Getting Asked For Proof of Age

Former Member

I'm With Stupid wrote:

Well yeah, but at uni in particular, a lot of people don't have a driving licence, and leave their passport at home.

When that point was made to my boss by a customer, he retorted "Quite frankly, I don't give a toss. It's my arse on the line if an illegal sale goes through, not yours".

Former Member

stargalaxy wrote:

When that point was made to my boss by a customer, he retorted "Quite frankly, I don't give a toss. It's my arse on the line if an illegal sale goes through, not yours".

Which is fine if he has no other form of ID, but if they do provide something else legitimate (especially something like a uni card in a uni town) then not accepting it is just totally nobheadish (new word?).

Former Member

I think my Connexions card does have that PASS thing on it...

*goes to check*

ETA: It so does ;d.

Former Member

it is annoying to be asked but from both perspectives (i work in a bar and also always get asked for ID) its much worse to be the one who has to ask. it can be mega embarassing when you get it wrong. you only get about 2 seconds to guess the age of the person and it can be quite tricky. if someone asked you how old a person was you'd probably take a bit of time thinking and looking at the person, you wouldn't just be like 'oh yeah they're 19'. people don't always look their age either. personally i HATE IDing people, i'm always really embarassed and it makes it ten times worse when the person makes a fuss and makes you feel like you've done something wrong when you're only doing your job. in my work you get the fear of god put in you by the managers, ID everyone on pain of death and £80 fine! the 21 rule does mean more people get asked but it takes a lot of the pressure off the server cos then you can explain when you ID someone who is 20 not to be offended because its company policy

Former Member

stargalaxy wrote:

It can't be. For starters, you can get married if you're under 18, and secondly, that ring could easily have been stolen.

Or swapped from another finger. My ex's mum was married at 17, and the customer had a hissy fit at her when she told her that's why she wouldn't accept it as proof of age. So even though she was pretty obviously over 18, she got the sale refused. Gutted.

There's no sense being rude to cashiers or bar-people over getting IDd (easy to say when you're old enough, yeah?). They're only doing their job and being a twat isn't gonna convince them to do you any favours. Some people are just morons about it.

Former Member

I'm With Stupid wrote:

Which is fine if he has no other form of ID, but if they do provide something else legitimate (especially something like a uni card in a uni town) then not accepting it is just totally nobheadish (new word?).

its NOT legitimate. the police will be straight on our back if we start accepting any old thing. i work in a busy city centre bar and any other form of ID is not acceptable. the dude was just doing his job

Former Member

Lil Laura wrote:

Or swapped from another finger. My ex's mum was married at 17, and the customer had a hissy fit at her when she told her that's why she wouldn't accept it as proof of age. So even though she was pretty obviously over 18, she got the sale refused. Gutted.

There's no sense being rude to cashiers or bar-people over getting IDd (easy to say when you're old enough, yeah?). They're only doing their job and being a twat isn't gonna convince them to do you any favours. Some people are just morons about it.

If a customer starts shouting at me because I've asked them for ID, it just gives the impression to me that they are under age, and merely confirms my suspicions in the first place. The good thing for me is, a lot of the shops staff this year used to work in the bars, so they know how to defuse such situations. They've certainly taught me a lot about it.