Tesco - Over 18, or Over 21?

jc2008

Hi. I'm 18 years old. My friend told me that Tesco don't actually serve drink to anybody under the age of 21, as it is common for supermarkets to do that.

Is this the case? I had no problem getting served in Dunnes, or any off-licences. I don't have a Garda Age Card (yet) but I use my passport instead, but I heard that Tesco only accept the Garda Age Card.

The reason I want to get drink at Tesco instead of the off-licence is that they are have Captain Morgan's Spiced on sale (1 litre, €25)
Thanks for reading.

smokin ace

if you look younger than 21 they will ask you for id but as long as your over 18 and you id states that you will be ok if not ask for he mananger

judas101

Tesco dont accept passports.

Sounds stupid but its true.

The Big Red Button

I'd say give it a go anyways. In my own experience I don't think I've ever been asked for ID in Tesco even though I'm still regularly asked in other places (I'm nearly 25!)

The minimum age there is 18, same as anywhere else, so it just depends on whether the cashier on the day thinks that you look old enough, and whether they're bothered checking your ID if not!

jc2008

Thanks for the answers! Glad to hear it's not over 21s only (although I could see why they would implement that).

Why don't they accept passports? I might be naive here, but I thought that was the best proof of age, as they are really hard to fake? I've never had any difficulty using a passport in other places. I heard that Tesco can be weird like that - not accepting passports which are good enough for customs in the airport! I will probably apply for a Garda Age Card sometime next week (I was going to anyway - I don't like carrying around the passport).

I look quite young so I'm sure they will ask me for ID. If I produced a passport and my driving licence, would that increase my chances slightly? (I doubt it somehow)

Thanks again for the replies!

Kersmash

judas101 wrote: »

Tesco dont accept passports.

Sounds stupid but its true.

My local tesco does. I'm 18 and I've often bought drink and ciggies in there and my passports been grand. I'd say it must depend on the tesco.

brianthebard

judas101 wrote: »

Tesco dont accept passports.

Sounds stupid but its true.

It depends on what idiot is on the counter, its illegal to not accept it since a passport is one of the three recognised forms of age identification. I don't get carded any more but I would love to call management if this did happen me. I used to work in dunnes and londis so its not like I don't know what its like to be on that side of the counter.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

getz

UK all shops that sell alcohol now have to have signs up that will tell you if you are under 21 you will be asked for your ID,many younger people in this day and age look a lot older than they are, if you are under age and the person on the till has served you, not only does the store get a fine the person on the till also gets a fine and will lose their job,one tesco store near me [blackpool] last mounth was fined £20,000 for selling drink to a person under 18

moonflower

Is it legal for supermarkets to put their own age limit on? Surely 18 is the legal age to purchase alcohol and so long as you have proper proof of age they should have to serve you? I know one of the supermarkets here will only let you buy up to 4 cans of beer or 1 bottle of wine or a naggin of spirits if you're under 21 and I've always wondered if they're actually allowed to do that.

BeerNut

brianthebard wrote: »

its illegal to not accept it since a passport is one of the three recognised forms of age identification.

Where are you getting this from? The 2003 Intoxicating Liquor Act (section 15) allows for five different types of acceptable ID (including passport), though it only refers to pubs. I couldn't find anything about valid ID in offies -- where did you see it?

moonflower wrote: »

Is it legal for supermarkets to put their own age limit on? Surely 18 is the legal age to purchase alcohol and so long as you have proper proof of age they should have to serve you?

As long as they have a written policy on display, they can do what they like. The 2003 Intoxicating Liquor Act (again!) amended the Equal Status Act 2000 to allow this.

moonflower

As long as they have a written policy on display, they can do what they like. The 2003 Intoxicating Liquor Act (again!) amended the Equal Status Act 2000 to allow this.[/QUOTE]

Ah, well they don't have it displayed anywhere, they don't tell you until you're at the til and you attempt to buy a six pack of beer only to be told you can only have four of them.

BeerNut

moonflower wrote: »

Ah, well they don't have it displayed anywhere, they don't tell you until you're at the til and you attempt to buy a six pack of beer only to be told you can only have four of them.

Yep, that's illegal. It's tantamount to saying "I'm not going to give you more drink than that because I don't like the look of you."

getz

BeerNut wrote: »

Yep, that's illegal. It's tantamount to saying "I'm not going to give you more drink than that because I don't like the look of you."

its not illegal in the UK,as the store has a responsibility to who they sell the beer to,like already been drinking ,maybe they believe you are buying it for a under age person,remember if the drink ends up in the wrong hands,the store could loose its alcohol licence

BeerNut

getz wrote: »

its not illegal in the UK,as the store has a responsibility to who they sell the beer to,like already been drinking ,maybe they believe you are buying it for a under age person,remember if the drink ends up in the wrong hands,the store could loose its alcohol licence

In Ireland too, the store must refuse service if there's a suspicion of these things and must show that they took reasonable precautions if found to have broken the law by making a sale to someone they shouldn't have. But those are different issues to moonflower's problem: "Well your honour, she was wobbling a bit so I thought she'd be OK with four more cans; but six would have been too many, in my professional opinion".

rubadub

BeerNut wrote: »

In Ireland too, the store must refuse service if there's a suspicion of these things and must show that they took reasonable precautions if found to have broken the law by making a sale to someone they shouldn't have. But those are different issues to moonflower's problem: "Well your honour, she was wobbling a bit so I thought she'd be OK with four more cans; but six would have been too many, in my professional opinion".

It could fall under the same thing. I have seen it said on the news and some other programs that anything above 4 drinks is binge drinking, so they could argue that point, I am not sure what authority came up with this but it could be argued as "professional opinion", it shouldn't even be a case of "4 more", its 4 full stop. In some places spirits are 21's and the rest is 18's (I actually think this should be law). In O'Briens I have seen young lads refused, a lad buying about 12 cans and his underage mate there alongside him to help carry them, both of them were ID'd and refused to be sold any after some abusive language, not sure if they would have let him get his own. Also in O'Briens I have seen them showing other staff photos of older people on their computer monitors saying not to sell them drink as they are known to buy for young lads. When I was 19 I got followed outside an offlicence after buying a bottle of vodka, they came out and wanted to take it off me as I met my mate outside, he was 18 but had no ID and looked young so I thought it best to go in myself. After reasonable talking they let me go off with it.

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

I have seen it said on the news and some other programs that anything above 4 drinks is binge drinking, so they could argue that point, I am not sure what authority came up with this but it could be argued as "professional opinion", it shouldn't even be a case of "4 more", its 4 full stop.

And as long as the place never ever sold a bottle of wine or vodka, or anything else with more alcohol than four cans, they might have a point. Otherwise, it's nonsense.

rubadub wrote: »

Also in O'Briens I have seen them showing other staff photos of older people on their computer monitors saying not to sell them drink as they are known to buy for young lads.

That's specifically mentioned in the legislation and is a different issue to what we were discussing above.

rubadub

BeerNut wrote: »

And as long as the place never ever sold a bottle of wine or vodka, or anything else with more alcohol than four cans, they might have a point. Otherwise, it's nonsense.

She said.

moonflower wrote: »

I know one of the supermarkets here will only let you buy up to 4 cans of beer or 1 bottle of wine or a naggin of spirits if you're under 21

4x4.5%x500ml cans is the same alcohol as a 750ml 12% bottle of wine. A 200ml naggin of 37.5% vodka is less than that.

So if brought to court instead of

"Well your honour, she was wobbling a bit so I thought she'd be OK with four more cans; but six would have been too many, in my professional opinion"

It would be, "well your honour, as you are well aware over 4 drinks is recognised as binge drinking, so I did not want to serve her any more than that amount, if she wanted anymore I fear she may have supplied her underage friends, or gone binge drinking. Current legistlation also is against promotions which encourage excessive drinking and I presume this means the law does not look favourably on excessive drinking. If they were overage they were more than welcome to buy up to the amount I consider acceptable.".

People are all up in arms about headshops anecdotally selling legal drugs to young people. As I said I would welcome legal 21 age on spirits, I think the naggin limit is a good idea.

BeerNut

rubadub wrote: »

4x4.5%x500ml cans is the same alcohol as a 750ml 12% bottle of wine. A 200ml naggin of 37.5% vodka is less than that.

And if more than this is ever sold to anyone without there being a written policy on age discrimination in place, it's illegal to refuse 18-21 year-olds.

rubadub wrote: »

I fear she may have supplied her underage friends, or gone binge drinking

And you sold her four cans? You broke the law, here's your fine.

rubadub wrote: »

the law does not look favourably on excessive drinking.

And even less favourably on age discrimination.

rubadub wrote: »

If they were overage they were more than welcome to buy up to the amount I consider acceptable.

18 is overage, unless you have a bona fide written policy in place specifying a different age.

mayordenis

BeerNut wrote: »

As long as they have a written policy on display, they can do what they like. The 2003 Intoxicating Liquor Act (again!) amended the Equal Status Act 2000 to allow this.

That Equal status act really really annoys me - on 2 seperate occasions one where I was 21 and my girlfriend 20 we went out - hadn't had a drink, it was the nigth of an Ireland game and I'll totally name and shame here, Soho's in cork for some reason was where we went as we wanted dinner and somewhere to watch the match, Soho's being a bastion of **** drinks anyway I was only having a Diet coke as was she - so we go to order the food and diet cokes at around 7 maybe half past and are told we will not be served - I asked why "over 23's only" I then pointed to a family having dinner, mentioned the children didn't look over 23 - the response to which was something along the lines of - and this is really snotty - "Those children aren't going to be trying to buy alcohol". Needless to say never graced that place with my presence not wallet again and never will, I think they own some other bars too so will make sure to avoid.

Another time - we had just got in to Cork from Waterford at around 10 so we decided we nip out for a quick pint, obviously as we had just been in the car neither of us had dran, we decided to go somewhere we hadn't been before, The Roundy, pretty close to where I live, same **** again at this point we're 22 and 21 - over 23's.

I really can't understand people not being able to use their discretion with things like this, someone too drunk or boysterous easy peasy - don't serve them, someone stone cold sober who just wants to give you money for a first beer of the day or even a ****ing meal and diet coke don't turn them away.

I'll fully admit that I plan to drive away as much business from any establishment that does that as I possibly can.

Butch Cassidy

getz wrote: »

its not illegal in the UK,as the store has a responsibility to who they sell the beer to,like already been drinking ,maybe they believe you are buying it for a under age person,remember if the drink ends up in the wrong hands,the store could loose its alcohol licence

This is a croc of ****.

I was buying a bottle of gin one evening with my girlfriend and even though it was me buying it both the cashier and the manager demanding ID from my girlfriend and refused to sell it to me unless she produced ID. She of course didn't have ID. I had plenty of ID on me and wasn't even asked. After I put the bottle down on the counter the cashier rolled her eyes and pointed to my girlfriend and said "she needs ID". Total croc. The contract is with me, I'm buying it. We're both in our mid-late 20s like, it was a weeday evening just after work. The manager's justification was that it's the law to ask for ID of the person you're with. I asked "what about people who do shopping with their under18 teenage kids" to which he stuttered "oh oh it's different". Bloody morons. They could do with use a bit of cop on.

Yeah someone will say "oh they're right to refuse a sale if there's a doubt you're buying for someone else" etc. etc. If you had've seen how stupid the situation looked you'd think again maybe. Some of the people working in these places are just sheep, managers included.

jc2008

Hi guys, just to answer my own thread. I e-mailed Tesco and they said they have a Think21 policy in operation. If you look under 21, they will ask you for ID, but once the valid ID (which they state only Passports or Garda Age Cards are acceptable) is verified, they will make the sale once you are over 18.

Thanks for the answers.

grenache

chatterpillar wrote: »

I'm still regularly asked in other places (I'm nearly 25!)

You do have a big baby face on you though :pac:

jimi_t2

jc2008 wrote: »

Hi guys, just to answer my own thread. I e-mailed Tesco and they said they have a Think21 policy in operation. If you look under 21, they will ask you for ID, but once the valid ID (which they state only Passports or Garda Age Cards are acceptable) is verified, they will make the sale once you are over 18.

Thanks for the answers.

The right to refuse service supercedes this completely. Think21 is just lipservice to the guards and politicians.

grenache

Tesco are laughable. A woman came into where i worked last week, telling me she had been refused service at Tesco, she was 28 and looked it. She had her driving licence on her but they wouldn't take it. I glady served her, how could any Tesco member of staff be so stupid. They don't deserve to get business the way they carry on.