Tesco...Alcohol, Over 21

Saruman

jor el wrote:

I think those signs actually say that if you look under 21, then be prepaired to prove you're over 18 with the Garda ID card. .

Thats what they say! Well more like "if your lucky enough to look under 21 etc etc...

Never been asked for ID in this country to buy alcohol. No Garda card but i always have drivers license.

I would say its just staff having a certain interpretation of the rules in some stores.

maidhc

"(4) In any proceedings for a contravention of subsection (1) or (2) of this section, it shall be a defence for the defendant to prove that the person in respect of whom the charge is brought produced to him or her an age card relating to that person or, if the defendant is charged with permitting another person to sell or deliver intoxicating liquor contrary to either of those subsections, to prove that an age card relating to the person to whom the intoxicating liquor was sold or delivered was produced by that person to that other person.".

Contrary to my previous post it is the intoxicating liquor act 2000, not 2003. Production of the Age card is a defence to a potential prosecution, production of the passport or driving licence isn't

padi89

Hobbes wrote:

Every Dublin Supermarket I have been to has this policy in place. In some cases it is even higher. A friend of mine got all happy when she was told she didn't look over 25 so they wouldn't serve her.

If you look old to begin with then you don't get hassled. I've never been asked for ID in Tesco but then I don't look 21

Must be a Dublin thing so.Not the case in Galway anyway.

zuma

Skyuser wrote:

That's just stupid.

What's your mobile phone network.....

Well as your asking its 02 which is owned by Telefonica, a Spanish company

Whats was the point of this stupid question anway?

daymobrew

Carb wrote:

So if you let everyone know that your discriminating, then its ok.

BTW, I'm not attacking your post. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if your right. I think I'll do a bit of googling at lunch time.

No need to google - go to the source.

It's not discrimination according to Section 25 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2003, provided they display a sign indicating the age limit (a figure that must be over 18).

Aside: An interesting item in the Intoxicating Liquor Act 2000 that says that the the name and address of the off-licence must be on a on a label on the bottle/can sold. I guess that this section is there to all for that option in the future.

FillSpectre

I did mention that a sign allowed it.

I am not sure about the acts and laws however. The lables on containers is not law as such or we would know about it. THey spoke about it and didn't make it law

Chinafoot

Passport is a travel document and is only supposed to be used as such as far as I know. Shops/supermarkets don't have to take your passport. A lot of places will but they aren't legally required to.

jor el wrote:

I think those signs actually say that if you look under 21, then be prepaired to prove you're over 18 with the Garda ID card. They don't refuse you once you have that.

Exactly. If the OP had read the sign properly he would see that it said that people under 21 need to provide a garda age card in order to be served. They don't refuse to sell alcohol to anyone under 21 in general....only if you don't have the required I.D. Like Hobbes said, this has been the policy in Irish supermarkets for years.


Our local tesco, supervalu and spar all have the same policy. If you are under 21 you must present a garda age card. A lot of them do accept a passport but they can refuse it if they wish.

Also, if you are between 18 and 21 you can only buy a certain amount of alcohol. (At least this is the case in our local spar) This is to try and curb underage drinking as if there is one 18 year old in the group, most of which are underage, then he/she can no longer go in and get 30 cans and 2 litres of vodka for all of his/her mates.

Bottom line: They won't refuse you if you are over 18 and under 21 provided you have the required I.D. to prove that you are in fact of legal age to purchase alcohol.
Definitely a case of crossed-wires here with the OP. Next time read the sign properly before having a panic attack.

Litcagral

peachypants wrote:

Passport is a travel document and is only supposed to be used as such as far as I know. Shops/supermarkets don't have to take your passport. A lot of places will but they aren't legally required to.
QUOTE]


Spot on peachypants. They are not obliged to accept passport as ID.Under the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1988 (Section 40):


Age cards. 40.—(1) The Minister may by regulations provide for the issue to a person of or over the age of 18 years, if so requested by the person and subject to his compliance with the regulations, of a card (in this Part referred to as "an age card") specifying the age of the person.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, regulations under this section may make provision in relation to all or any of the following matters:

( a ) the information as to his age and any other matters specified in the regulations to be furnished by a person (in this subsection referred to as "the applicant") applying for the issue of an age card,
( b ) a form of application for an age card,
( c ) the charging and payment of fees in respect of the issue or replacement of an age card,
( d ) the form of an age card and the particulars (which may include a photograph of the holder thereof) to be specified in an age card,
( e ) the period of validity of an age card,
( f ) the person by whom an age card shall be issued,
( g ) any other matter in relation to which it is, in the opinion of the Minister, necessary or expedient to make provision.

snickerpuss

I've never seen a supermarket with this policy. Maybe its a southside dublin thing, certainly not in coolock, i've not been asked for id in tesco, superquinn, dunnes, spar anywhere. And i look about 17 (i'm really 19)

daymobrew

Litcagral wrote:

Spot on peachypants. They are not obliged to accept passport as ID.Under the Intoxicating Liquor Act 1988 (Section 40):

That seems to have been superceded by Section 15 of the 2003 act, which mentions an age card, passport, ID card from an EU country or a driver license.
Of course, the shop can decide to refuse to serve you if it so likes.

The Real B-man

Think thats bad you have to be 25 in Superquinn!!!

Litcagral

daymobrew wrote:

That seems to have been superceded by Section 15 of the 2003 act, which mentions an age card, passport, ID card from an EU country or a driver license.
Of course, the shop can decide to refuse to serve you if it so likes.

Point taken daymobrew. They probably can get away with accepting one form of the examples of ID provided.

Burning Eclipse

I'm not positive on this but AFAIK Invitation to Treat rules the roost in shops, "Contract" begins by the customer wanting to buy something, not the shop offering to buy you something. IIRC, a shop can point blank refuse to sell you something if they want to. Question is, do they have to give a reason, I don't think so, but again I'm not sure....

maidhc

daymobrew wrote:

That seems to have been superceded by Section 15 of the 2003 act, which mentions an age card, passport, ID card from an EU country or a driver license.
Of course, the shop can decide to refuse to serve you if it so likes.

s15 of the 2003 act deals with entry into a licenced premises
s14 of the 2000 act deals with the sale of alcohol.
s40 of the 1988 act deals with the creation of the age card.

Fighting Irish

Hobbes wrote:

Yes they are allowed and what planet have you been living on? Its been like this for all Supermarkets in Ireland for years.

No it hasn't, it use to be over 21 in nearly all supermarkets until about 5 years ago then they all dropped to 18(except for aldi and lidl) what planet have you been living on?

b0bsquish

I was wondering what the story was with the self service things in tecos? Can they ID you while using one, or even if u tried to buy drink out of hours with em? can they stop you...or more to the point, will they stop you?

Skyuser

b0bsquish wrote:

I was wondering what the story was with the self service things in tecos? Can they ID you while using one, or even if u tried to buy drink out of hours with em? can they stop you...or more to the point, will they stop you?

No, other customers will stop you and ask for ID in a self service kinda way where we all end up running Tescos. We still gotta unload the tesco lorrys that arrive.

daymobrew

b0bsquish wrote:

I was wondering what the story was with the self service things in tecos? Can they ID you while using one, or even if u tried to buy drink out of hours with em? can they stop you...or more to the point, will they stop you?

The self service checkouts should have a member of staff supervising them. The staff member will be at a terminal that displays the activity at each self service checkout.

When you scan alcohol it should say something about "Authorization required" on the screen. The staff member can authorize the item from their station, or ID you as necessary. So, I don't see the self-service checkouts as a way around an ID check.

Ronan|Raven

Here in New Zealand if you look under 25 you will be asked for ID , from bars to supermarkets. They are really strict about it.

MagnumForce

Slightly off topic, but do you know whats really annoying about those self service things when buying alcohol, well three things really, first of all theres hardly ever a supervisor there and you cant continue with payment until they key in their code, secondly, they need to do this for each alcoholic item scanned, and thirdly if you're buying six cans of, for example, Miller, you need to scan each one separatly and cant just go "multiply by six" which is really annoying cos theyve got the plastic holder thingies that keep em together which makes scanning each one quite difficult.

tolosenc

MagnumForce wrote:

cant just go "multiply by six"

Scan the same one 6 times.

Regarding passports: is it nor illegal to refuse an official state document as valid ID? that's my interpretation.

And back in my pre adult days, i would often just produce my actual passport that said I was 17 or whatever, mostly they just made sure it was me in the picture. Ridiculous.

Jack Vegas

I'm quite sure that the sign is there as a reminder to staff of their policy to ask anyone who looks like they are under the age of 21 for identification to prove they are of legal drinking age.

Alanstrainor

Nothing like dragging up year and a half old threads:rolleyes:

Hornd

I went into a shop yesterday in town and was refused alcohol on the basis that i wasnt 21. Im 19 and had an age card on me! I didnt really get a definitive answer if this is legal from this thread but i thought i would ask again. And im pretty sure there wasnt a sign up saying you had to be 21 but im not sure.

BeerNut

This is governed by 25(4) of the 2003 Intoxicating Liquor Act:

(4) If—

(a) the holder of a licence or other authorisation which permits the sale of intoxicating liquor adopts a policy of refusing to supply intoxicating liquor to any person below a specified age which exceeds 18 years,

(b) a notice setting out the policy is displayed in a conspicuous place in or on the exterior of the premises, and

(c) the policy is implemented in good faith,

a refusal to serve intoxicating liquor to such a person shall not constitute discrimination on the age ground.

Under (b) you'd want to check if they have a sign up and under (c) you'd want to ask why they're doing it, before you can go accusing them of discrimination.

moosejoose

You cant refuse someone into a club for being under any age accept 18 and the same goes for serving alchol in shops, I think anderson was right in saying its a mentality thing its the whole "sure what can i do" thing.

BeerNut

moosejoose wrote: »

You cant refuse someone into a club for being under any age accept 18 and the same goes for serving alchol in shops

I think the law above says different. What makes you think otherwise?

mayordenis

just thought of this - drop the bottles on the floor so they smash and then say

"well seen as you won't let me buy them, I guess I don't have to pay for the damage. . . oh and lick my ring"

it's ridiculous behaviour from a rediculous supermarket.

Our man in Havana

Just as a matter of interest what is the oldest age they will supply an age card to?

the groutch

this age card stuff is more of the EU's big brotherism

VOTE NO TO LISBON MKII