What the hell? Asked for ID?

bigpinkelephant

Myself and my friend went into a supermarket tonight, I gave her a lift down as it was raining. She was buying 2 bottles of wine and was asked for ID by the girl at the till. She is 23 and had an age card which was accepted. I start walking over to look at some magazines and next thing I hear "Have you got ID?". It was the store manager. I told him politely that no I don't have ID, I am not buying anything and anyway I am 22 and then he said that I have to as my friend is buying alcohol.

Remembering I had my passport in my bag from going out last Saturday night I said "actually I have my passport". He snapped at me "I thought you said you didn't have ID?". He had a look at it and handed it back to me. I looked over at my friend and next thing he goes "With that attitude your friend can't buy alcohol" and told the girl on the checkout not to sell it. We walked off and I turned around to see him on his walkie talkie.

On our way out we were stopped by the security guard. He said to me "Were you asked for ID there?". I said that yes I was and it showed I am 22 and anyway I was not buying anything. The security guard told me that the manager said I practically threw it at him??? I said no I did not. He then asked did my friend still want to buy the wine and I said no we will take our money elsewhere in future.

What the hell?
Firstly, if he thought I was a minor and my friend was buying the drink for me, he had absolutely no way of proving it, as I did not give her any money. Secondly, I am 22, and thirdly, I displayed no attitude so he was making up lies about me!

Run_to_da_hills

If you were buying liquor in the States you would be asked for ID at any age. I wouldn't be surprised if they brought that law in here.

bigpinkelephant

Read my post... I wasn't buying anything.

dudara

The ID isn't the issue here, it is the manner in which you claim you were treated.

Write everything down in an impartial, descriptive letter and post it via registered mail to the manager of the supermarket and the head office of the supermarket franchise (if applicable).

Run_to_da_hills

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

Read my post... I wasn't buying anything.

In that case I would have just told him to fc**k o*ff.

LolaDub

Thats unbelievable! What supermarket was it? So you need id now just to walk into a store? I would definitely write a letter of complaint to the head office as dudara said

Morgans

Name and shame. And follow it up.

You could interrupt Joooooooooe Duffffaaaaaaay's funday friday with the news if you were that way inclined.

Manager of a supermarket store thinks he is God. A business genius no doubt.

As for the legality of the issue, i think he is on very dodgy ground asking someone who is not involved in a transaction for an ID.

Random

dudara wrote: »

The ID isn't the issue here, it is the manner in which you claim you were treated.

Write everything down in an impartial, descriptive letter and post it via registered mail to the manager of the supermarket and the head office of the supermarket franchise (if applicable).

Agreed.

bigpinkelephant

It was Dunnes Stores in Maynooth.

who's yer one?

i only stopped getting asked for id when i hit 25. also from working in a shop i had to id a lot of ppl who turned out to be mid 20s and older:rolleyes:

that isn't really the point here. its more how you were spoken to. i wonder if he thought you looked under age and automatically adopted that superior attitude i see a lot of authority figures get when dealing with minors (or percieved minors in this case). 'you're a young person and so i get to speak to you however i want and treat you like a criminal because you'll probably rob my store anyway' :mad:

if you want to take it further than seething on the internet, i suggest a bit of sleuthing, find the email of the highest person in the company (managing director or whoever) and go to them, about this ass. my dad does it all the time and it usually gets him somewhere- no point in going to some middle managment moron with no power to help you!

Morgans

Asking for ID is part of the issue. If you looked like a friend of someone who is buying drink, can you request ID off them? Why stop there, ID everyone inside and those outside the shop too.

However, calling a security guard because you nearly threw the passport at him is just ridiculous.

A letter is the probably the best way to go, but gut instinct it will be ignored.

watna

Yeah, I would write a polite but firm letter outlining the way you were treated. Make sure you make clear that if you were buying alcohol you would have had no issue showing ID and that isn't your problem but that you weren't buying anything and that if that is the way that management treats its staff then you will not be shopping there in future.

In NZ, there's signs everywhere saying if you look under 30 you will be ID'd. It kind of makes sense but it's a pain in the ass having to carry your passport around with you (you can only show your passport or a nz age card). I'd say they'll bring something like that in at home in the future. If so, I'd expect a lot more incidents like the one above!

Trinity

Ring Head Office, there is no excuse for treating customers that way, I personally would have hit the fcuking roof and not let him away with it.

I was buying cigarettes in my local centra the other day and was asked for ID, I was over the moon, I'm 33

Davidth88

Don't people remember this .

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7092723.stm

He was right to ID you TBH

However I totally agree with the OP , sounds like some jumped up idiot in a suit much as it pains me to say it, take your money to Tesco from now on ( it's 24hrs as well )

jhegarty

Davidth88 wrote: »

He was right to ID you TBH

why ?

Davidth88

Why.....

He must have seen the OP standing next his GF when she picked up the wine and reasonably assumed they were together.

I believe it's an offence to purchase alcohol for people underage also , so he was working against that offence . ( I am open to correction )

Now that does not help the ' little hitler ' attitude , but some of these ' suits' are on a power trip.

Actually , been thinking about this , I assume there must be some common sense applied , for example you are shopping with your child does this preclude you from buying booze ?

craichoe

-Ring Dunnes management and complain: Head Office 01 611 2100

Seriously do it, that guy sounds like a knob ... Why would you 'throw' your passport at someone .. thats ridiculous.

KTRIC

I was asked for ID by a young lad in an off-licence. I was about 27 or 28 at the time and he was a good 10 years younger than me.

I just laughed at him and asked was he joking. The owner was standing behind him and told him not to be so silly and that I was old enough to be his father

I have a big beard so I look about 10 years older than I am, still quite funny though.

Jip

With the new licensing laws coming in later this summer expect alot more of this, I don't have a problem being asked for ID (I'm 32) and I can't understand why others would either. A business could be closed down for 2 days if caught supplying alcohol to underage people.
As people have said already, in many other countries you're carded until you've almost one foot in your grave.

egan007

Jip wrote: »

With the new licensing laws coming in later this summer expect alot more of this, I don't have a problem being asked for ID (I'm 32) and I can't understand why others would either. A business could be closed down for 2 days if caught supplying alcohol to underage people.
As people have said already, in many other countries you're carded until you've almost one foot in your grave.

Did you even read the post?
The issue is not about ID its about being mis treated by an ignorant 'Manager'

BeansMeansHynes

I would report him to Head Office for the way he treated you! Sounds like he was on a power trip.

bigpinkelephant

Jip wrote: »

With the new licensing laws coming in later this summer expect alot more of this, I don't have a problem being asked for ID (I'm 32) and I can't understand why others would either. A business could be closed down for 2 days if caught supplying alcohol to underage people.
As people have said already, in many other countries you're carded until you've almost one foot in your grave.

Read my post. I WAS NOT BUYING ALCOHOL.

axer

OP: make sure you complain. If you go back into the store you might be able to find the managers name either from being up on the wall with his picture or by asking somehow. That is no way to treat a customer AND he had no right asking you for ID since like you said you were not purchasing the alcohol.

LolaDub

It is an offence to supply minors with alcohol but as far as i know a store is only responsible for the age of the person they sell the alcohol to. If that customer sells it on to an underage person then they are liable not the shop. It really is unbelievable how he treated you, and then stopping your friends custom because you didn't allow him id you for looking at magazines! This kind of crap is unreal

bigpinkelephant

LolaDub wrote: »

It is an offence to supply minors with alcohol but as far as i know a store is only responsible for the age of the person they sell the alcohol to. If that customer sells it on to an underage person then they are liable not the shop. It really is unbelievable how he treated you, and then stopping your friends custom because you didn't allow him id you for looking at magazines! This kind of crap is unreal

I did let him ID me but after seeing on my passport that I am 22 he said my friend could not buy the alcohol because of my "attitude".

LolaDub

I know you said that, what my point is, is that i don't think a shop are liable for people reselling their alcohol so he had no need to ask you for id in the first place. His behaviour was unreal, have you reported him?

Jip

Re. all those SHOUTING IN BOLD ABOUT MY POST, try reading it again with regard to the post above it. Then all take a chill pill.

craichoe

Nobody but the Gardai, Customs, Immigration officers have a right to demand identification.

A shopkeeper cannot *force* you to provide identification but they can refuse to sell you alcohol on that basis. However the manager had no right to ask you on that context as you were not purchasing the alcohol, there would be no contract of sale on this as no money was exchanged

kersti

No he wasn't right - it's harrassment. If I were to walk into a store with a toddler in tow they would not refuse to sell me alcohol on the basis that the child was under aged. He had no right to your ID if you were not purchasing. IF you were under aged then your friend could be prosecuted for supply to a minor, but it's not up to the store manager to police that.

Wertz

A fair few times that I went into a store in the US with a mate or mates who were buying drink, we'd all be carded... on one memorable occasion, my mate sitting in the drivers seat of a car outside the store was asked to prove he was over 21, since I'd been seen getting out of the car :rolleyes: .
Yes I know ID isn't the issue here, but just making the point that it's probably in the upcoming changes in legislation, that this type of thing will become the norm.
No need to be a jobsworth about it like the manager was though...

parsi

craichoe wrote: »

Nobody but the Gardai, Customs, Immigration officers have a right to demand identification.

I believe that Social Welfare Investigators can do as well.

sdanseo

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

In that case I would have just told him to fc**k o*ff.

Yes, because that would clearly have solved the problem.

sdanseo

dudara wrote: »

The ID isn't the issue here, it is the manner in which you claim you were treated.

Write everything down in an impartial, descriptive letter and post it via registered mail to the manager of the supermarket and the head office of the supermarket franchise (if applicable).

LolaDub wrote: »

Thats unbelievable! What supermarket was it? So you need id now just to walk into a store? I would definitely write a letter of complaint to the head office as dudara said

Morgans wrote: »

Name and shame. And follow it up.

You could interrupt Joooooooooe Duffffaaaaaaay's funday friday with the news if you were that way inclined.

Manager of a supermarket store thinks he is God. A business genius no doubt.

As for the legality of the issue, i think he is on very dodgy ground asking someone who is not involved in a transaction for an ID.

random wrote: »

Agreed.

craichoe wrote: »

-Ring Dunnes management and complain: Head Office 01 611 2100

Seriously do it, that guy sounds like a knob ... Why would you 'throw' your passport at someone .. thats ridiculous.

Now they on the other hand are all fine examples of the correct course of action. Definately take it up with HQ, that manager should get a stern talking to about his (lack of) customer service skills.

Corruptedmorals

Head Office is on Mercer Street, Beaux Lane House.

bigpinkelephant

I went on the Dunnes website shortly after this incident and emailed their Customer Services address. I heard nothing back so rang their head office today who told me that they don't have a customer service department?
And that I need to speak to the Personnell Manager in the store as the managers report to her. They said if the store don't do something about it then I am to ring head office again and they will take it further. I rang the store and they said the Personnell Manager was out sick.
I will NOT be happy until I get results from this as I do not accompany my friend into a shop to be treated like a piece of dirt by staff, have false accusations made about me i.e. throwing my passport at a manager (which is slander!) and having a bad attitude, and the embarrassment of all this happening in a busy shop.

LolaDub

Good stuff!

foggy_lad

jhegarty wrote: »

why ?

the shop can be fined and worse if they sell alcohol to someone and they suspect it may be given to any underage person?

axer

foggy_lad wrote: »

the shop can be fined and worse if they sell alcohol to someone and they suspect it may be given to any underage person?

Under what law?

AlexBM

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

I went on the Dunnes website shortly after this incident and emailed their Customer Services address. I heard nothing back so rang their head office today who told me that they don't have a customer service department?
And that I need to speak to the Personnell Manager in the store as the managers report to her. They said if the store don't do something about it then I am to ring head office again and they will take it further. I rang the store and they said the Personnell Manager was out sick.
I will NOT be happy until I get results from this as I do not accompany my friend into a shop to be treated like a piece of dirt by staff, have false accusations made about me i.e. throwing my passport at a manager (which is slander!) and having a bad attitude, and the embarrassment of all this happening in a busy shop.

Yep, make sure you follow it up. I had an issue with a manager in their Cornelscourt branch once, and wrote a letter directly to head office to complain. I heard back pretty quickly, with an apology and a voucher to compensate. Maybe you could do this - it's better to have everything in writing/email anyway.

Corruptedmorals

Personnel manager will more than likely do nothing. A letter to Head Office is the way to go, or even call in to them if you can, just behind Stephens Green SC.

the_syco

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

Read my post. I WAS NOT BUYING ALCOHOL.

... and? You were with someone who was. The shop can be prosecuted for selling someone drink who, outside the shop, will give it to the minor.

axer wrote: »

Under what law?

[url= wrote:

dohc.ie[/url]"]
Under the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 2003, it is an offence to sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 18. Anyone found guilty of doing so is liable on summary conviction in a District Court to a fine not exceeding 1,500 euro for a first offence and 2,000 euro for a second and any subsequent offence.
It is also an offence to buy alcohol for people under the age of 18or to give alcohol to anyone under the age of 18 unless in a domestic home. If found guilty of any of these offences, you could be liable on summary conviction in a District Court to a fine of 1,500 euro for a first offence and 2,000 euro for a second or any subsequent offence.

Although it isn't really clear, it may mean that the shop could get fined for selling drink to people who they know will give it to a minor (that is not in a domestic home).

It could be seen that as you were seen with the girlfriend, it could be assumed she was buying drink for you, and thus the shop has to ask you, as they may be prosecuted for not doing so.

Yes, a lot of "may"s, but when you can loose your license, you tend to try to keep it.

Please bare in mind that the Gardai have used under-aged people to see if pubs sell them drink or cigarettes, so shops have to be cautious of this (the Roost, also in Maynooth was shut down a few times for selling drink to under-age people).

/edit
No reason to act like a pr|ck, but he has more chance of getting a warning for allowing drink to be sold to an under-age person, than he is for checking the ID of someone. Heck, your letter of complaint may get him some praise for his diligence :eek::D:cool:

JohnC.

I read that as the shop being prosecuted for selling to under 18. The purchaser being prosecuted for giving it to an under 18. It doesn't seem to suggest the shop being prosecuted for selling it to someone over 18 who then gives it to someone under 18, which would be unworkable anyway. How can anyone prove that it was going to be given to someone under 18 after the over 18 bought it?

unreggd

This is worse than tesco's Jack Daniels Sauce fiasco!


what a tool!

AlexBM

unreggd wrote: »

This is worse than tesco's Jack Daniels Sauce fiasco!

Enlighten me, I don't think I've heard about that one...

axer

the_syco wrote: »

... and? You were with someone who was. The shop can be prosecuted for selling someone drink who, outside the shop, will give it to the minor.

and that is not against the law thus the shop manager had no right to demand ID.

the_syco wrote: »

Although it isn't really clear,

It is very clear to me what that says.

It is also an offence to buy alcohol for people under the age of 18or to give alcohol to anyone under the age of 18

the_syco wrote: »

it may mean that the shop could get fined for selling drink to people who they know will give it to a minor (that is not in a domestic home).

No it says it is an offence to buy alcohol for people under the age of 18or to give alcohol to anyone under the age of 18. It does not say it is an offence to sell alcohol to someone who is likely to give it to an underage person.

the_syco wrote: »

It could be seen that as you were seen with the girlfriend, it could be assumed she was buying drink for you, and thus the shop has to ask you, as they may be prosecuted for not doing so.

As above, the shop does not have to ask and has no right demanding the ID.

the_syco wrote: »

Yes, a lot of "may"s, but when you can loose your license, you tend to try to keep it.

I see no "mays" nor do I see any risk of loss of licence.

the_syco wrote: »

Please bare in mind that the Gardai have used under-aged people to see if pubs sell them drink or cigarettes, so shops have to be cautious of this (the Roost, also in Maynooth was shut down a few times for selling drink to under-age people).

Underage people to directly buy the alcohol.

the_syco wrote: »

/edit
No reason to act like a pr|ck, but he has more chance of getting a warning for allowing drink to be sold to an under-age person, than he is for checking the ID of someone. Heck, your letter of complaint may get him some praise for his diligence :eek::D:cool:

No underage person was buying the alcohol. The OP's girlfriend proved her age - that is all that matters. If the manager was worried (personally) that the alcohol was to be giving to the OP (if he was seen as being under 18) then the manager could have called the gardai who could have demanded to see the ID. The manager was completely wrong here and did it solely out of a power trip from what I can tell.

Lollipops23

That's some of Dunnes customer service at it's best:rolleyes:
since you were having nothing to do with the purchase,and standing away from the till point,the manager actually had no right to demand ID from you.
The jumped up little b****x was obviously on a power trip!saying you "threw" your ID at him etc. You should defo follow it up!

On a seperate note; has anyone tried to present a passport when buying booze from Tesco?They have refused a mate of mine saying that they "only accept Garda ID"-this girl has a Swedish passport,so cannot apply for an age card!

AlexBM

Lollipops23 wrote: »

On a seperate note; has anyone tried to present a passport when buying booze from Tesco?They have refused a mate of mine saying that they "only accept Garda ID"-this girl has a Swedish passport,so cannot apply for an age card!

I used to work in Tesco, and that was the standard line. It's absolutely ridiculous - any non-national here at least temporarily is obviously not likely to have Garda ID. It's been like that for years, and it's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. And it proved to be a lot more hassle than it was worth, asking people for ID and then going, 'oh, sorry, your passport isn't acceptable'. It's a joke.

masseyno9

I had a similar experience to the OP a while back in tesco rathfarnham. Went in to the store with 3 friends (all over 20) to get food and drink for bbq that evening. For whatever reason we were in the drink aisle trying to decide what to get and the manager came up and said in a smart-ass tone "sorry lads, before ye get embarrassed at the till, can i see some ID." No problem we thought, ignoring her poor manner. "yeah sure, there ya go" I said handing her a driving license as it was all I had with me. other lads had passports and 1 had Garda age card. Her next line: "Sorry, is this a passport or Garda ID?" I said no, that it was a driving license. She said it wasn't acceptable.

We tried to reason with her to use her common sense that as 3 of the 4 of us had 'acceptable' forms of ID that it was just being pernickety to not serve us based on my production of a driving license. Can't remember exactly the words exchenged but basically she grew more and more aggressive in tone and when I told her there was no neede to raise her voice she asked me to leave the store. At this point i got my back up a little bit, as i do not walk into a store to be talked down to by some jumped up 'manager.' I told her I'd gladly take my money elsewhere to spend €150 in a store where i was going to be treated properly. She followed us out of the store, but in all honesty, all we could do was laugh at her. Didn't bother following it up, I just don't shop in there at all anymore.

Vote with your feet as we're always told.

bigpinkelephant

I received an email from their HQ this morning, from the Customer Services dept.
The same Customer Services dept that I was told doesnt exist on Friday.

No name given or nothing, not even a hello, literally just asking for my phone number so they can contact me.

LolaDub

bigpinkelephant wrote: »

I received an email from their HQ this morning, from the Customer Services dept.
The same Customer Services dept that I was told doesnt exist on Friday.

No name given or nothing, not even a hello, literally just asking for my phone number so they can contact me.

OP try to keep it in writing if you can. That way you can easily show your point without them talking over you or annoying you into saying something you shouldn't.

If i were you i would say i was working and couldn't freely talk on the phone s you would prefer to email. Good luck and please keep us updated.

bigpinkelephant

yeah i just emailed them back just there,

I said i am in work and cannot talk on the phone

I also mentioned how i was treated like a criminal- pretty muc what I have said on here. Eagerly awaiting their response- I am still furious about how I was treated.