Asda Handsworth Complaint - Alcohol Sales - new over 25 rule

[prettygood 10]

I'm a bit annoyed. Here's a copy of what I have sent via the Asda Customer Services section of their website, and also emailed directly to the Handsworth store manager:

 

"I am writing to complain about an incident that has just occurred at your Asda Handsworth, Sheffield store.

 

I have been shopping in that store for over three years now including the purchase of alcohol. I will be aged 27 in a month's time, so haven't had to carry any form of photographic identification for almost ten years. However, today, the cashier refused to serve me alcohol as I didn't have any ID. At first, I actually thought she was joking, as there is no way that anyone could possibly think that I look under 21 years old.

 

However, I have been advised that a new policy is being implemented whereby if you look under 25, customers will be asked for ID. Apparently it is up to each individual cashier as to whether they use this policy.

 

Perhaps then, Asda as a whole should advertise this fact, as all of your shelves with alcohol still only advise that if you look under 21 then you will be asked to prove your age.

 

I found the incident extremely embarrassing as there were a number of customers around the till listening to the conversation.

 

I asked for a supervisor to deal with it, and she advised the cashier, Lee (female), that it was up to her if she wanted to serve me or not. Eventually, she did serve me. She was obviously reluctant and extremely rude.

 

On exiting the store, I saw a manager and advised him of what had just happened. He shrugged his shoulders and advised that he would speak to her, then turned his back and walked off.

 

I find it disgusting that I shop in your store every day, and spend upwards of £100 per week there. I also purchase weekly shopping online, including alcohol; and have never had anyone challenge my age.

 

There is no way that I am going to start carrying my passport around in the off chance that I will be asked for identification in an Asda store.

 

I really think that your staff require more training regarding the selling of alcohol; otherwise you will begin to lose custom.

 

I for one will not be shopping with you again after today’s incident, and will instead order my online groceries from Tesco. I do not believe that I look under 25. I also produced my Asda credit card, and advised that I wouldn't have one if I was under 18.

 

The manner and attitude of the cashier and the manager has left me extremely annoyed, and I would like a reply to this email advising how you will resolve it.”

 

Has anyone else started experiencing problems regarding this?

 

You've done the right thing by pledging not to go back there again, but you didn't go far enough in the store. People need to take a stand against this brainless bureaucracy and senseless quest for ID. We're the customers and we need to send a message to shops that we're not going to take this robotic behaviour.

 

When the cashier asked you for ID and told you she couldn't serve you without it, you should have just smiled and walked off through the till towards the door. No fuss, no shouting, no anger. Either the till would have been full of your shopping or your basket/trolley would have been left on the floor. Either way, a member of staff would have been needed to come and take the stuff away, taking at least five minutes and inconveniencing the store. If you're in a supermarket where you suspect that they're anal about asking for ID, put the alcohol on the belt last so that you're shopping has already gone through by the time the cashier gets to it. Then they have to cancel the sale and put the goods away when you walk off.

 

Shops are only going to do this ID mania if we let them get away with it. We need to show them our contempt and stand up for ourselves. If I was in a supermarket queue and someone in front of me was unreasonably being asked for ID (i.e. someone seemingly late twenties or older), I'd consider walking out of the shop and leaving my shopping in protest.

 

Stand up for yourselves people. Get out of the mindset that it's "embarrassing" to be asked for ID when you're over 18. It's embarrassing for a store to be caught exhibiting such stupidity.

[scargill 10]

You've done the right thing by pledging not to go back there again, but you didn't go far enough in the store. People need to take a stand against this brainless bureaucracy and senseless quest for ID. We're the customers and we need to send a message to shops that we're not going to take this robotic behaviour.

 

When the cashier asked you for ID and told you she couldn't serve you without it, you should have just smiled and walked off through the till towards the door. No fuss, no shouting, no anger. Either the till would have been full of your shopping or your basket/trolley would have been left on the floor. Either way, a member of staff would have been needed to come and take the stuff away, taking at least five minutes and inconveniencing the store. If you're in a supermarket where you suspect that they're anal about asking for ID, put the alcohol on the belt last so that you're shopping has already gone through by the time the cashier gets to it. Then they have to cancel the sale and put the goods away when you walk off.

 

Shops are only going to do this ID mania if we let them get away with it. We need to show them our contempt and stand up for ourselves. If I was in a supermarket queue and someone in front of me was unreasonably being asked for ID (i.e. someone seemingly late twenties or older), I'd consider walking out of the shop and leaving my shopping in protest.

 

Stand up for yourselves people. Get out of the mindset that it's "embarrassing" to be asked for ID when you're over 18. It's embarrassing for a store to be caught exhibiting such stupidity.

 

we are only upholding the law, please have the sense to direct your anger at the law makers, not the inocent shopworker trying to earn a living and uphold the law, or risk a £1000. as the previous reply says try it for a day

[prettygood 10]

we are only upholding the law, please have the sense to direct your anger at the law makers, not the inocent shopworker trying to earn a living and uphold the law, or risk a £1000. as the previous reply says try it for a day

 

It's not directed at the cashier, it's directed at the store managers. If enough people over 25 started walking off and leaving all their shopping on the belt when asked for ID, the stores would realise that they had a problem and that people of that age weren't going to accept it.

 

As I said in my previous post, we're the customers and we get to decide supermarket policy by voting with our feet.

[Jason84 10]

You've done the right thing by pledging not to go back there again, but you didn't go far enough in the store. People need to take a stand against this brainless bureaucracy and senseless quest for ID. We're the customers and we need to send a message to shops that we're not going to take this robotic behaviour.

 

When the cashier asked you for ID and told you she couldn't serve you without it, you should have just smiled and walked off through the till towards the door. No fuss, no shouting, no anger. Either the till would have been full of your shopping or your basket/trolley would have been left on the floor. Either way, a member of staff would have been needed to come and take the stuff away, taking at least five minutes and inconveniencing the store. If you're in a supermarket where you suspect that they're anal about asking for ID, put the alcohol on the belt last so that you're shopping has already gone through by the time the cashier gets to it. Then they have to cancel the sale and put the goods away when you walk off.

 

Shops are only going to do this ID mania if we let them get away with it. We need to show them our contempt and stand up for ourselves. If I was in a supermarket queue and someone in front of me was unreasonably being asked for ID (i.e. someone seemingly late twenties or older), I'd consider walking out of the shop and leaving my shopping in protest.

 

Stand up for yourselves people. Get out of the mindset that it's "embarrassing" to be asked for ID when you're over 18. It's embarrassing for a store to be caught exhibiting such stupidity.

 

Is it really that difficult to understand the difference between a supermarket chain and a national government? Because they really don't have that many similarities, and it's only one of those that's enforcing extremely large fines to the company and the individual who sell alcohol to under 18s. But I'll tell you what: I work in a bar, but I'll stop ID-ing people who might be under 21 just in case I accidentally ID someone who's over 21, mildly inconveniencing them for all of 25 seconds. And then you can pay my multiple fines, my wages when I loose my job, and reimburse the lost earnings of the bar when it gets closed down. Does that sound reasonable? It's a legal responsibility, stop whining about it and take ID. And until you've worked on the door of a bar and realised how similar some 18 year olds look to some 27 year olds, you really have no idea what you're talking about.

[matt_revill 10]

i get ID all the time and im nearly 26 take it as a compliment and just learn to carry your id in future thats what i do.

[zippy 10]

don't forget that as ASDA is part of Wally World (wal-mart) a US company where the pervading corporate practice for many years has been ID everyone .... it's unsuprising that they are going down that route.

[zippy 10]

The cashier is right, the company is wrong. I am not wrong. It is in no way hard to carry ID with me. But should I carry my passport with me to work when I leave home at 6am, just in the off chance that I fancy a bottle of wine on my way home at 6pm??

 

As I've said previously, the only photographic ID I have is my passport.

 

I currently have my passport at home, but have been considering keeping this at my bank deposit box. How does this then work? Do I have to then visit my bank to retrieve my passport to go to my local Asda, just because the training and policies they have are so inconsistent?

 

How could I have been shopping there for 3 years and then suddenly have this process begin?

 

 

obvious answers are change your paper DL for phot one if you have a DL get one of the 'proper' proof of age IDs

[zippy 10]

You do realise the logical conclusion to this? Each time you want to buy a bottle of wine you'll be asked for your ID card. This will leave a permanent record on the big brother National Identity Register database that you bought alcohol in that shop at that time. I find that unnecessary and creepy.

 

while this doesn't apply to ASDA you do this when you shop somewhere like tesco or sainsbury and collect your points...

[Skippy06 10]

I'm a bit annoyed. Here's a copy of what I have sent via the Asda Customer Services section of their website, and also emailed directly to the Handsworth store manager:

 

"I am writing to complain about an incident that has just occurred at your Asda Handsworth, Sheffield store.

 

I have been shopping in that store for over three years now including the purchase of alcohol. I will be aged 27 in a month's time, so haven't had to carry any form of photographic identification for almost ten years. However, today, the cashier refused to serve me alcohol as I didn't have any ID. At first, I actually thought she was joking, as there is no way that anyone could possibly think that I look under 21 years old.

 

However, I have been advised that a new policy is being implemented whereby if you look under 25, customers will be asked for ID. Apparently it is up to each individual cashier as to whether they use this policy.

 

Perhaps then, Asda as a whole should advertise this fact, as all of your shelves with alcohol still only advise that if you look under 21 then you will be asked to prove your age.

 

I found the incident extremely embarrassing as there were a number of customers around the till listening to the conversation.

 

I asked for a supervisor to deal with it, and she advised the cashier, Lee (female), that it was up to her if she wanted to serve me or not. Eventually, she did serve me. She was obviously reluctant and extremely rude.

 

On exiting the store, I saw a manager and advised him of what had just happened. He shrugged his shoulders and advised that he would speak to her, then turned his back and walked off.

 

I find it disgusting that I shop in your store every day, and spend upwards of £100 per week there. I also purchase weekly shopping online, including alcohol; and have never had anyone challenge my age.

 

There is no way that I am going to start carrying my passport around in the off chance that I will be asked for identification in an Asda store.

 

I really think that your staff require more training regarding the selling of alcohol; otherwise you will begin to lose custom.

 

I for one will not be shopping with you again after today’s incident, and will instead order my online groceries from Tesco. I do not believe that I look under 25. I also produced my Asda credit card, and advised that I wouldn't have one if I was under 18.

 

The manner and attitude of the cashier and the manager has left me extremely annoyed, and I would like a reply to this email advising how you will resolve it.”

 

Has anyone else started experiencing problems regarding this?

 

I thought it was the law now that it is the person serving the alcohol who is responsible and fined if it is later made aware the person is under age.

 

If you do or could appear to look under 25 you can't blame the cashier for asking I know I would.

[spartacus 10]

I fancy a bottle of wine on my way home at 6pm

 

Are you a wino?

[Squiggs 11]

You've done the right thing .... but you didn't go far enough in the store.....

 

When the cashier asked you for ID and told you she couldn't serve you without it, you should have just smiled and walked off through the till towards the door. ......the till would have been full of your shopping or your basket/trolley would have been left on the floor. Either way, a member of staff would have been needed to come and take the stuff away, taking at least five minutes and inconveniencing the store. If you're in a supermarket where you suspect that they're anal about asking for ID, put the alcohol on the belt last so that you're shopping has already gone through by the time the cashier gets to it. Then they have to cancel the sale and put the goods away when you walk off......

 

So, let me get this right.

 

You suggest that you are planning in advance to spit your dummy out and don't give two hoots whether the people behind you in the queue are inconvenienced, just as long as you get to walk out thinking "I really showed 'em"

 

You're embarrassed by being asked for POA ID but wouldn't find a store full of customers thinking "what a ship's anchor" as you flounce out leaving everybody else held up by your pettiness.

[Gideon 10]

To be honest, until they come up with a universally (and I mean everywhere) acceptable photo ID that we don't have to pay through the nose for, (and, for the privacy types, doesn't need to be scanned or checked by a central server) then we'll never see people carrying ID as standard. Passports and such are too expensive to get and too expensive to replace if you lose them/get mugged, so not ideal id fodder. Also, not everyone drives or goes abroad (and yes, one of my co-workers was incredulous when I mentioned that I can't drive at age 30.)