Discrimination against foreign IDs in Tesco

Ahhhh for forks sake!

I was in Tesco today and I was pleasantly surprised and complimented to be asked for ID. I produced my Irish passport card and the woman said “ahhhh, Irish, that’s OK”. I wondered what she meant by that but didn’t question her.

After I produced it a flustered-looking other staff member fumbled over and questioned the more senior member of staff whether or not they could take a Polish national ID card as I was packing my bags. The answer was no.

The poor Polish lad behind me was refused his alcohol because of this. I questioned their policy on front of the lad and backed him up and their response was “we only accept Irish licences, Garda age card, Irish passports and passport cards, the only non-Irish document accepted is a passport, Tesco policy”.

I was astonished by this. It’s ridiculous that a Polish lad in his mid 20’s (same age as me) cannot buy drink with his National ID but I can.

The Garda age card is flimsy and easy enough to forge or alter. Polish make up a huge part of our society and most probably wouldn’t have a passport (not required of them in EU), their ID card is all that’s needed for proof of boarding a flight, entering Ireland and getting employment but not a few cans of Łomża. Bizarre.

grogi

Ahhhh for forks sake! wrote: »

I was in Tesco today and I was pleasantly surprised and complimented to be asked for ID. I produced my Irish passport card and the woman said “ahhhh, Irish, that’s OK”. I wondered what she meant by that but didn’t question her.

After I produced it a flustered-looking other staff member fumbled over and questioned the more senior member of staff whether or not they could take a Polish national ID card as I was packing my bags. The answer was no.

The poor Polish lad behind me was refused his alcohol because of this. I questioned their policy on front of the lad and backed him up and their response was “we only accept Irish licences, Garda age card, Irish passports and passport cards, the only non-Irish document accepted is a passport, Tesco policy”.

I was astonished by this. It’s ridiculous that a Polish lad in his mid 20’s (same age as me) cannot buy drink with his National ID but I can.

The Garda age card is flimsy and easy enough to forge or alter. Polish make up a huge part of our society and most probably wouldn’t have a passport (not required of them in EU), their ID card is all that’s needed for proof of boarding a flight, entering Ireland and getting employment but not a few cans of Łomża. Bizarre.

The real.question is if you got the booze for him...

James Bond Junior

Don't buy that story..

J.pilkington

Something about your story doesn’t add up. Would you be embellishing it for the sake of sensationalising it?

eeguy

So? If I use my paper Irish driver license in the US, they look at me like I'm an idiot.
If you were tasked with serving alcohol and a foreign lad handed you an ID you'd never seen before, would you sell to him?
Why couldn't the Polish lad use his passport?
Or get an Irish ID, like a Public Services Card, driver license or Garda ID?

grogi

eeguy wrote: »

So? If I use my paper Irish driver license in the US, they look at me like I'm an idiot.
If you were tasked with serving alcohol and a foreign lad handed you an ID you'd never seen before, would you sell to him?
Why couldn't the Polish lad use his passport?
Or get an Irish ID, like a Public Services Card, driver license or Garda ID?

Because he's a tourist? You don't need passport to enter any EU state.

Are Am Eye

foreign IDs have to work twice as hard. Just to get half as far.
And you can just forget about the board room.

prinzeugen

The 3 forms of ID that are accepted are a FULL Irish driving licence, Garda ID card or a valid passport.

A shop can accept other forms of ID but would they be fecked if it turned out that ID was false/altered.

Its not discrimination, Its the shop covering its arse.

Ahhhh for forks sake!

eeguy wrote: »

So? If I use my paper Irish driver license in the US, they look at me like I'm an idiot.
If you were tasked with serving alcohol and a foreign lad handed you an ID you'd never seen before, would you sell to him?
Why couldn't the Polish lad use his passport?
Or get an Irish ID, like a Public Services Card, driver license or Garda ID?

Why should he have to? His Prawo Jazydy is valid here, his national id is valid, the PSC is not mandatory.

I’ve used my Irish passport card without issue is Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Italy, Poland, Czech Rep. my license was even accepted as ID in Albert Heijn in the Netherlands buying alcohol.

grogi

Ahhhh for forks sake! wrote: »

Why should he have to? His Prawo Jazydy is valid here, his national id is valid, the PSC is not mandatory.

His Driving License isn't an ID document even in his home country...

artanevilla

grogi wrote: »

Because he's a tourist? You don't need passport to enter any EU state.

You need a passport to enter Ireland from every EU state bar the UK. We are not in the Schengen Zone.

eeguy

Ahhhh for forks sake! wrote: »

Why should he have to? His Prawo Jazydy is valid here, his national id is valid, the PSC is not mandatory.

His national ID is not a passport and not recognized as a valid ID for buying drink. End of.

grogi

artanevilla wrote: »

You need a passport to enter Ireland from every EU state bar the UK. We are not in the Schengen Zone.

No, you don't.

punisher5112

Policy doesn't make it racism.

God I hate these threads.

If the I.D was a passport they will accept it.

Some kids at 15 look like they are in their 20's and it's not worth the hassle selling to be then brought up for selling to underage.

Who cares he can buy elsewhere if he wants or bring I.D that's suitable just like every other person.

Ahhhh for forks sake!

James Bond Junior wrote: »

Don't buy that story..

Don’t believe it if you don’t want to. I don’t even know you bothered posting just to say that.

eeguy

Ahhhh for forks sake! wrote: »

Don’t believe it if you don’t want to. I don’t even know you bothered posting just to say that.

I don't know why you bothered to start a thread when the answer was only a Google away:
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/alcohol-and-the-law/buying-alcohol/

Discrimination... really?

Franz Von Peppercorn

eeguy wrote: »

So? If I use my paper Irish driver license in the US, they look at me like I'm an idiot.
If you were tasked with serving alcohol and a foreign lad handed you an ID you'd never seen before, would you sell to him?
Why couldn't the Polish lad use his passport?
Or get an Irish ID, like a Public Services Card, driver license or Garda ID?

They will take Irish passports though for the purposes of age validation for alcohol.

Ahhhh for forks sake!

artanevilla wrote: »

You need a passport to enter Ireland from every EU state bar the UK. We are not in the Schengen Zone.

WRONG. National ID card is sufficient. I’m living proof of this. (Dutch ID card).

prinzeugen

Ahhhh for forks sake! wrote: »

WRONG. National ID card is sufficient. I’m living proof of this. (Dutch ID card).

No its not. You must have a passport.

Ahhhh for forks sake!

punisher5112 wrote: »

Policy doesn't make it racism

I didn’t say racism, did I?

artanevilla

Ahhhh for forks sake! wrote: »

WRONG. National ID card is sufficient. I’m living proof of this. (Dutch ID card).

I stand corrected.

However border agents will be trained in recognizing different IDs from different EU nations, and wether they are genuine etc and have methods of verifying.

Minimum wage Tesco workers are not however.

Ahhhh for forks sake!

prinzeugen wrote: »

No its not. You must have a passport.

It is wrong. I can tell you with 100% certainty that a National ID card will let you into Ireland.

J.pilkington

So OP, hows the mob recruitment going? Are ye still planned by to storm Tesco at 11?

wes

Surely the would need to accept an ID from another EU state? A quick Google is all it would take to make sure it looks like the real deal.

prinzeugen

wes wrote: »

Surely the would need to accept an ID from another EU state? A quick Google is all it would take to make sure it looks like the real deal.

And how many checkout staff have access to Google at the till? How do they know it has not been altered?

And no. They dont "have" to accept any documentation issued outside the state maybe with the exception of a passport.

I worked in an off licence for long enough.

Stephen15

If always how shops selling booze to underage is actually policed. I'm a young lad in my early 20s myself and still get ID'd the odd I buy drink. But how is it policed I don't really get it.

I also have my reservations showing an official document to any Tom, Dick or Harry working for the minimum wage in your local Tesco, Dunnes, Supervalu, Centra or Spar who is not a Guard or a public official.

Corca Baiscinn

eeguy wrote: »

I don't know why you bothered to start a thread when the answer was only a Google away:
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/alcohol-and-the-law/buying-alcohol/

Discrimination... really?

The site you linked to relates to UK and I wwas under the impression OP was referring to Tesco in ROI? Also it says that Acceptable forms of ID to prove you are over 18 include:

A photo driving licence
A passport
A proof of age card, such as the PASS card from the national Proof of Age Standards Scheme.

In other words it doesn't include other forms so it's not like Ryanair's passport requirement for eg.

Interestingly the ie drinkaware site doesn't seem to have any info at all re purchasing alcohol, unless I've missed it.

Some posters are sneering at OP as if he's engaging in a great crusade simply because he expressed sympathy for a similarly aged lad on a similar mission to himself to buy a few beers in Tesco. ID cards are widespread in mainland Europe so it's not surprisng the young lad thought it would suffice and Irish ID, especially Garda Card is as ikely to be faked as any foreign ID.

I fully understand retailers being cautious as the penalties are substantial but no need to berate the OP for wondering

dr.fuzzenstein

Garda age card shock take about 5 minutes to knock up with MS Paint.
About as hard to forge as the other absolute "fool proof" proof of address, the notoriously hard to forge ESB bill.
Honestly, had I bothered I could have had 10 identities in Ireland.

prinzeugen

Stephen15 wrote: »

If always how shops selling booze to underage is actually policed. I'm a young lad in my early 20s myself and still get ID'd the odd I buy drink. But how is it policed I don't really get it.

I also have my reservations showing an official document to any Tom, Dick or Harry working for the minimum wage in your local Tesco, Dunnes, Supervalu, Centra or Spar who is not a Guard or a public official.

You have to if you want drink. Just to add, it is not the shop/company that gets prosecuted for selling to someone underage, it is the shop worker.

I have refused to serve people over 18 before as I thought they were supplying to under 18's. I could have been screwed not the shop.

cursai

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Garda age card shock take about 5 minutes to knock up with MS Paint.
About as hard to forge as the other absolute "fool proof" proof of address, the notoriously hard to forge ESB bill.
Honestly, had I bothered I could have had 10 identities in Ireland.

Forgery legend here

cursai

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Garda age card shock take about 5 minutes to knock up with MS Paint.
About as hard to forge as the other absolute "fool proof" proof of address, the notoriously hard to forge ESB bill.
Honestly, had I bothered I could have had 10 identities in Ireland.

Forgery legend here

The J Stands for Jay

eeguy wrote: »

So? If I use my paper Irish driver license in the US, they look at me like I'm an idiot.
If you were tasked with serving alcohol and a foreign lad handed you an ID you'd never seen before, would you sell to him?
Why couldn't the Polish lad use his passport?
Or get an Irish ID, like a Public Services Card, driver license or Garda ID?

I've used my paper Irish driving licence to buy alcohol and loads of US pubs and clubs; I've also used it to rent a car in the US and Greece.

The PSC isn't a valid form of identification.

prinzeugen

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Garda age card shock take about 5 minutes to knock up with MS Paint.
About as hard to forge as the other absolute "fool proof" proof of address, the notoriously hard to forge ESB bill.
Honestly, had I bothered I could have had 10 identities in Ireland.

The Garda ID is hard to fake. We seized many attempts some good, most piss poor efforts.

Get caught with one and you are in trouble.

Stephen15

prinzeugen wrote: »

You have to if you want drink. Just to add, it is not the shop/company that gets prosecuted for selling to someone underage, it is the shop worker.

I have refused to serve people over 18 before as I thought they were supplying to under 18's. I could have been screwed not the shop.

But who's going to catch you do the Guards really keep an eye on it much? Because I certainly don't see Gardai outside off licences and supermarkets on a regular basis.

prinzeugen

Stephen15 wrote: »

But who's going to catch you do the Guards really keep an eye on it much? Because I certainly don't see Gardai outside off licences and supermarkets on a regular basis.

Garda find a load of pissed under 18s in a park. Receipt from Tesco etc. They will be coming after the person that served them not the shop.

I have seen it happen to a former co-worker. Up in the District Court because he did not check the ID properly.

Then you have the sting operations. Send in someone under 18 to see if they are asked for ID.

It happens more often than you think.

Stephen15

prinzeugen wrote: »

Then you have the sting operations. Send in someone under 18 to see if they are asked for ID.

It happens more often than you think.

That's what I've always wondered about. What under 18 would sign up for such operation, for the fear of being branded a rat what's the incentive for anyone to take part in these test purchases?

Cordell

Ahhhh for forks sake! wrote: »

Polish make up a huge part of our society

They should get Irish documents in this case. Garda age card and Irish driving licence is available to any Irish resident. (False) problem solved.

runawaybishop

Stephen15 wrote: »

That's what I've always wondered about. What under 18 would sign up for such operation, for the fear of being branded a rat what's the incentive for anyone to take part in these test purchases?

You get paid, that's enough.

Andre43

Dunnes have/had a similar policy(happened a few years ago). They wouldn't accept a drivers licence from the north as valid ID.