Not me. Never have been asked for ID, probably because when I was about 18-25 there was no such thing in shops I guess.
However, some years ago sister in law was asked for ID when buying alcohol at the supermarket. She was 42.
This of course was the story of the family for ever, until last week. Her mother tried to buy a pen in a stationer's. It turned out to be a Sharpie, whatever that is, and she was asked the specific question "are you over 18" and had to prove it. She's 82, and let's just say nobody would imagine she was 18.
What's that all about then? Staff training? Computer says no? Pens are the new thermonuclear devices?
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I would imagine sharpies are age restricted because of people inhaling the chemicals in them. The staff would have been told (probably) to simply ask everyone for id.
Not seen pensioners asked before here, seen it loads out in the US. Very much sticklers for the rules out there, I've seen quite a few pensioners asked for id for alcohol.
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There are fairly regular stories in local press around country of people patently old enough to buy alcohol being 'ID'd'. Presumably there was an expectation that staff would challenge a specific number of purchasers in their shift. Not many under 25s on pensioners Tuesday so they challenge the wrinklies to make the numbers up.
We noticed how much more rigorous the US rules were when in Texas earlier in the year. Where we have challenge 25 they have challenge 40.
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>> We noticed how much more rigorous the US rules were when in Texas earlier in the year.
Is it the same in B&Q, & other DIY shops as well ;)
Last edited by: VxFan on Mon 20 Nov 17 at 10:39
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>> Is it the same in B&Q, & other DIY shops as well ;)
Took me a second or two to 'get' that. Must be nearly 20 yrs since they disappeared.
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As an ex supermarket worker I like the US rules.
Here it is up to the opinion of the staff member whether they think you are under 25, they should then ask for ID.
Over there the rule is you must provide ID for any age restricted products. Not whether you could pass for 18 or 80, the rule is provide ID.
I like that, takes the onus away from the staff member on minimum wage making a decision that I have seen, eventually cost a store manager his job.
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Agree with Sooty, my over-60 mate was refused service in a Nashville bar last autumn as he had no ID. Though I don't think they doubted his age really, just he had no ID. Still, he felt flattered for a bit.
SWMBO and I passed 60 a year or so back. What pees her off is when we go somewhere and get an age-related discount (e.g. seniors pub dinner), and no-one asks for proof of age!!
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I retired aged 55 five months ago. For the first month, when it came up, everyone said "wow, you're too young to retire"
Last week I bought something for which there was a cheaper price for the over sixties. Assistant immediately offered me that and was slightly taken aback when I said I wasn't old enough (I'd have had to prove it anyway).
Sigh. It begins.
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>> Last week I bought something for which there was a cheaper price for the over
>> sixties.
Similar position to me then. I'm regularly charged the over 65's price in the Barbers. Think they just assume a grey haired bloke in there during working day is over retirement age.
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>> I retired aged 55 five months ago.
Welcome to the kicked out on the scrapheap, spending the kids inheritence socio economic group
Its great.
And yes the first time Princess Z tried to claim her concession it wasn't queried, and she was fuming, made worse by the fact I am older than her, and mine was queried.
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>> Agree with Sooty, my over-60 mate was refused service in a Nashville bar last autumn
>> as he had no ID. Though I don't think they doubted his age really, just
>> he had no ID. Still, he felt flattered for a bit.
I know someone will say, oh it doesn't take long to show id, your life isn't so busy you can't show id etc. Still it seems a waste of time to id pensioners, to me anyway.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Mon 20 Nov 17 at 08:58
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If they ask Mrs C they'll be out of luck, as she has nothing that shows her age on it anyway. So I suppose she will be out of luck, actually.
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I sometimes ask the person selling me age restricted items if the want to see my bus pass, it usually prompts at least a smile!
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>> If they ask Mrs C they'll be out of luck, as she has nothing that
>> shows her age on it anyway. So I suppose she will be out of luck,
>> actually.
One of the reasons I swapped to a photocard driving licence was for ID. Increasingly common for ID to be demanded in hotels and guest houses. The Lad and I were asked for photo ID a couple of years ago checking into Longthwaite Youth Hostel.
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Could be a policy based on shop staff having limited sight?
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A few Christmasses back I was going through the supermarket till - the operator was some 60 yrs old, IMO. She said she worried about proof of age (I was then late 60s). I played along and said I had my bus pass.
HOWEVER- she was taken aback /red in the face when I said I was more worried about her being old enough to serve me as there is a minimum age of 18!
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It's all a load of nonsense. Anybody seriously up to no good would have fake ID or as in the old days, get a friend to buy the alcohol.
Rules are invented by morons, for morons, and implemented by jobsworths. It's a sad sign of the times that there are more and more of both.
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I work in a community shop. When selling an age-restricted product the till gives me a choice of deciding the customer looks 25 or over, or requiring proof of age (what Bobby said). I have never had to press the proof button.
Not credible that anybody in a large chain would have targets for requesting proof, or that anybody needs to ask an 80 year-old to proof they are 18. It has never happened to me.
I am fairly sack-proof - there is always a shortage of volunteers.
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>> Not credible that anybody in a large chain would have targets for requesting proof,
Perhaps not a target set by HQ but quite plausible that a junior or intermediate manager would interpret a requirement to show that a robust challenge policy is in place as a target of so many 'stops' in a shift.
Such things certainly happen in Government Departments, for example immigration decisions or Mandatory Reconsiderations by DWP where an expectation that fewer than say 20% will succeed.
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I think checkout staff are under reasonably close scrutiny (maybe sometimes covertly) so that they don't let stuff slip by without payment, deliberately or otherwise.
I was in Lidl a bit back and the check out lady was challenged in front of me by her management for not having checked properly that the previous customer didn't have something on the lower "shelf" of the trolley.
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I usually get asked " Do you have a Waitrose card ? followed by Would you like a coffee?"
I hope that counts else I am feeling out of the conversation and also not been to the USA for many years.
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I suppose there are some stupid people in supermarkets, as well as in government departments.
I was overcharged yesterday in Tesco for two packets of cooked crispy bacon (good for BLT sandwiches BTW).
The shelf edge ticket said £1.80 each, which is what they have been for ages. They were listed on the receipt as 2 x Cooked Chicken @£3.00, total £6.00, with £1.00 knocked off at the end for a multibuy.
So off I trotted to "customer service" to get my £1.40 back. Long story short (It took 20 minutes) ...
CS person (holding £1.80 price ticket): "Well, it's not the same bar code as on the ticket, so they've probably gone up to £3.00".
Me: "It's not cooked chicken though, is it? That says cooked chicken is £3.00, what has that to do with bacon?"
After a good deal of messing about with a calculator:
CS person (doubtfully): "So 2 packets should be £3.70?"
Me: "No, £3.60. So I have been overcharged by £1.40".
More protracted messing about with calculator.
CS person: "OK put your card in."
I received £2.60 refund and cut my gains.
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>>I suppose there are some stupid people in supermarkets, as well as in government departments.
Sometimes when paying in cash for an item costing say £6 and I tender a tenner plus a pound coin, the response is " You have given me too much" before the £11 is entered into the till.
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Tesco *used to* have a policy of refunding considerably more (maybe the full amount) if the shelf pricing was incorrect. I think it was abused by some so they stopped it.
Reminds me of the first ever home delivery order I did with Tesco. it included a couple of bottles of Prosecco. The bloke was about 5 minutes late and, without reference to higher authority, knocked the cost of the bottles off the bill.
We do drift about a bit don't we?
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>> Tesco *used to* have a policy of refunding considerably more (maybe the full amount) if
>> the shelf pricing was incorrect. I think it was abused by some so they stopped
>> it.
No, they still operate it. If you're overcharged, you get double the difference in return.
www.tesco.com/help/in-store-faq/#payment
What shall I do if I've been overcharged?
We do everything we can to make sure that you should never be overcharged. So in the unlikely event that we charge you more than the price advertised on the shelf edge or on the product, please visit any store’s Customer Service Desk (excluding Express stores) with your receipt. A member of our team will be more than happy to offer for a “double the difference†refund.
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>> No, they still operate it. If you're overcharged, you get double the difference in return.
>>
>> www.tesco.com/help/in-store-faq/#payment
Looks as if she was still working off the erroneous £3.70 then, which would have left me £1.30 overcharged and the refund of £2.60 that I got. Damn, I have been diddled out of 20p!
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Four shillings! Crikey.
I had a vague look for "what did four shillings buy". This one is a little interesting, as they are talking about when some here started their driving careers I guess. Fifties.
www.mirror.co.uk/money/personal-finance/back-in-the-50s-537494
Last edited by: Crankcase on Mon 20 Nov 17 at 13:12
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>> I had a vague look for "what did four shillings buy". This one is a
>> little interesting, as they are talking about when some here started their driving careers I
>> guess. Fifties.
>>
>> www.mirror.co.uk/money/personal-finance/back-in-the-50s-537494
>>
I started my National service in the mid 50s. The pay - before stoppages - was 28 shillings a week, 4 shillings a day. That's £1 40p a week, or 20p a day.
I can't remember how shillings used to be written. Was it 28/- ?
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>> I can't remember how shillings used to be written. Was it 28/- ?
Yup.
As a school boy I used to work 2 evenings a week and all day Saturday for 30/-.
That enabled me to go to the sit down fish and chip shop on Saturday, for 3/6 including peas, tea, bread and butter.
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They were dear fish & chips Manatee...or you're a lot younger than me:)
I remember going to the chippy with a shilling for a 'fish and three'.
3d of chips and a fillet of fish for 9d, and scraps which were free!
Pat
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Don't forget the sitting down, the guacamole mushy peas, tea, bread and butter!
That would be about 1969.
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I'm talking of around 1957 ish!
Black Jacks and Fruit Salad chews were 4 for an old penny.
Pat
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Talking of fish and chips, there's a great line in an obscure sixties movie I won't bore you about.
Two lads.
Lad 1: So I nipped in for six pennorth and a saveloy, and this girl, well, she leaned over the counter and I knew what she wanted...
Lad 2: Yeah, her eyes testing. Come on.
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>> Talking of fish and chips, there's a great line in an obscure sixties movie I
>> won't bore you about.
>>
>> Two lads.
I'm guessing "The Likely Lads"?
Last edited by: VxFan on Tue 21 Nov 17 at 02:01
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No, sorry zippy, way more obscure than that!
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We sometimes go to the "Silver surfers" film at the local cinema. A discounted rate and free tea be bikkies! I asked for two geriatrics please, the lady selling tickets failed the straight face test. :-)
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>>Tesco *used to* have a policy of refunding considerably more (maybe the full amount) if
>> the shelf pricing was incorrect.
In 2006 we couldn't do a foreign holiday due to work commitments so did a couple of short breaks in the UK. The kids were promised an XBOX 360 which were new and expensive then if they were exceptionally well behaved and they were.
On the way back we popped in to a local Tesco to get some essentials and I noticed that they had an offer on the 360 with 3 games for an extra £20 or so. It was a bargain as the machine was fairly new out so I brought one. I think it was something like £399 for the console and games rather than £379 or some such for just the console.
The Mrs added some fresh milk and essentials to the shop and we paid.
As I walked out I noticed that the price for the console and games was £409 so I went to customer services for my £10 back. The assistant called over a manager who looked at the receipt and told the cashier to refund the full amount of the console and give it to me for free!
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Did you know Tesco also replace anything you drop and break from your shopping while in the car park.
They also have free basic car breakdown, usually RAC, cover if you breakdown in the carpark and don't have your own cover?
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I remember a tiddy-oggy and a pint of rough scrumpy for under a bob.
Lympstone, Devon, 1954, at ITCRM,
Mind you, I was on £17 a month before the obligatory mess bill, which left me with a bit under a tenner a month of free income.
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