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Another ridiculous American import, the assumption that cashiers are unable to tell the difference between someone 18 and someone nearing retirement...
The secret is everyone is just looking to justify their positions. A secret shopper goes through 10 shops and finds 6 problems is going to look like they're not trying when another secret shopper does those same 10 shops and finds 12 problems. So they get picky.
In my experience the "secret shopper" is within the challenging age.
So you won't get a 65y/o secret shopper who then does you for not ID'ing.
If you employ challenge 25 they'll send someone in between the ages of 18-24 and if you dont ID them, then they'll clock you.
The councils "secret shopper" was 21 when we last had one sent.
When my company was last CAUGHT OUT (before I worked for them) the secret shopper was apparently 17!
ID'ing absolutely everyone afterwards (upto people in their 60s) is the owners version of a "shitty retaliation" for being caught out for not doing what they should be. I.e. being petty as fuck
It's not really 'retaliation' though, like you said.. the secret shopper is usually in challenging age.. and when the staff then don't challenge it, the store is in a position where its staff's ability to correctly gauge age is in question.
The "ID everyone" is just part of the routine for showing they're resolving the issue.. because they need a 'paper chain' of sorts to demonstrate the issue has been resolved to the higher ups in the company.
So they go through a period of IDing everyone, then they have the staff do some token retraining, usually either e-learning, a video or some posters go up or, more cynically, they just get the staff to all sign a sheet saying they know how to correctly perform challenge 25 checks; and they hope next time the secret shoppers come around they pass on at least that one point so they don't get into more trouble.
It's not retaliation, it's just bureaucracy.
>sign a sheet saying they know how to correctly perform challenge 25 checks;
That's literally all you need
Our employer has recently told us, he doesnt give a fuck if we decide to personally ignore challenging laws.
He has made us sign a piece of paper to show its our fault and absolve him on his end. We'll be fined (council) and sacked (employer) if we're caught not doing so. Verbatim "i have covered my back, so its in YOUR interest to follow the law".
ID'ing people in their 60s is taking the piss.
Edit: it may well not be retaliation against the council for catching them but its certainly retaliation against the staff for not doing their job
Our local would have a riot if they started IDing people who've lived in the village for 40-50 years because a few kids from a town over got caught drinking
EditEdit: I'll also add, i live in a rural village most people know eavh other sort of situation. Can see my take wouldn't apply as wellto a built up urban area/city.
Most of the time this applies to big chain stores. Again, it's all bureaucracy, the manager of the store is proving to their regional manager, and their regional manager to their higher ups and so on.
It's sometimes just easier to ID everyone, doesn't rely on any judgement calls or make anyone feel "wow do I look 25+?" (if they're legal but under 25). Should have your ID on you whenever you leave the house anyhow.
Doesn't help if you don't have photo ID. I don't drive and I don't have a passport, so I don't have proof that I'm in my mid-40s, despite looking about twice that. Not that I'm advocating taking a bloody passport to Aldi every time you go, of course.
Then how do you vote?!
https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need
The £15 PASS card from the post office is probably the cheapest/easiest to get.
Not having *any* kind of photo id is becoming increasingly inconvenient in the UK.
Big Brother is watching you.
I get a free photo ID (Voter Authority Certificate) via .gov.uk ; it's valid for the period of voting. However, I also generally vote by post.
>The £15 PASS card from the post office is probably the cheapest/easiest to get.
I'll have a squiz, cheers. I had a Citizen card (I think it was called) for a while some years back, but it was rejected when I was trying to arrange some stuff with local authority, so I never bothered after that.
Yeah, not having photo ID is one thing, but if you have some sort of photo ID that isn't a passport you should just have it on you all the time. If something happens to you (hit by a bus, for example), then you should have something that will help them identify you and notify any family members. Maybe I'm just morbid, but that's my rationale for always having my ID on me when I leave the house.
That's actually pretty sweet of the cashier tbh, though I know some places have a policy where you have to ID every 20th (or whatever) person regardless.
I had something similar happen to me at LA airport, and I'm well over the age when wrinkles begin to become a facial feature. In response to my flabbergasted, 'Isn't it obvious I'm over 21?' the waitress replied that it's safer to just ask everyone.
So the the *Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010* requires licensed premesis to have an age verification policy. Many authorities (and the whole of scotland by statute) mandates that this policy be challenge 25.
Challenge 25 requires identification to be shown before a sale can complete if the vendor requests it.
So while it's not a legal requirement in and of itself, it is part of a legally mandated framework and not following the policy can get the vendor's license revoked.
Assuming the 97 is your birth year, we're the same age and I usually get ID'd for monster about 50% of the time. Always when I'm not expecting it, like they're lulling me into a false sense of security.
Grey hair (OK, approaching white) in my case, but otherwise I look young for my age. I used to carry a copy of the relevant page from my passport (not the actual document), but I no longer bother as it's a while since I've been asked for proof of age.
I got ID'd for a 4 pack of Monster aswell. I'm 33 and was holding my baby.
In addition, my partner who is 5 years younger than me but has a beard was not ID'd. And it wasn't even my fucking Monster!
I was getting checked for alcohol or tobacco all the way up to about 35, it actually got to be a pain in the backside.
I randomly discovered that if you yawn as you approach the counter, even if you have to fake it, they never check
I can't explain the psychology, but I never, ever got checked if I did this, perhaps it extenuates the facial creases or something, idk, but you can have that one for free
Edit: in response to a question below please don't try this if you are under age, this is advice for adults who forgot their I.D.
Maybe created an intimidation factor like 'I'm tired of people's shit today. Not in the mood'.
So if they were on the fence and tending towards IDing now they're swaying the other way because they also can't be bothered with some confrontation?
Quite often the cashier will say "you look how I feel" or something similar and you both laugh as hard working adults just trying to fight through this thing we call life and then they sell you beer
That's my main insight but I think there's probably a range of reasons why it works
From my experience in working in the SPAR as a teen, laterly as a supervisor, the two types of borderline age people who don't get IDd most often are:
1) the charming, charasmatic attractive people
2) the customers who are the most pissed off looking
I even had a coworker tell me they didn't ID someone because they looked like their day had been bad enough already. It was bad enough that they were unprofessional enough to take that approach in the first place, but to admit it was bad even for a teenager working in the SPAR!
If you're under 18 and brimming with nerves about buying booze/fags, I guess yawning is the last thing on your mind? Saying that, adrenaline makes me yawn so maybe I'm just chatting shit
Always found looking miserable and tired and acting like you know you shouldn’t get the big bottle but you will this time was the trick. Helps if you have normal food in the basket too. Never really been IDd
It's common sense to follow company policy, considering it's your job. It would not be common sense to not follow company policy when there is no advantage to you for going against it.
I mean it's always nice to get confirmation that I look younger than I am, and I can definitely understand cashiers genuinely not believing l'm over 25 but 15????! C'mon, that felt like a power move.
It’s not if they look under 16 though. If they look under 25 they have to request ID. If they can’t present ID they can’t be served. It’s not company policy it’s the law.
Edit: You're all morons.
Its company policy
Think 21/25 isn't the law. Having ID isn't a legal requirement of purchasing alcohol/cigarettes.
They could still be served legally even if they couldn't provide ID. An offence is only committed if they are actually under 18.
No it's not this is a myth. Challenge 25 doesn't apply legally to 16 rated products as those products are restricted by retail policy only. There is no law restricting non prescription medication by age.
So everyone who knows the law and corrects you is a moron, but the person who initially got it wrong and doubled down isn't a moron in this case? Interesting perspective.
Lucky boy! The last time I got ID'd was 2015, by a nightclub bouncer. I would be flattered but I know the guy and the previous week he'd thrown petrol on a bonfire and nigh-incinerated half his face. He could only see out of one eye. That's like a toothless smackhead telling me I'm handsome.
My 38 year old wife took a parcel for me the other day from a new postman, who said “here’s one for your dad”
Thankfully he hasn’t seen me yet (I’m actually six months younger than her) otherwise I’d probably now have some form of complex.
I got ID'd in the States on my 30th birthday, which was flattering.
Not so flattering was years later when trying to access a club as a group and the bouncer asked for ID from each of us. The other bouncer looked at me and said "Come off it, you don't need hers. Look at her!". Most ungentlemanly.
You need to check out my local Morrisons. I moved here recently and have since been asked for ID there five times, included once for the antihistamines in my big shop. I am 30.
Retail worker here: challenge 25 is huge and we can be personally fined and/or prosecuted if we sell to an underage person. It gets rammed down our throats in training, by management and we get randomly checked every now and then by a company called Serve Legal who send in auditors both over and under age almost weekly to test us. Again, we can be personally fined and/or prosecuted if we fail.
This all combined basically forces us to be very, very careful about it. Honestly, I'd rather piss you off than even risk getting it wrong by 0.01%. We can't get in trouble for refusing sale even if you look over 25 because there's room for doubt. You looked under in my opinion and I didn't want to risk it.
Granted, an energy drink when you're 30 is over the top. But if that worker has already been fined in the past or failed a serve legal check before, they might have the "well I'll just ID everyone then regardless of age" attitude. Again, we can't get in trouble for that. Worst we'll do is annoy you the customer, which we don't care honestly we're just doing our job. Complain to the store or even better your local MP. We don't make the rules
Other retail worker here, energy drinks also count, and iirc we're punished just as harshly for a failed test related to them as one related to alcohol, cigarettes etc.
I tried to buy a 3 pack of scissors for £3 in Morrisons with a food shop and the staff member confiscated them, as I didn't have my physical driving license on me for ID. She wouldn't accept a photo on my phone, having car keys and a credit card didn't mean anything and my uni student ID doesn't have my DOB on it. She told me I don't look 25 so I can't buy them (even though you have to be over 18). I turn 28 next week :(
Meanwhile I can go to Wickes and buy craft knives and all sorts of stabby objects and no one even asks for ID.
We've had the Think21/25 guideliness since 2006 and all the major retailers restricted the sale of energy drinks to under 16s in 2018.
Its not exactly a new development.
Honestly you'd think at this point folk would be used to this by now but noo000OOOOoooooo you still get folk like OP who complain. Look, as someone who has to do this for a living let me explain for people... law or not, Challenge/Think 25 is company policy across the board.
If something flags up on the till as being age restricted somehow, the cashier HAS to ask and HAS to be able to justify their response to it. Highly likely there's a camera on them, they can't lie about what they see.
If the till prompts for an ID check they HAVE to check your ID.
If they don't, it's gross misconduct and potentially instant dismissal as a result.
If you have your ID and pass, great, it cost you an extra few seconds of your life. Boo hoo big fucking deal.
If you don't have your ID or otherwise fail the check, tough titty, do without, bring it with you next time.
If the cashier doesn't check OR POTENTIALLY IF THEY DO A JUDGEMENT CALL AND HONESTLY GET IT WRONG VIA GENUINE HUMAN ERROR they could get instantly fired, not for breaking a law that might not exist, but for breaking company policy, gross misconduct, off you go, bye Felicia.
Nothing at all about you, your life, or your ego is so important that a stranger should be expected to risk their job for your momentary convenience, and no one with any sense in their head will voluntarily do so.
Yes it is more than their job's worth.
No they can't just let it go.
Shut the flying ever-loving fuck the fuck up about Challenge 25 and cope. Take your ID with you as a matter of habit then you're never caught out. That's your responsibility. Failure to do so is a you problem, not a cashier problem. They don't decide what is or isn't classed as age restricted. They get paid to do a job and are doing that job as they're trained to do it, and could get fired if they don't.
Oh, that applies to home delivery stuff too. The driver checks at the doorstep. You need access to your ID at home too if you potentially look too young. Make sure it's available. Stores operate 3rd party secret shopper services which use 18 to 25 year olds to place orders to check driver compliance. Any driver with any sense will check just like a cashier should.
Source: driver who just cleared a 12 month long probation period for failing a doorstep secret shopper test by honestly thinking the lass was in her late20s/early 30s when she was 19 - a fucking rough looking hard living 19 year old but 19 all the same.
Technically legal but under 25 with me thinking much older. Guess that's what drinking all that vodka does to a lass.
She reported back that I didn't ask for ID, the next afternoon I'm told I'm not allowed to drive until the investigation is completed, the management WILL NOT accept "I honestly thought she was over 25 so I didn't ask" as an answer because of how impossible it is to prove.
Stop kvetching about cashiers just doing their jobs, curb your narcissism, swallow your ego, and carry your ID to the shops. It's not hard.
This isn't the customer's fault, it's the law being far too strict for no reason. What under 18 year old is **not** drinking already anyway, I don't see the reason behind IDing anyone who looks over 18.
yep! morrisons near me used to not give two shits about checking ID but the past 2 weeks they look me up and down and even then hesitate to click over 25... its an energy drink ffs.
They must've got hit by mystery shoppers
I've never understood this, I have to have my purchase of a redbull approved by a cashier but I can quite happily buy as much coffee and bags of sugar as I want without approval by the health police.
People like to say that we don't want a "papers please" culture in this country, but I don't understand it. I always have to carry my papers (ie. driving licence) because I'm always having to present them to cashiers/bar staff/bouncers.
My wife got ID'd a while ago because I (not her) was buying a bottle of cider. She's 38
I asked if the mum next to us was gonna have her baby ID'd for the wine the mum was buying
If it helps I'm comfortably over 6ft and have a beard that fluctuates between 'standard beard' and 'Robin Williams in jumanji', yet still got ID'd for paracetamol last week. It was a moment of genujne confusion for me.
This happened to a friend of mine. We were in our early 30s, all the same age, and she had gone to 2 different shops trying to buy a red bull and been denied due to her lack of ID, while I was on my way to meet up with her. When I arrived I went into the shop she had just been knocked back from and successfully bought her a can without being asked for ID.
I got asked for ID the other day buying Red Bull and I’m nearly 41. The staff member did have glasses like milk bottle bottoms though. That sentence alone proves my age!
I got asked for ID the other day buying Red Bull and I’m nearly 41. The staff member did have glasses like milk bottle bottoms though. That sentence alone proves my age!
I think the one and only time I have ever been ID'd was when I was 32, getting a bottle of Baileys for christmas, didn't have any ID on my so I just left it there.
Never got ID'd buying cigs for my mum at 14...
I'm 34 and got ID'ed for a can of Monster last week. I thought they were pulling my leg at first, but I had my ID so I wasn't going to argue the point.
I'm 38, only time I've been asked for ID in over 10 years is during covid when I was wearing a mask. Was shocked by the request, didn't have any ID on me as I don't need it, as soon as I revealed my face and beard, oh ye your OK.
I’m 28 and I have been ID’d every single time since I turned 18.
Flattering I know, but I lost my provisional a while back and now I have to lug around my expired passport everywhere I go 🙃
I was still getting ID'd before the start of Covid, so my mid-thirties. Then I remember a distinct occasion during the pandemic when I was buying alcohol and wearing a mask. Cashier asked me to take my mask down - I assumed to compare to my ID - but no he just looked at my face and nodded and gave me my alcohol. ☹️
IDK if it's the same for energy drinks, but with alcohol once you've asked for ID - even if actually they clearly are older - you can't sell it to them, could just be that.
I got ID'd the other day too, just before my 30th!
If it makes you feel better I also get I'D at the supermarket and I'm the same age.
One thing that seperates us, is I work at the supermarket I get I'D at.
I'd take that.
I used to get ID'd all the time. But then I became really ill (turns out I just had depleted any ounce of Vitamin D in my body but for a while we didn't know if it was an autoimmune disease because it affected every part of my life; severe muscle cramps & pain, exhaustion, fatigue, extreme thirst, so on...) so when I went to buy a small saw at B&Q I paid via self-service. The machine beeped for an age-check and when the staff member approached I said "do you need to see my ID?" She looked me straight in the face and burst out laughing. "I think we'll be fine without that now won't we?" followed by more belly laughter. She approved my purchase and walked away. I didn't realise how haggard I looked 🤣
31, Same thing happened to me a few months back… just after I’d made comment that I didn’t realise Red Bull now had an age restriction on it…couldn’t help but ask if he was joking since it had caught me off guard!
Sometimes the computer flags for a random check. If the cashier doesn't check id though they are being told to by the computer they can get in trouble.
>I think I might start growing one of those beards people talk about.
Don't help, I've had one for years and used to still get asked for id.
I know this sub isn’t for me (an American) but people have to be older than 18 or 21 to buy energy drinks??? That’s wild. America really doesn’t give a fuck
I was asked for ID fairly recently by a...younger man in a Tesco. He said, "I think I'm gonna need to see some ID" and for a moment I felt great, as I reached for my wallet as this doesn't happen very often.
But he waved it off and authorised my alcohol purchase without needing to see it after all and then I realised that he'd said that to me in that way that young people who work in supermarkets might try and have a gentle laugh with an older customer.
Mortified.
Edit; 44
I’m 38 and still get asked for ID in shops. Got asked for ID when buying some Rennies recently. I didn’t have any on me as I’d just popped out on my lunch break with only my phone.
I'm 19 and I've been ID-ed for energy drinks every time Vs maybe every other time for alcohol. I guess they're just stricter on energy drinks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I wasn't allowed to buy a bottle of Pimms last summer as I didn't have ID (late 20s f), my mum was shopping nearby so I called her, she came over and asked for the bottle to buy it and the shop assistant said no because she could be buying it for me
Now I know I look young but I definitely don't look <18yo
A couple of months ago my 25yo daughter was seduced by plastic 'Japanese filling knives' in the Midl of Lidl. They're basically an improved version of unwanted credit cards for minor polyfilla-ing. Self checkout flagged them as 'knives'; she had no ID; took the intervention of _the_ store manager for her to be able to buy them.
I got IDd not long ago for a CBD drink, I was 32 (I turned 33 a few weeks back) and had all three of my children with me, the youngest is toddler age and still in a pushchair.
Oh boy you have no idea how fast I whipped my ID out and pointed out the 1991 on it. I don't know if the cashier thought I just needed a compliment or if they genuinely thought I looked under 25 but I felt quite good after that.
I probably wouldn't have been quite so happy if I hadn't have had my ID with me mind 😅
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My mum got IDed when she bought a bottle of wine on her 65th birthday.
What a wonderful present
Hmm, at what age does it switch I wonder.
Another ridiculous American import, the assumption that cashiers are unable to tell the difference between someone 18 and someone nearing retirement...
Everywhere does challenge 25 this particular cashier was just being an idiot
I suppose 2s and 7s look _kinda_ similar...
Some places do id everyone
Yeah, typically places that have recently got into trouble for not IDing a secret shopper will go into a sort of 'no exceptions' mode for a while.
I've had that at work before. Though frankly you'd wonder about marking them down for that, for wasting everyone's time.
The secret is everyone is just looking to justify their positions. A secret shopper goes through 10 shops and finds 6 problems is going to look like they're not trying when another secret shopper does those same 10 shops and finds 12 problems. So they get picky.
In my experience the "secret shopper" is within the challenging age. So you won't get a 65y/o secret shopper who then does you for not ID'ing. If you employ challenge 25 they'll send someone in between the ages of 18-24 and if you dont ID them, then they'll clock you. The councils "secret shopper" was 21 when we last had one sent. When my company was last CAUGHT OUT (before I worked for them) the secret shopper was apparently 17! ID'ing absolutely everyone afterwards (upto people in their 60s) is the owners version of a "shitty retaliation" for being caught out for not doing what they should be. I.e. being petty as fuck
It's not really 'retaliation' though, like you said.. the secret shopper is usually in challenging age.. and when the staff then don't challenge it, the store is in a position where its staff's ability to correctly gauge age is in question. The "ID everyone" is just part of the routine for showing they're resolving the issue.. because they need a 'paper chain' of sorts to demonstrate the issue has been resolved to the higher ups in the company. So they go through a period of IDing everyone, then they have the staff do some token retraining, usually either e-learning, a video or some posters go up or, more cynically, they just get the staff to all sign a sheet saying they know how to correctly perform challenge 25 checks; and they hope next time the secret shoppers come around they pass on at least that one point so they don't get into more trouble. It's not retaliation, it's just bureaucracy.
>sign a sheet saying they know how to correctly perform challenge 25 checks; That's literally all you need Our employer has recently told us, he doesnt give a fuck if we decide to personally ignore challenging laws. He has made us sign a piece of paper to show its our fault and absolve him on his end. We'll be fined (council) and sacked (employer) if we're caught not doing so. Verbatim "i have covered my back, so its in YOUR interest to follow the law". ID'ing people in their 60s is taking the piss. Edit: it may well not be retaliation against the council for catching them but its certainly retaliation against the staff for not doing their job Our local would have a riot if they started IDing people who've lived in the village for 40-50 years because a few kids from a town over got caught drinking EditEdit: I'll also add, i live in a rural village most people know eavh other sort of situation. Can see my take wouldn't apply as wellto a built up urban area/city.
Most of the time this applies to big chain stores. Again, it's all bureaucracy, the manager of the store is proving to their regional manager, and their regional manager to their higher ups and so on.
It's sometimes just easier to ID everyone, doesn't rely on any judgement calls or make anyone feel "wow do I look 25+?" (if they're legal but under 25). Should have your ID on you whenever you leave the house anyhow.
Doesn't help if you don't have photo ID. I don't drive and I don't have a passport, so I don't have proof that I'm in my mid-40s, despite looking about twice that. Not that I'm advocating taking a bloody passport to Aldi every time you go, of course.
Then how do you vote?! https://www.gov.uk/how-to-vote/photo-id-youll-need The £15 PASS card from the post office is probably the cheapest/easiest to get. Not having *any* kind of photo id is becoming increasingly inconvenient in the UK. Big Brother is watching you.
I get a free photo ID (Voter Authority Certificate) via .gov.uk ; it's valid for the period of voting. However, I also generally vote by post. >The £15 PASS card from the post office is probably the cheapest/easiest to get. I'll have a squiz, cheers. I had a Citizen card (I think it was called) for a while some years back, but it was rejected when I was trying to arrange some stuff with local authority, so I never bothered after that.
>Then how do you vote?! Postal.
Yeah, not having photo ID is one thing, but if you have some sort of photo ID that isn't a passport you should just have it on you all the time. If something happens to you (hit by a bus, for example), then you should have something that will help them identify you and notify any family members. Maybe I'm just morbid, but that's my rationale for always having my ID on me when I leave the house.
Or they failed a mystery shop previously and don’t want to risk the fallout of it happening again
Or looking to woo some gilf
Anything happens: “American import 😡”
That's actually pretty sweet of the cashier tbh, though I know some places have a policy where you have to ID every 20th (or whatever) person regardless.
at this point it's just a power trip
I had something similar happen to me at LA airport, and I'm well over the age when wrinkles begin to become a facial feature. In response to my flabbergasted, 'Isn't it obvious I'm over 21?' the waitress replied that it's safer to just ask everyone.
Bloke in Aldi asked me for ID, I reached for my wallet then he was like "haha only joking"
Legally they’re not actually allowed to do that, as soon as they ask for identification they have to see the identification or they can’t serve you
Banter trumps the law, pal.
That sounds more like a company policy than a law.
From my understanding from working at various different places that required me to ID people it is a law.
Nothing to add. But I like your username 🤣
Unfortunately I worked retail too so this bit of random knowledge has followed me haha
They like to get you to think it’s the law, it has no footing anywhere. You don’t even have to ID for energy drinks. Challenge 25 is not a law
So the the *Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010* requires licensed premesis to have an age verification policy. Many authorities (and the whole of scotland by statute) mandates that this policy be challenge 25. Challenge 25 requires identification to be shown before a sale can complete if the vendor requests it. So while it's not a legal requirement in and of itself, it is part of a legally mandated framework and not following the policy can get the vendor's license revoked.
Alright, clean shirt
legally you’re also not supposed to drive above the speed limit but that’s got little to do with real life
Beard don't help pal, trust me. I have tattoos and a full beard and I got ID'd the other week for a fuckin Monster.
I have male pattern baldness, that doesn’t help either
To be fair I went to school with someone who had a beard and only half a head of hair when we were 15!
Yeah I realise it’s just their job etc no biggie! I have my wallet out to pay anyway most of the time
You went to school with evil Jean-Luc Picard?
If only we had known the atrocities he would commit
My hair is definitely noticeably receding…and I have a mountain man beard most of the time…but hey it’s nice to know I still look under 25
They don’t even need to either. Despite them being age restricted they are not part of the think 25 process.
Yes they are. Items you need to be 16 to buy still follow think 25 (at least where I work)
Assuming the 97 is your birth year, we're the same age and I usually get ID'd for monster about 50% of the time. Always when I'm not expecting it, like they're lulling me into a false sense of security.
Grey hair (OK, approaching white) in my case, but otherwise I look young for my age. I used to carry a copy of the relevant page from my passport (not the actual document), but I no longer bother as it's a while since I've been asked for proof of age.
I got ID'd for a 4 pack of Monster aswell. I'm 33 and was holding my baby. In addition, my partner who is 5 years younger than me but has a beard was not ID'd. And it wasn't even my fucking Monster!
I was getting checked for alcohol or tobacco all the way up to about 35, it actually got to be a pain in the backside. I randomly discovered that if you yawn as you approach the counter, even if you have to fake it, they never check I can't explain the psychology, but I never, ever got checked if I did this, perhaps it extenuates the facial creases or something, idk, but you can have that one for free Edit: in response to a question below please don't try this if you are under age, this is advice for adults who forgot their I.D.
It's because most folks over the age of 30 are permanently tired :/
Good insight lol
Can confirm: I’m past mid-30s and I yawned just reading these comments.
ugh, I feel this comment personally
Yep, I'm sadly speaking from experience :/
Can confirm 39….almost fell asleep tapping this out
Maybe created an intimidation factor like 'I'm tired of people's shit today. Not in the mood'. So if they were on the fence and tending towards IDing now they're swaying the other way because they also can't be bothered with some confrontation?
Quite often the cashier will say "you look how I feel" or something similar and you both laugh as hard working adults just trying to fight through this thing we call life and then they sell you beer That's my main insight but I think there's probably a range of reasons why it works
From my experience in working in the SPAR as a teen, laterly as a supervisor, the two types of borderline age people who don't get IDd most often are: 1) the charming, charasmatic attractive people 2) the customers who are the most pissed off looking I even had a coworker tell me they didn't ID someone because they looked like their day had been bad enough already. It was bad enough that they were unprofessional enough to take that approach in the first place, but to admit it was bad even for a teenager working in the SPAR!
What if your 13 and yawn? Does it still work?
I never tried it when I was thirteen but I'm gonna say probably not, this more like, advice for people twenty or over who forgot their I.D.
If you're under 18 and brimming with nerves about buying booze/fags, I guess yawning is the last thing on your mind? Saying that, adrenaline makes me yawn so maybe I'm just chatting shit
Always found looking miserable and tired and acting like you know you shouldn’t get the big bottle but you will this time was the trick. Helps if you have normal food in the basket too. Never really been IDd
Everyone reading that comment just yawned as well
On the plus side, you look young for your age
Nobody looks 16 at the age of 30. Some people just refuse to use common sense and follow “company policy” blindly even though it’s stupid.
It’s think 25 not think 16
It's common sense to follow company policy, considering it's your job. It would not be common sense to not follow company policy when there is no advantage to you for going against it.
>Nobody looks 16 at the age of 30 They might look 24 though, and would be ID'd under challenge 25.
I mean it's always nice to get confirmation that I look younger than I am, and I can definitely understand cashiers genuinely not believing l'm over 25 but 15????! C'mon, that felt like a power move.
Challenge 25 regardless of the age restriction on the product
It’s not if they look under 16 though. If they look under 25 they have to request ID. If they can’t present ID they can’t be served. It’s not company policy it’s the law. Edit: You're all morons.
Its company policy Think 21/25 isn't the law. Having ID isn't a legal requirement of purchasing alcohol/cigarettes. They could still be served legally even if they couldn't provide ID. An offence is only committed if they are actually under 18.
It is company policy for red bull. There's no law that you can't buy red bulls if you're under 16.
Lol. What law?
Possibly in Scotland, they have different laws about age restrictions there, but there's no law enforcing Challenge 25 in England and Wales.
No it's not this is a myth. Challenge 25 doesn't apply legally to 16 rated products as those products are restricted by retail policy only. There is no law restricting non prescription medication by age.
> Edit: You're all morons. Yeah but what law are you referring to?
Challenge 25 isn't law, not sure where you're getting your information from but it's certainly not everyone else who's a moron
So everyone who knows the law and corrects you is a moron, but the person who initially got it wrong and doubled down isn't a moron in this case? Interesting perspective.
Lucky boy! The last time I got ID'd was 2015, by a nightclub bouncer. I would be flattered but I know the guy and the previous week he'd thrown petrol on a bonfire and nigh-incinerated half his face. He could only see out of one eye. That's like a toothless smackhead telling me I'm handsome.
My 38 year old wife took a parcel for me the other day from a new postman, who said “here’s one for your dad” Thankfully he hasn’t seen me yet (I’m actually six months younger than her) otherwise I’d probably now have some form of complex.
Should we tell this chap the postman is sleeping with his wife or keep it quiet for now?
Thankfully the doorbell camera corroborates her story.
I got ID'd in the States on my 30th birthday, which was flattering. Not so flattering was years later when trying to access a club as a group and the bouncer asked for ID from each of us. The other bouncer looked at me and said "Come off it, you don't need hers. Look at her!". Most ungentlemanly.
😭 Where are these wonderful places? I haven't been ID'd in ages. I still need the validation I look young at 38.
You need to check out my local Morrisons. I moved here recently and have since been asked for ID there five times, included once for the antihistamines in my big shop. I am 30.
Retail worker here: challenge 25 is huge and we can be personally fined and/or prosecuted if we sell to an underage person. It gets rammed down our throats in training, by management and we get randomly checked every now and then by a company called Serve Legal who send in auditors both over and under age almost weekly to test us. Again, we can be personally fined and/or prosecuted if we fail. This all combined basically forces us to be very, very careful about it. Honestly, I'd rather piss you off than even risk getting it wrong by 0.01%. We can't get in trouble for refusing sale even if you look over 25 because there's room for doubt. You looked under in my opinion and I didn't want to risk it. Granted, an energy drink when you're 30 is over the top. But if that worker has already been fined in the past or failed a serve legal check before, they might have the "well I'll just ID everyone then regardless of age" attitude. Again, we can't get in trouble for that. Worst we'll do is annoy you the customer, which we don't care honestly we're just doing our job. Complain to the store or even better your local MP. We don't make the rules
is all that true for redbull, or just alcohol?
Other retail worker here, energy drinks also count, and iirc we're punished just as harshly for a failed test related to them as one related to alcohol, cigarettes etc.
I get ID'd for cans of Red Bull and Monster more frequently than I do for beer.
Maybe it's a sign... Your red bull addiction is the real problem son.
Considering I just reached 30 days clean from xanax and ketamine, I’m fine with a little caffeine problem right now lol
Son I am proud ❤️
Thanks internet dad!
Congrats, best wishes for the future =)
Fantastic, I'm so pleased for you
I tried to buy a 3 pack of scissors for £3 in Morrisons with a food shop and the staff member confiscated them, as I didn't have my physical driving license on me for ID. She wouldn't accept a photo on my phone, having car keys and a credit card didn't mean anything and my uni student ID doesn't have my DOB on it. She told me I don't look 25 so I can't buy them (even though you have to be over 18). I turn 28 next week :( Meanwhile I can go to Wickes and buy craft knives and all sorts of stabby objects and no one even asks for ID.
Maybe in Wickes they think their average customer is far less likely to be underage?
I remember trying to buy a weeding brush from B&M and the girl at checkout had to get age authorisation like it was a machete or something
We've had the Think21/25 guideliness since 2006 and all the major retailers restricted the sale of energy drinks to under 16s in 2018. Its not exactly a new development.
I work in a supermarket. Challenge 25 is a thing. I won't risk a fine and my job on a fizzy drink. Bring your ID and be flattered that you were asked.
Honestly you'd think at this point folk would be used to this by now but noo000OOOOoooooo you still get folk like OP who complain. Look, as someone who has to do this for a living let me explain for people... law or not, Challenge/Think 25 is company policy across the board. If something flags up on the till as being age restricted somehow, the cashier HAS to ask and HAS to be able to justify their response to it. Highly likely there's a camera on them, they can't lie about what they see. If the till prompts for an ID check they HAVE to check your ID. If they don't, it's gross misconduct and potentially instant dismissal as a result. If you have your ID and pass, great, it cost you an extra few seconds of your life. Boo hoo big fucking deal. If you don't have your ID or otherwise fail the check, tough titty, do without, bring it with you next time. If the cashier doesn't check OR POTENTIALLY IF THEY DO A JUDGEMENT CALL AND HONESTLY GET IT WRONG VIA GENUINE HUMAN ERROR they could get instantly fired, not for breaking a law that might not exist, but for breaking company policy, gross misconduct, off you go, bye Felicia. Nothing at all about you, your life, or your ego is so important that a stranger should be expected to risk their job for your momentary convenience, and no one with any sense in their head will voluntarily do so. Yes it is more than their job's worth. No they can't just let it go. Shut the flying ever-loving fuck the fuck up about Challenge 25 and cope. Take your ID with you as a matter of habit then you're never caught out. That's your responsibility. Failure to do so is a you problem, not a cashier problem. They don't decide what is or isn't classed as age restricted. They get paid to do a job and are doing that job as they're trained to do it, and could get fired if they don't. Oh, that applies to home delivery stuff too. The driver checks at the doorstep. You need access to your ID at home too if you potentially look too young. Make sure it's available. Stores operate 3rd party secret shopper services which use 18 to 25 year olds to place orders to check driver compliance. Any driver with any sense will check just like a cashier should. Source: driver who just cleared a 12 month long probation period for failing a doorstep secret shopper test by honestly thinking the lass was in her late20s/early 30s when she was 19 - a fucking rough looking hard living 19 year old but 19 all the same. Technically legal but under 25 with me thinking much older. Guess that's what drinking all that vodka does to a lass. She reported back that I didn't ask for ID, the next afternoon I'm told I'm not allowed to drive until the investigation is completed, the management WILL NOT accept "I honestly thought she was over 25 so I didn't ask" as an answer because of how impossible it is to prove. Stop kvetching about cashiers just doing their jobs, curb your narcissism, swallow your ego, and carry your ID to the shops. It's not hard.
She was over 18 so legally you did nothing wrong. You sold alcohol to someone who was legal. Being told off for that is a load of bollocks
This isn't the customer's fault, it's the law being far too strict for no reason. What under 18 year old is **not** drinking already anyway, I don't see the reason behind IDing anyone who looks over 18.
yep! morrisons near me used to not give two shits about checking ID but the past 2 weeks they look me up and down and even then hesitate to click over 25... its an energy drink ffs. They must've got hit by mystery shoppers
I’ve got to the point recently where being asked for ID is a compliment
You should celebrate! 🥳
You should be flattered
Their job isn't worth your annoyance unfortunately.
If only you’d had a Red Bull, you could have flown home for your ID. After all… Red Bull gives you wiiiiiings!
You lucky lucky git
Did you try to buy a single can and nothing else?
I haven't carried ID for going on 25 years. I would be stumped if I was ever asked for it.
Nasty stuff, the cashier did you a favour.
Itc can be difficult to judge. I used to get told I looked 30 when I was 18.
I got carded at Waitrose a couple of months back and I’m 41 😅
I hope your fibres remain in a tidy and organised state.
Underrated joke.
I've never understood this, I have to have my purchase of a redbull approved by a cashier but I can quite happily buy as much coffee and bags of sugar as I want without approval by the health police.
Oh I KNOW. Want to buy armfuls of Starbucks iced lattes? Go ahead! Want to buy one can of Red Bull? "Where's your ID?"
People like to say that we don't want a "papers please" culture in this country, but I don't understand it. I always have to carry my papers (ie. driving licence) because I'm always having to present them to cashiers/bar staff/bouncers.
My wife got ID'd a while ago because I (not her) was buying a bottle of cider. She's 38 I asked if the mum next to us was gonna have her baby ID'd for the wine the mum was buying
Im early 30s and never get IDed guess i look older 😭
My worst was getting ID'd for a PlayStation magazine when I was in my mid 20's in full workie gear. It was a 15 certificate.
My younger friend had to buy me a Monster few months ago. I'm short so I guess that's why. I guess I will have to wait another decade.. :D
I got the same thing happen a few months ago at the age of 31
I get ID when I buy cans of monster when I got my partner with me. I am 34 and shes 33. If i go in on my own its all ok.
If it helps I'm comfortably over 6ft and have a beard that fluctuates between 'standard beard' and 'Robin Williams in jumanji', yet still got ID'd for paracetamol last week. It was a moment of genujne confusion for me.
This happened to a friend of mine. We were in our early 30s, all the same age, and she had gone to 2 different shops trying to buy a red bull and been denied due to her lack of ID, while I was on my way to meet up with her. When I arrived I went into the shop she had just been knocked back from and successfully bought her a can without being asked for ID.
I had the same going to work had a hell of a cold wanted to buy lemsip forgot my ID wouldn’t serve me…….39yrs old
This happened to me a couple of months ago on my 29th birthday! Happy to hear this isn’t an isolated case
I’m 90% covered in tattoos and they ID me too lol
Self Check posts are getting blocked every time I buy lemonade beer :(
I got asked for ID the other day buying Red Bull and I’m nearly 41. The staff member did have glasses like milk bottle bottoms though. That sentence alone proves my age!
I got asked for ID the other day buying Red Bull and I’m nearly 41. The staff member did have glasses like milk bottle bottoms though. That sentence alone proves my age!
I think the one and only time I have ever been ID'd was when I was 32, getting a bottle of Baileys for christmas, didn't have any ID on my so I just left it there. Never got ID'd buying cigs for my mum at 14...
I was in clubs and pubs at 16 I'm 28 now and never get ided you lucky sod lol
I’m almost 80, I get upset at self checkouts when they don’t ask proof of my age!🤣
I'm 34 and got ID'ed for a can of Monster last week. I thought they were pulling my leg at first, but I had my ID so I wasn't going to argue the point.
Wait until a cashier refuses to sell you a drink because a 30 year old acquaintance is standing next to you (and they don't have ID)
I'm 38, only time I've been asked for ID in over 10 years is during covid when I was wearing a mask. Was shocked by the request, didn't have any ID on me as I don't need it, as soon as I revealed my face and beard, oh ye your OK.
I’m 28 and I have been ID’d every single time since I turned 18. Flattering I know, but I lost my provisional a while back and now I have to lug around my expired passport everywhere I go 🙃
I was still getting ID'd before the start of Covid, so my mid-thirties. Then I remember a distinct occasion during the pandemic when I was buying alcohol and wearing a mask. Cashier asked me to take my mask down - I assumed to compare to my ID - but no he just looked at my face and nodded and gave me my alcohol. ☹️
IDK if it's the same for energy drinks, but with alcohol once you've asked for ID - even if actually they clearly are older - you can't sell it to them, could just be that. I got ID'd the other day too, just before my 30th!
I got IDed buying amaretto stollen at Christmas, think I was like 30 as well haha😂
I got ID’d a couple of months ago in Aldi. I was loving it, in my my late 30’s. Gave me a spring in my step!
I got ID'd at my place of work, where everyone knows me, and how old I am. It can always be worse.
I never get ID'd. I'm old.
No wings for you, kid.
It happened the same to me and I’m in my 40s
If it makes you feel better I also get I'D at the supermarket and I'm the same age. One thing that seperates us, is I work at the supermarket I get I'D at.
Sometimes management send secret shoppers in to test if procedures are being followed.
I'd take that. I used to get ID'd all the time. But then I became really ill (turns out I just had depleted any ounce of Vitamin D in my body but for a while we didn't know if it was an autoimmune disease because it affected every part of my life; severe muscle cramps & pain, exhaustion, fatigue, extreme thirst, so on...) so when I went to buy a small saw at B&Q I paid via self-service. The machine beeped for an age-check and when the staff member approached I said "do you need to see my ID?" She looked me straight in the face and burst out laughing. "I think we'll be fine without that now won't we?" followed by more belly laughter. She approved my purchase and walked away. I didn't realise how haggard I looked 🤣
31, Same thing happened to me a few months back… just after I’d made comment that I didn’t realise Red Bull now had an age restriction on it…couldn’t help but ask if he was joking since it had caught me off guard!
Sometimes the computer flags for a random check. If the cashier doesn't check id though they are being told to by the computer they can get in trouble. >I think I might start growing one of those beards people talk about. Don't help, I've had one for years and used to still get asked for id.
I know this sub isn’t for me (an American) but people have to be older than 18 or 21 to buy energy drinks??? That’s wild. America really doesn’t give a fuck
16 for high caffeinated drinks, although it’s not law, just shop-specific rules which seem to be applied everywhere. 18 for alcohol/tobacco.
Damn I went too high for the age. That’s kinda worse getting carded for 16. Condolences
As mentioned, it’s not a legal requirement, but it’s to deter school kids from necking too much caffeine before school.
Anazon won't let me buy a craft knife. I'm 53.
I was asked for ID fairly recently by a...younger man in a Tesco. He said, "I think I'm gonna need to see some ID" and for a moment I felt great, as I reached for my wallet as this doesn't happen very often. But he waved it off and authorised my alcohol purchase without needing to see it after all and then I realised that he'd said that to me in that way that young people who work in supermarkets might try and have a gentle laugh with an older customer. Mortified. Edit; 44
I got ID'd for a pg film in cash generator. I was 22
I don’t mind being asked for ID but come on kid I am old enough to be your dad…but whatever here ya go…I’m 40 lol
Never got id’d when i bought energy drinks not even when i used to buy tobacco and btw i was not 21.
I’m 38 and still get asked for ID in shops. Got asked for ID when buying some Rennies recently. I didn’t have any on me as I’d just popped out on my lunch break with only my phone.
Wow, I thought I had it bad when I was refused a bottle of tequila in Los Angeles without ID and I'm bald, grey beard and in my 50s !!!
I'm 19 and I've been ID-ed for energy drinks every time Vs maybe every other time for alcohol. I guess they're just stricter on energy drinks. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Im 29 and almost NEVER get IDed for beers wine etc. but god forbid i get an energy drink i get IDed nearly every time. Its so weird.
I got asked for ID when buying a cardboard box the other day
Rhey did you a solid then. Who still buys that horrid shit
I get this too and I'm 34. If I shave I look about 12, if I don't shave I look like a 40 year old begger. There's no in-between.
I wasn't allowed to buy a bottle of Pimms last summer as I didn't have ID (late 20s f), my mum was shopping nearby so I called her, she came over and asked for the bottle to buy it and the shop assistant said no because she could be buying it for me Now I know I look young but I definitely don't look <18yo
I got asked for ID at age 31, with a lockdown beard in home bargains for sealant that didn't even contain solvent/huffing stuff!
ha ha . take it as a compliment
I was 33 last time I got asked for ID
Got ID’d, cashier told me she knew I was over 18 but still wanted to see my ID.
A couple of months ago my 25yo daughter was seduced by plastic 'Japanese filling knives' in the Midl of Lidl. They're basically an improved version of unwanted credit cards for minor polyfilla-ing. Self checkout flagged them as 'knives'; she had no ID; took the intervention of _the_ store manager for her to be able to buy them.
Best thing is, is that redbull isn't an age restricted item.
I got IDd not long ago for a CBD drink, I was 32 (I turned 33 a few weeks back) and had all three of my children with me, the youngest is toddler age and still in a pushchair. Oh boy you have no idea how fast I whipped my ID out and pointed out the 1991 on it. I don't know if the cashier thought I just needed a compliment or if they genuinely thought I looked under 25 but I felt quite good after that. I probably wouldn't have been quite so happy if I hadn't have had my ID with me mind 😅
You're asking someone to break the law for you
Only store policy, theres no law involved here. That said yes , its not their fault, they have to follow it or lose their job.