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Challenge 21

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Man, 72, refused alcohol over age

Is this taking the 'Challenge 21' policy a little bit too far?

I think this gent sums it up well by saying:
I applaud any efforts to stop kids being served and standing on street corners getting drunk. But this was just totally stupid.

:chin:

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    "To further limit any element of doubt staff at the West Kirby store are required to ask anyone buying alcohol to confirm that they are over 21."

    well if they have to ask everyone i cant see what he has to compain about,
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I think its reasonable to assume an old man would be over 21. Mind you i rarely get ID'd and im only 21. Different stores different policies.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BumbleBee wrote: »
    Man, 72, refused alcohol over age

    Is this taking the 'Challenge 21' policy a little bit too far?

    Pathetic..what happened to common sense?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    katchika wrote: »
    Pathetic..what happened to common sense?

    It died a long time ago lol.
    I can see them challenging a young looking 30 year old perhaps, but it's taking it a bit far.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'd actually be embarrassed to ask a man in his 60s if he was over 21, even in a joking kind of way. When I worked in M&S I was supposed to ask young looking people for ID (obviously!) but I didn't because I figured if they were buying alcohol in M&S they were probably over 18...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Territt wrote: »
    "To further limit any element of doubt staff at the West Kirby store are required to ask anyone buying alcohol to confirm that they are over 21."

    well if they have to ask everyone i cant see what he has to compain about,

    If I didn't know better, I'd say you love to be contrary. :D
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Territt wrote: »
    "To further limit any element of doubt staff at the West Kirby store are required to ask anyone buying alcohol to confirm that they are over 21."

    well if they have to ask everyone i cant see what he has to compain about,

    But surely if someone looks old, then you'd have no reason to ask them?:confused:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Morrisons are funny about the 21 policy, you do have to ask everybody apparently or they will sack you. Or so the 5 hours of training videos I was made to watch last week would have you believe! So I can see why the cashier asked for ID, but there isn't any reason for the manager to be arsey about it.

    I agree it is stupid, but I can see why the cashier asked - Morrisons will try to sack you for anything.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's just stupid, imo. I can understand it if he looked 18 or something.

    Why is it they ask if you look under 21? I think most places do this - I'm sure there was a notice about this in the local co-op.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    this clearly shows abuse of this power. what idiot would i.d a seventy odd year old man, unless he really looks under 21 which i really doubt it. i'm 19 and never get asked for i.d and i've seen girls as young as 15 going into clubs with out been asked for i.d.

    this case just brings back memories of when i was out clubbing and a 40 year old man in front of me was asked for i.d and didn't have any therefore refused his entry but they let me and all my friends in and we were only 17!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    If you are threatened, you are being wise in covering your back.

    All shop owners and the person making the sale are threatened with severe consequences if they don't comply with the order.

    Police and councils work together as agent provocateurs both to justify their existence and to cream a little more cash from any fine that would be imposed.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Challenge 21 is the new policy, because sometimes it is difficult to tell whether someone is actually 18, and not an old looking 16 year old or something. So apparently, if someone looks under 21 you are to ID them to check that they are in fact over 18. You will probably have seen the cashiers wearing red badges that say "Under 21? I've got to check, it's my job." or something, advertising the policy and almost shifting the blame of the having to check away from the person checking, so that the customer shouldn't be a twat about it.

    Morrisons policy seems to be to check EVERYONE, not just those who look under 21, and as the policy is applied to everyone that man - although it is a bit ridiculous,yes - should have accepted that. HOWEVER, the manager didn't have any excuse for acting the way the man said he did. It might be stupid but that's just the way Morrisons works. I expect you know that if you sell alcohol to someone under 18, you yourself gets the £80 fine and not the shop? You can also lose your job so I would definitely check everyone, especially while working at Morrisons as they are more strict than other supermarkets (esp the Co-op, where I have also worked). Co-op actually let you use your discretion!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Challenge 21 is the new policy, because sometimes it is difficult to tell whether someone is actually 18, and not an old looking 16 year old or something. So apparently, if someone looks under 21 you are to ID them to check that they are in fact over 18. You will probably have seen the cashiers wearing red badges that say "Under 21? I've got to check, it's my job." or something, advertising the policy and almost shifting the blame of the having to check away from the person checking, so that the customer shouldn't be a twat about it.

    Never seen them, but it's not something I've really looked for. In the little corner shop near me, there's nothing like that, but they do have the stuff about how it's illegal to seel tobacco products to anyone under 16.
    I expect you know that if you sell alcohol to someone under 18, you yourself gets the £80 fine and not the shop?

    I've never heard about this fine until now.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Believe me if you worked in a shop you would have heard about it!

    Quite frequently, underage people are sent in to buy lottery, alcohol and tobacco as a test for the cashiers. If you sell them the product, you get a fine and risk losing your job.

    Tobacco age limit is going up to 18 soon as well.

    So, this man should have realised that if the cashier had not asked him for ID, she could have quite possibly lost her job, even though he was of age. SO he should have accepted this and shown ID, and then there would have been no problem. I expect that the cashier thought that keeping her job was more important than being thought of as ridculous by some old man.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Perhaps it would be better if the staff said something like "it's our policy to ask everyone to confirm they're over 21, Sir" and then grinned or something? He said he wouldn't have minded if she'd had a 'sparkle in her eye' which would clearly show she saw the humour in the situation.

    I guess the manager was just sticking up for his staff, which is a good quality. However, if I had asked this gent and he refused to comment I'd have said something like "I'll take that as a 'yes' shall I?" and got on with it. As it was there was probably a scene that could have been avoided and the staff member probably felt worse than if she'd just let it pass.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So, this man should have realised that if the cashier had not asked him for ID, she could have quite possibly lost her job, even though he was of age. SO he should have accepted this and shown ID, and then there would have been no problem. I expect that the cashier thought that keeping her job was more important than being thought of as ridculous by some old man.

    She didn't even ask him for ID though, she asked him to confirm he was over 21. At least that's the way I read it.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BumbleBee wrote: »
    Perhaps it would be better if the staff said something like "it's our policy to ask everyone to confirm they're over 21, Sir" and then grinned or something? He said he wouldn't have minded if she'd had a 'sparkle in her eye' which would clearly show she saw the humour in the situation.

    Which I would've prefered as well.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I don't think you should blame the member of staff so much - as I keep saying it's her job and she was following the policy that the shop requires you to. She probably could have handled it better, but if you've been stuck on a checkout all day dealing with customers, which is no easy job, then your sense of humour is probably long gone.

    I think the challenge 21 policy is a good one as it shifts the blame of having to check ages away from the cashier and onto the company.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You've only got a disgruntled customer's side of the story though, so we don't know what the cashier did or didn't say.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    God it's pathetic. Another example of jobsworths having to do everything by the letter or the universe will implode. Most other countries can survive without having to give workers £80 fines for the huge crime of making a mistake, and shock horror, a 17 year old buying an alcoholic drink that they'd just find some other way of getting hold of anyway. And most of them don't have the number of nobhead teenagers crawling in the streets on a Saturday night that we do.
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