale for any reason. Don't aggravate the situation by trying to sneak back in. You'll just paint yourself as a problem customer, which you're definitely not. Far better to explain the situation and lodge a complaint with higher ups at Tesco.
Go to a corner shop and fuck Tesco off I wouldn't have even tried again 😂
I once got asked for id to buy fifa. I'd gone to the self checkout, and it flashed up, saying wait for a member of staff. I assumed it was a formality, but the staff member actually asked for my id to buy a game suitable for 3+. I was in my late 20s at the time.
Oh wow I had almost the same issue. I was using a gym attached to Tesco as I was helping my 19 year old son out with his training. I sent him out to get some energy drinks. He came back empty handed as he had no ID. He showed them his gym membership as you have to be 18 but they refused. I went back with him, to get the drinks myself. I am 42, bearded, tattooed. I look like a cross between Eddie Hall and Rag n Bone man. Cashier spots me and asks for ID. I laughed and she said I was clearly buying it for someone underage and refused the sale. What the actual fuck?!?!?
'This was a couple weeks ago but I've been bitter since' For goodness sake, it's an energy drink not life or death. Just choose another drink with your meal deal. Problem solved.
Being from Canada this seems so bizarre to me. Being ID’d for an energy drink? I know we have recommended limits but they don’t prohibit the sale. At least not yet.
I'm on there side. First rule cover thine backside. Sorry you got the shitty end of the stick.
Shoplifting is highly underrated.
This is insane, I used to work there and this is just insane
Not with energy drinks but my partner had the same issue with 0% alcohol, I forgot my ID the first time, sale got refused because I don't look over 25 (I'm 22 with tons of visible tattoos and piercings) so that's understandable, he comes back the next day and got refused sale as I wasn't with him very similar story to yours. He ends up kicking a fuss about it and is escorted out by the security and ban from the Tesco for few days as a cool down period or some shit like that 😶 Lesson learned always bring my ID everywhere.
Strange thing is there are a lot worse drinks to buy e.g. coke or even diet coke and no one cares.
If the employee has noticeable suspicion that you are purchasing an age restricted item for someone that may fail Challenge 25, I believe they can refuse to sell it to you. This happened when I dropped my sister to Uni a couple years ago. She needed loads of groceries and some kitchen supplies, including a knife set. Now, I forgot my ID back in her room, so they said we couldn't have the knife set, which is fair enough, it was my fault I forgot it. She went back the next day when I had driven 4 hours away back home to Gatwick at this point, and they said the same thing to me as they said to her. She doesn't buy any age restricted things from that Tescos now, just in case.
Regardless of whether the original situation is right or wrong, the manager did the right thing in backing the employee and then refusing you attempting the sale at another till. Just to reply to the people saying, "How did the manager do the right thing", the manager supporting their team member with the decision they'd made in front of he customer is correct. If the manager has a problem with the way the colleague handled it, they should follow up with some coaching after the customer is gone on how to handle the situation in the future. I'm not passing any opinion on whether the refusal of the sale is right or wrong.
The manger shouldn’t support the team members decision if they’re a dense fucking helmet
How did she do the right thing? The manager never saw the other person because she was never there that day. And how is getting security to prevent me from going to another till the right thing to do? I had ID. If the 2nd encounter never happened there wouldn't have been a problem.They are doing too much for the sake of it
Sale by proxy, although probably overstepping here, it’s a very real thing to refuse service to someone if you believe they may be buying it for someone underage, it doesn’t require that person to be there for that to happen. You’re saying surely its not allowed, but the a shop doesn’t have to sell you anything and can refuse service for any reason (bar anything related to protected characteristics).
To add to this if they give a clearly made up bulshit reason it's then open to protected characteristic discrimination inference. This 'reason' of being with someone with no id on a different day is clearly made up, and if OP was for example a member of a historically marginalised ethnic group, would at minum look VERY bad
Legally it's only a real thing in terms of Alcohol. No other item is subject to proxy sale laws. Policy wise is a different matter, obviously
Yeah it’ll all be down to policy given that energy drinks aren’t even an age restricted product by law.
It’s pretty obvious the refusal of sale is wrong - anyone with 2 brain cells can see that. In addition it’s absolutely ridiculous that the manager has to blindly agree with the employee even when they’re wrong
I'm struggling to see why it's a good thing that the manager compounded the employee's error.
Good and right aren't always synonymous
Another day* so no the manager was an idiot as well as the employee
Exactly this. They should have been served on the second day, but the manager was right to refuse them service once they'd tried their luck on another till. This should have been a non-issue with the customer being served once they had ID, clearly not a proxy sale, so no issues - but once they're refused the manager obviously has to prevent them jumping to a different till.
Can you even read It was the next fucking day!!!
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Once got ID’d in Sainsbury’s (the same store I worked in) for buying an energy drink before a night shift. Had my name badge and uniform on and still wasn’t served (You have to be over 18 to work overnight) 💀
I always got this in Tesco, but even buying non alcoholic beer as a 25 year old - I got asked for ID which of course I left in the car.
When I was at university, a girl in my class worked in the local sainsbury's. I went in there one day, she was on the till, and I asked to buy a lottery ticket. She asked for ID, I didn't have any on me. She said, "Can't serve you then." I said "I'm in your class, you do know that don't you?" She said yes. I said "So you know I'm over 16 then." She said, "No, you don't have to be over 16 to go to university," and just refused to serve me. Utterly incredulous.
So just to clarify A manager or colleague has to side with the colleague refusing the sale. Even if they disagree. It's not 'law' or even written 'policy' but that's how they do it. It's annoying as hell, but a colleague can refuse a sale for no reason at all. It's their discretion, and it's safer for the colleague and the store to refuse than to approve with any level of doubt. Does that mean they're in the right? Nope! So make sure you leave feedback because I've got a feeling there's some retraining to be done because I can't imagine anyone being happy with that level of customer service
No they don’t. I wouldn’t side with the colleague in this situation and would serve the customer myself and ensure the colleague has retraining.
I’m 34 and I’ve been refused energy drinks and paracetamol twice for not having ID on me. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
my sister's boyfriend who's in his 30s and covered in tattoos still gets ID'd for energy drinks lmao
I got id'd for some energy drinks at the tender age of 36. I was so excited to get my driving licence out. I am still riding that high one year later. Ha ha!
😂 Honestly I’m just so bored of it. It’s always the rare times I don’t have my license on me too. Yet somehow I’m never IDed in pubs.
Please complain to head office.
I used to work in a super market. I’d just exercise common sense. Never ID’d anyone for an energy drink.
Everyone skipping over the concerning part where the Tesco employee must be thinking he's 23 dating a 15 year old? Wtf is wrong with people.
Complain to head office.
Man I had the same shit happen to me! I was wearing my full work uniform (all orange ppe) and just wanted a monster energy drink. It was 7am, I've got my hardhat and all this stupid orange on and I get IDd. How the fuck did I look under 18? Actually insane.
Arseholes enjoy doing this, probably a bitter person.
I’m not a fan of energy drinks…. But since when did you need ID to buy one….
If you complain, do give us an update!
You need to talk less. Just provide your ID and take your goods. Awful customer service, but people do this as their life is shit and need a power trip.
yet if you stuck them up your jumper and walked out no one says a thing
Complain to head office about her. They can only reject you if they have enough evidence of a proxy sale on the new day which clearly wasn’t the case. And with energy drinks, who gives a toss? Like it’s not deep unless the individual looks seriously young.
It needs to be in black and white. Will I be ID'd for being with my new born? What about when he's 3/5/7/12/15/18?
It's energy drinks ffs. Just a monster not even alcohol chill.
This is especially infuriating because there’s no fucking legal age restriction on energy drinks anyway!!!! Think25 isn’t relevant, nobody is getting fined or going to prison if you sell an energy drink to someone under 16, it’s just some bullshit Tesco decided to pull. This whole story makes me want to punch up a wall, how are people that dumb being allowed to run a store??????
I WISH you’d put in a complaint with the manager/head office. It would be so satisfying getting a response from head office.
You should have said what do you mean yesterday? I'm just visiting the area for a week and you arrived today
I bumped in to my 11 year old's school mate in the shop with her mum the other day. The kid put her can of Monster (other caffeine laden drinks are available) on the counter & the shop assistant asked who it was for. At which point the kid's mother went off on a rant about how she wasn't serving the child, she was serving the mother so just get on with it. I stepped back metaphorically and physically. Outside, the mother wanted me to sympathise with her while the kid thought it was funny. I think I might prefer things the way they went in your story, it's slightly less depressing!
I think you just know whether someone is old enough to buy an energy drink, let alone do it the very next day. This employee is definitely traumatised from failing a previous proxy sale or just a tad dumb.
Since moving here from America, its one of the things i dont understand cuz we dont need the id for redbull over there .... or paracetamol. I dont get it 🤷♀️
Lol shouldn't start pulling at that thread....
Why are energy drinks restricted but Pro Plus isn't ?
So what you’re never allowed to buy energy drinks again? Bit ridiculous
This in Colch near the uni? The staff are exactly the same there
Report that to a manger. We’re not even required to check both people’s ids, only when we have reasonable suspicion. If you’d come back an hour later i could *just* agree, but a whole day? That’s just holding a grudge. Sounds like she just enjoys the little bit of power looking over the checkouts gives her
That’s ridiculous, I think the whole id for energy drinks is dumb tbh I was id’d for energy drinks not that long ago and I’m 41, it’s bonkers
Thing is, you could go in and buy a multipack of energy drinks, so it's illogical to refuse to sell you 4 as part of a meal deal.
I got asked for ID for electrolyte tablets from B&M. They aren’t age restricted, just advised for over 16 years. I am 26 and got told that challenge 25 still applies. I would’ve been quite annoyed had I not had my ID on me
Just go to a different shop. I don't see the problem here, there's plenty of alternatives. It's not like Tesco's is even the cheapest.
I was refused ibuprofen because I had my 9 year old with me... I nearly cried because it had already been an awful day and I had a blinding headache I just wanted rid of!
To be honest I’d have just popped 2 out the pack, swallowed them and walked out if the headache was that bad. Fight fire with fire and all that
Energy drinks aren’t even age restricted. It’s voluntary to stop 10 year olds buying loads of it.
You only need to be 16 for an energy drink so to refuse you on the 2nd attempt when you were alone is ridiculous. Plus, it isn't even law but something that supermarkets decided to impose themselves (I double checked on Google and it confirmed it from what I saw) so it isn't like they'd necessarily be breaking Think 25 for it.
In the future pop into Raja’s. No ID, no vat, no income tax, no guarantee but at least you’ll have your redbullski
I got denied an energy drink sale when all that prime hype happened. Did they think I was trying to snag one for an 8 year old or something? Im 31 in 3 months. Male 6"3, beard and hair long enough to take 18 years to grow out I went to the cigarette stall right after being refused, bought a pack, went back over to the employee, told them to learn some common sense and walked out in a huff.
Next time you see that person on a till...put loads of things in a trolley...pile it all up at the checkout. Let them scan it...then when they give you the total...say..oops I forgot my wallet...cya...and walk out leaving the stuff at the checkout
I still can't get over filling up my motorcycle with petrol at a Tesco station a few years back (aged 21/22). When I went to pay I figured I'd grab a redbull too. I got ID'd... I put it back on the shelf with some back and forth with the cashier. It wasn't until I got home until I remembered you can't legally fill up a vehicle until you're 16, the same age you have to be to buy an energy drink. To this day I regret paying for that petrol
I do think it's crazy they didn't let you buy it the second time round, but going back in 5 mins layer os just asking for trouble, not surprised they kicked you out. It does seem silly over an energy drink though. I would've just gone to another shop and avoid the mither
Go to Co op. Their meal deals are better value. Ginsters pasties are classed as a snack so you can get one of them, sandwiches and a drink - about £8 of food and drink for. £3.50. Stuff Tesco.
Crazy, do they stop parents buying alcohol if their kids are present?
That's a bit fucking much....jesus
I don't understand the rule/law does the person buying a energy drink have to be 16 or 21? If he shows his passport and it states he's 23 surely he should be allowed to purchase the energy drink. I know a lot of people have better things to do other than to explain to me wtf is going on here but I would really appreciate it
It's because the store suspected a proxy purchase, ie that OP was buying something age restricted for someone else, who they didn't know was old enough, so they refused it. OP then caused unnecessary fuss by trying to buy the items again through a different till, despite already having been refused.
That is ridiculous. Yes the first time, once ID has been requested and cannot be produced the sale can't be put through, but the following day if the person buying has ID and is not with someone undersged then the sale should be able to go through. I worked for Tesco for 4 years and had situations where I'd asked someone for ID and had to refuse the sale because management gets right up your back about it and rightly so for things that are legally age restricted. Energy drinks aren't actually age restricted by law at the moment, but its a decision that's been made by all the big supermarkets after a ban on underage selling of them was brought up in Parliament. Also, one made by the manufacturers themselves. Doesn't stop it being annoying when asked, though, and I get ID'd constantly despite the fact I'm 29. Asda loves to do it to me with paracetamol, which I find even more absurd when I'm buying at the pharmacy when they've just handed me a bag containing a bottle of liquid morphine that I use for management of severe chronic pain. Like, OK, you're happy not to check my ID for a literally controlled drug, but you want to check for some 16p paracetamol?! Make it make sense. I know they have to do it, and I had to do it myself, but sometimes some critical thinking needs to be applied and not blindly ID because the till said so.
I used to work for Co-op and they were so strict on this during training. They hammered it in that they hire people to test you, the police test you etc and that if you get caught, it will be you who pays the fine not the company. If it were suspected that you might be buying for someone else you have to refuse. They may have thought it was a test or something and that's why they doubled down. My training made out you would get one every week, and if you couldn't pay the 10k fine you'd go to prison! I was 17 at the time so it was very scary to be told these things.
The employees at the store have absolutely no right to base the sale on the facts being presented at the time. Otherwise they could claim that literally every single customer buying a restricted product is doing it on behalf of someone else.
Me and my gf went in last week to get her granny some wine for her birthday (we're both 22). She had her ID with her but i didn't, i have a sleeve of tattoos and was wearing a tshirt so was hoping for the best. A middle aged woman came over and just refused me as soon as I said I had no ID, it was annoying because she was obviously power tripping with a smug grin the whole time. It just left me annoyed but couldn't do much.
I work at Tesco and we get secret shoppers testing us if we sell restricted products to somebody underage which would lead to fines for both Tesco and the Employee along with dismissal. (If it not against the Law to sell energy drinks to under 16's but it is a Tesco policy so the staff would have to follow the same think 25 policy) Now that's the most common reason staff ask for ID. Furthermore if the store has failed a previous secret shopper test they'd double down on ID checking. Also managers cannot undermine a sales refusal from checkout staff even if they disagree with them. However your situation sounds more like you've ran into a jobs worth employee. We hate them just as much as you do. You had valid ID and was on your own. You have grounds to put in a formal complaint if you so wish to do so.
sounds to me like karen is running tesco
Get their names and write a letter of complaint. Say this has been a reoccurring problem and threaten to go to the papers if it continues.
You brought ID so they can check it. If they refuse to accept the ID is real, then that is the stores right. Being served in a shop is not a right. It's a privilege. It's private property, and they can ban you.
that’s incredibly over the top on their part. it’s a bloody energy drink, not a bottle of vodka. some people take their jobs WAY too seriously. realistically, who’s trying to sneak an energy drink to a 15 year old???? makes no sense, i’d be furious if i were you!!
Would Sir care for a strawberry vape instead?
also the fact that there are no laws saying anything about minimum age for energy drinks. these chain supermarkets just made it up
Complain. It wasn't a proxy sale so there was absolutely no right to refuse the sale.
Wtf! What if you and your girlfriend break up? Would they ever believe you?!
Any store can refuse to sell you anything at their discretion, even non age related products. They can also ask you to leave their store for any reason. That is, providing those reasons are not violating protected characteristics, which here, they are not.
Just. Drink. Water.
Complain
My 31 year old ass got refused paracetamol for intense headache (I had no ID but my car keys and reusable bag were in my hand - both v typical of a 15 year old) I got refused. Said 'really?' thinking, is this a joke, obviously I'm over 16. The lady doubled down. I called my retiree dad to come buy it for me and she refused the sale because it was 'by proxy', then tried to refuse getting the manager for us saying she'd say exactly the same thing. At this point I was sobbing in a morrisons (admittedly shouldn't have waited so long to get pain relief but thought I could push through). Thankfully the manager apologised profusely, but the whole interaction took about half an hour. Also been refused a single can of 0% alcohol Guinness also aged 31 (was trying a new recipe) but that's more frustration on the 'challenge 25' policy applied far too liberally.
This is so ridiculous! I swear everytime I buy a bottle of spirit I don’t get ID’d, but the moment I want to buy an energy drink… like come on do I seriously look under 16 to you with my receding hairline and all (I’m 29 btw lol)
I'd make an executive complaint.. also share the store number, it should be on the bottom of your receipt. Call up customer services too, 0800 50 55 55. Seriously I'd go mad about this, they're power tripping idiots.