Tesco scratch card policy - is this right?

Posted by pelethar@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 512 comments

I needed a bit of change (pound coins specifically) nipped into Tesco, first place I came to was that little counter where they sell cigarettes and lottery tickets so I thought I’ll get a scratch card. I was with my 10 year old daughter and I said to the assistant “one scratch card please” and then vaguely said to my daughter, uhhh which shall i get, on how about that pink one”. Looked up and the assistant was grinning at me, and said no I can’t sell you that now because the child chose it. I said well not really I was just thinking out loud, but ok I’ll have that other one then, I’m not bothered anyway I just want change. No she said. The child picked it so I can’t sell you any scratch card now. For Christs sake, fine, I’ll have a lucky dip lottery ticket for the weekend instead. No she said, I can’t sell you any lottery product at all now. (She was absolutely loving the entire interaction). I asked for a manager; an awkward looking 19 year old spawned in and backed up the assistant saying yes this is our policy. Can this be right? It seems insanely over the top. Trying to work out whether I can be bothered making a proper complaint over it, or if I’m just disproportionately annoyed by the assistant beint aggravating.

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

Your child chose the card which, under tesco training means you were buying it as a proxy for her. People get disciplinaries over proxy sales. Whilst it's annoying for you, it's much more annoying for the person who has to stand there and take the same shit from the 4th person that hour just for following the rules the company makes for them. Blame the policy, not the worker having to enforce it.

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West_Yorkshire@reddit

If you fail these challenges, it is instant dismissal in out store. The same with challenge 25. So it's not worth failing a potential mystery shopper over someone involving their child in gambling.

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Sea-Association-3094@reddit

Does Challenge 25 still matter if the bloke knows me? I live overseas but whenever I’m back in the UK I go to my Tesco extra all the time. If it’s one of the few staff I know they never ID me, is there something in the policy that allows them to do so. I don’t look 25, sometimes I get asked if I’m over 18 even though I’m 23.

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West_Yorkshire@reddit

They shouldn't be serving you if you're their mate.

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AussieHxC@reddit

Jfc which shop is this? I've never heard of anyone getting more than a having to rewatch a training video or maybe a verbal warning.

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Prediterx@reddit

It should be all of them. If you fail a challenge 25 from trading standards you can get the below; Financial penalties: Selling to minors or accepting false identification can attract fines of up to £5,000 or more. Temporary closure: Repeat offenders may face temporary closure of their premises as a result of enforcement action. Revocation of license: In extreme cases, a license to sell can be revoked, effectively shutting down the business. Criminal prosecution: Individuals involved in underage sales or accepting false identification can face criminal charges, including fines and imprisonment (up to 10 years). So yes, it's not just important for the shop, but important for you too. When I worked at Morrison's, it was a one warning and you're out policy.

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AussieHxC@reddit

No, instant dismissal is fucking stupid. > If you fail a challenge 25 from trading standards you can get the below; Can but don't. Shops make an absolute killing on their booze and the main tactic that councils use for enforcement of the issue is with threatening to take away their licence. This doesn't happen instantly and even in shops that fail multiple times per year, they still keep their license as long as they're actively trying/improving. It's exceedingly rare for a shop to get any form of legal action taken against them except in cases where they are basically negligent i.e. not training staff, or dgaf e.g. smaller indies who knowingly sell to underage kids. The latter is also almost certainly the only category where individuals face legal action on a regular basis. I've worked several brands of shop, though not Morrisons I'll hazard, and at different levels. No one ever got more than a retraining and a verbal warning. Your average staff member getting in real trouble simply doesn't happen. It's myth, like the 'cold chain' of fresh stock getting worked entirely within 20 minutes

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Ok-Nectarine350@reddit

A family member is a senior member of Trading Standards, and I can assure you that shops regularly lose their licence for underage sales. They are also regularly fined. They do not have to fail "several times." There are many factors taken into consideration. Contravening licence and gambling laws is considered a serious offence for any shop/store.

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jimicus@reddit

Individual corner stores I’ll believe. When was the last time it happened to a Tesco?

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Magicwiper@reddit

[https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2013/02/tesco-store-loses-alcohol-licence-after-failing-police-test/](https://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/2013/02/tesco-store-loses-alcohol-licence-after-failing-police-test/) It does happen, I think a Sainsbury's lost it too.

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ellevael@reddit

There’s a difference between being underage and challenge 25. If you don’t ID someone who looks 27 but is actually 23 the shop isn’t going to lose their licence.

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AussieHxC@reddit

Lots of nuance there. I'm sure they're personally involved with cases across the country all the time and know exactly what happens everywhere.

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gilesey11@reddit

So it’s okay for you to mention the experience of your ‘mate’ (who definitely exists), but it’s not okay for them to mention the experience of their family member?

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AussieHxC@reddit

Do you seriously think senior members of trading standards go round doing anything with individual stores ? No, it's usually a junior member, maybe someone from the council and a copper. Maybe they sign off on places getting their licenses being removed ? It'l would be a pretty typical throwaway comment *oh yeah loads of places lose their licenses* Think about it though, do you actually ever heard about a supermarket losing its license? Has anyone ever heard of it happening? Extremely rarely. The gossip would be all over the place if it happened anywhere near you.

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gilesey11@reddit

At no point do they say their family member is going round doing anything, you’ve just decided that because it fits your narrative. They just say they work there and have knowledge of it happening, which is more believable than your mate saying everyone in his shop can’t be bothered to challenge underage people… although I’m sure there are plenty of people on Reddit who would like to know where this shop is so they can fuel their underage drinking on the weekends.

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AussieHxC@reddit

> At no point do they say their family member is going round doing anything, you’ve just decided that because it fits your narrative You know, yes I did mis read that comment somewhat What's funny is you've obviously trawled mine and also done the exact same thing.

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gilesey11@reddit

I haven’t but that’s okay, at least you know all your comments were a mistake.

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AussieHxC@reddit

That's a good one, I'll keep that for future use. My responses have been based on my experience working within these places at different levels over ~ 10 years. There's a single reference to a mate currently who's team has failed a bunch but that's it.

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NissassaWodahs@reddit

Worked at a One Stop (owned by Tesco) that had their license heavily restricted and it was a legal requirement for us to ask everyone for ID for alcohol sales. It made the news and everything cos we had to ID pensioners at Christmas. It was a Harlow store, around 2008

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Careless_Car_6618@reddit

Worked in morrisons like 7 years ago and it was the same. Some re training yes, but dismissal would be for something like knowingly selling to kids.

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CrabAppleBapple@reddit

>No, instant dismissal is fucking stupid. I think it entirely depends on what you did. Regardless, it doesn't matter whether or not you agree with it, to the Tesco employee, all that matters is that Tesco agrees with it.

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AussieHxC@reddit

> that Tesco agrees with it. They don't though.

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Mr_Venom@reddit

It might be fucking stupid, but when I worked for Tesco this is definitely what the managers were saying would happen.

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HirsuteHacker@reddit

I actually did some work for trading standards when I was 15. Put on a coat with a hidden camera, got driven around to loads of shops in the area where they'd had reports of them selling alcohol/cigs/whatever to kids, and trying to buy some. We only caught a few, but nobody was fired. One was a Home Bargains, legal action was taken against them but the cashier kept their job as far as I know. Did it with a mate, made a bit of money, decent use of a couple evenings a months.

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AussieHxC@reddit

Me too! It wasn't a Pudsy badge was it? Think I got £20 and as many biscuits as I could carry

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HirsuteHacker@reddit

Nah no pudsy badge but yeah we got £20.a time, had our tea paid for wherever we wanted to go, and were allowed to spend any extra cash on whatever we wanted from the shops, as long as we tried to buy the booze or cigs or whatever.

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AussieHxC@reddit

Yeh sounds exactly like my experience. Whenever we got to the dodgy shops the kids sitting around outside would recognise the car and the council guy, I remember having to skip a couple cause they flat out snitched to the shopkeeper

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HirsuteHacker@reddit

Every time I tell this story to people they never believe me 😂 never heard of anyone else doing it til now. We were supposed to have been given a certificate or something, but never got them.

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TraditionPractical72@reddit

Dude I don’t know with my career in Tesco iv seen people be put on final warnings after failing - never seen any one fired but there were some very very close calls

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AussieHxC@reddit

Close calls make sense, though they've got the union to help back them up. I've got a mate there now who was telling me his team have failed I think 5 or 6 internals in the last 6 months and they're being made to sign paperwork saying they'll be good boys and girls.

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Nels8192@reddit

If Policy is followed to the letter then it’s an instant final warning now. Supposedly if the two different occurrences happen of failure happen close together then you can also be dismissed instantly. With regards to the “paperwork”, every time a “Think 25” is failed, the license holder (store manager) has to reissue a letter to every member of staff stating the rules of “Think 25” and then have it signed. It’s just an acknowledgment that the onus is on us as individuals not to fuck it up.

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HotPinkLollyWimple@reddit

A Coop in Peterborough lost their license for 3 weeks for 3 fails in a year. One of the staff members was sacked, but not the manager. I know 2 managers on 3 fails each, albeit in separate stores, who have not received any disciplinary action.

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Slyspy006@reddit

This is because so long as the manager has provided the correct training, the necessary correct refresher training and can prove that they have complied with the company expectations the they have done everything required of them to ensure that their store will not breech the law. That Johnny Part-time on the till then ignored their training is solely Johnny's fault. The manager and the company can show due diligence.

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AussieHxC@reddit

On the face of it that sounds like a single staff member who didn't give a fuck. That must have been spenny for the shop! > I know 2 managers on 3 fails each, albeit in separate stores, who have not received any disciplinary action Well of course!

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HotPinkLollyWimple@reddit

I’m inclined to agree. But, we have a staff member who just smiles the entire time, even when things are difficult. The customers love her!

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Slyspy006@reddit

Working in hospitality I have seen shop floor workers be fined for failing a licensing sting operation.

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xe3to@reddit

It should not be any of them that’s ridiculous.

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Witty-Horse-3768@reddit

Totally dodged the question.

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Prediterx@reddit

Tbf, I answered for the store I used to work in. No idea where the original commenter worked/works.

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bowak@reddit

Challenge 25 is one of the worst things to happen to shops. The only people who benefit from it are whoever profits from running the mystery shoppers. Just to be clear, I don't blame the shop staff here, can fully understand why they have to stick to the strictest letter of the rules on it.

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SwordfishSerious5351@reddit

meanwhile child obesity is like 40%, child poverty is like 30%, literacy rates are through the floor, kids are smoking and drinking at younger and younger ages, do I need to mention the mental health traumas of social media? but no! it is a daddy and his scratch card who are the problem OP message your MP, this is nanny state Britain on full blast.

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Personal-Listen-4941@reddit

You listed various bad things. None of those mean that underage gambling should be legalised. As a society we restrict/protect children from certain activities for their own protection. The vast majority of people don’t want 10 year olds drinking, gambling, smoking, doing pirn, etc.

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SwordfishSerious5351@reddit

Is a Dad involving his daughter in his day to day "legalising underage gambling"? Do you realise how much of a baby you sound trying to imply this Dad was trying to legalise undereage gambling? Or that his intent was for that, he literally asked her a colour ffs lol. Then you're going off tyring to equate it to the production of child sexual abuse material (not porn - way to give yourself away) By that logic most media needs to be banned for children, as does going into pubs to have a meal (in an alcohol venue), as does driving on roads as we don't want kids dying in car crashes. We wonder why the current kids becoming adults are being fired at wild rates and unable to socialise properly but then we also treat them like fragile pieces of paper because of overcorrecting, like a nanny state does. Nobody is arguing for underage gambling, everyone is arguing for "responsibility lies with the adult" It wouldnt be hard for him to just leave his daughter at home and go and buy her loads of scratch cards if that was truly his intent (of course nanny state must think the worst of everyone)... for your protection bro. Now please buy and consume alcohol and cigarettes.

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Personal-Listen-4941@reddit

The child is allowed to be in a shop that sells scratch cards, alcohol, etc. They’re not to buy them or have them bought for them. The law is the law, there’s no exception for only a bit of underage gambling.

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SwordfishSerious5351@reddit

btw: there's loads of exceptions it's called video games games of chance.

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SwordfishSerious5351@reddit

and neither of those things were happening ffs she was like 5 bro and the dad was buying it for himself - but big nanny state decided no he wasn't and inconvenienced him, so people like you can feel good (for no reason while 30% of kids in this country are in food poverty) it aint about protecting kids, it's about pretending we have morals.

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bonkerz1888@reddit

I got all this training bullshit too at Tesco's and in all my time there never once met anyone who was hit with a fine, dismissal, or even disciplinary for seeling underage products. In all my years on this planet I've yet to meet anyone who knows of a person who was fined for selling a licensed product to an underager. Think 25 is a load of bollocks. If someone looks like a teenager, ID them. If they don't, then don't bother. If a checkout worker legitimately thinks someone looks 25 and sells them alcohol, but it turns out the customer was an older looking 17.. how can it be proven that they didn't follow the policy when they genuinely thought the person was 25? Any policy that is open to interpretation has little to no foundations. Would be interesting to hear if anyone has met someone who was fired from their job and fined thousands of pounds for selling a licensed product to an underage shopper.

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batteryforlife@reddit

Any policy that relies on ”what do they look like” screening is absurd to have consequences for failures. Some people look way older, some people look super young for their age. Its not a valid system. Certain clubs scan everyones IDs, its a condition of entry. If selling alcohol is such a strictly regulated business, require ID for all purchases. And add in cigarettes too! Job done.

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RoastKrill@reddit

That isn't challenge 25, that's selling to a minor.

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Prediterx@reddit

Yes true, but.... If you don't complete challenge 25 then you've got no idea. The argument I had in my challenge 25 training, is that if we fail to complete it, assume that all of these penalties could apply, because we could be selling to an underage person.

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TerrySwan69@reddit

Should be? I agree with the laws and rules, but instant dismissal for failing one is mental.

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ArcTan_Pete@reddit

I love how reddit goes from 'This most minor employee did this thing' to 'this major supermarket chain has employment policies which I do not agree with' It makes no difference whether it's a sacking offence or whether its a minor warning. Employee followed regs - end of story

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TerrySwan69@reddit

Conversation, it's a wonderful thing.

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WrongCurve7525@reddit

Cue drama in responses below fromm precious firstbline managers

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JamezPS@reddit

Internal audits will be retraining, failing a trading standards audit (where they will always use someone genuinely and visably under the legal age) is gross misconduct and can easily lead to instant dismissal.

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Postik123@reddit

B&M were fined almost half a million quid for selling knives to kids. I know a knife is not the same as a lottery ticket but they are understandably twitchy in general about any staff failing the challenge 25.

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MichaSound@reddit

Yep, when I worked in Tesco’s, if you accidentally sold alcohol or cigarettes to someone underage, you personally got fined £2000, not the store.

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Busy-Shallot-5563@reddit

It’s a fine at our store aswell, I wish they’d tell customers this so they wouldn’t get arsey with us 😂

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bonkerz1888@reddit

How can your employer prove that you didn't challenge someone who "looked under 25" if there is no set definition of what a 25 year old looks like? Good luck sacking you for something that cannot be proven.

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Zavodskoy@reddit

> Good luck sacking you for something that cannot be proven. They get round this by not firing people on the first offence, the first time it happens you will be given a final warning and be asked to sign a document confirming you have been re-trained and now fully understand the challenge 25 system including who you are expected to ID and why, the second time they will fire you. If you then take it to a tribunal they will turn round and show they were reasonable by not firing you the first time, they provided training and you confirmed you were sufficiently trained and understood the policy and signed and dated that confirmation. It then becomes gross misconduct because you have failed to follow company procedure twice after being warned and re-trained the first time it happened despite confirming you understood the policy and agreed to follow it.

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bonkerz1888@reddit

Interesting although I still struggle to see how they can prove that their staff member didn't think the person was 25 or older. You could put 100 people aged 15-30 in a room and ask another 100 people to pick out those they thought were 25 and over. I can guarantee that there will be a huge margin of error/discrepancy across the selections. I suspect because they're a multimillion/billion pounds company and you are just a skint employee, that in the tribunal it's very difficult to challenge their established pattern of gaming the system. Would be cool for a law student who was working part time at a supermarket to take their employer on in this circumstance to see if they could beat their bullshit.

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Zavodskoy@reddit

It's heavily weighted against the employee and trading standards are massively unreasonable too so that just encourages the business to be even stricter. Think of it like this Scenario 1: Cashier sells OP the scratch card, nothing happens Scenario 2: Cashier sells OP the scratch card but it was actually a test purchase, consequences now range from being put on a final warning, being fired, being fined, being sent to prison, Camelot revoking the stores right to sell any lottery products. Baring mind how unfair the consequences are for the cashier do you really think it's worth risking it if you're not 100% sure? Because when I worked in retail if I even had a slight bit of doubt I'd refuse a sale or ask for ID, I'm not losing my job or getting fined / prison time just for the sake of your feelings. Personally I would have just served OP in that situation but I 100% understand why the cashier refused the sale based on the potential consequences. >Would be cool for a law student who was working part time at a supermarket to take their employer on in this circumstance to see if they could beat their bullshit. If they've been there less than 2 years then no, if they've been there more than 2 years they might barely have a case if they're fired on the spot for a first time offence with the argument that in their opinion the customer looked over 25 however the business just has to make the above argument that it puts the business at adverse risk if you're not following company policies regarding the sale of restricted products which is much easier to defend. I don't believe you'd have much of a case as the rules are very much stacked against the employee.

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bonkerz1888@reddit

Aye I worked checkouts for three years. Never IDd anyone who wasn't clearly a teenager. It's not like the police are sending in older adults with 10 year old children, with the adult clearly stating the lottery purchase is for them. I highly suspect the police aren't sending in grown adults with ten year old children to test purchase in the scenario provided by the OP.. it's always young looking adults (clearly teenagers) they send in, people who should obviously be challenged. I sold heaps of booze to people who looked in their twenties without asking for ID. How anyone could tell me that I wasn't of the opinion that those customers were 25 or older is beyond me. All that said and done, I think most sensible people will agree the two fuckwits in the OPs tale were just jobsworths enjoying a wee power trip. I can only speak from my own personal experiences as a 35 year old with a full beard who still gets IDd.. it has always been miserable looking older aged women who have jarred me for ID. Even when you try to have a wee joke with them about your actual age they simply state "company policy". I refuse to believe these women are incapable of independent thought or assessing a situation using common sense so the only other reason they consistently do it is that they must get off on it a they presumably have nothing else going on in their lives. I worked alongside these people for years and they truly are energy vampires.

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Mcby@reddit

Companies sack people for things that can't be proven *all the time*. Worker protections in this country are terrible, you usually can't even make a claim for unfair dismissal if you've worked somewhere for less than 2 years.

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Mac4491@reddit

> it is instant dismissal in our store Well that certainly goes against store policy and, if they've worked there longer than 2 years, the law. Sounds like your managers are just saying that to scare you.

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ZekkPacus@reddit

It's gross misconduct - wilfully refusing to follow business policies. It absolutely isn't against the law, you can be instantly dismissed for gross misconduct.

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Mac4491@reddit

>It's gross misconduct - wilfully refusing to follow business policies. The "wilfully" part here is debatable. You can fail a Challenge 25 visit while fully believing the individual to be over the age of 25 and therefore not feeling the need to request proof of age. It would be very easy to argue this with union support or even at an employment tribunal. >It absolutely isn't against the law, you can be instantly dismissed for gross misconduct. Subject to the appropriate disciplinary procedures set out in the company's policies. I can guarantee you that in a large supermarket chain even a store manager does not have authorisation to terminate an employee's contract without approval from HR without first following the internal company procedures for disciplinary action. And doing so to an employee of over 2 years service would be an unfair dismissal any day of the week.

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ZekkPacus@reddit

I'm sure these companies can evidence that it's wilful, and do. Instant dismissal doesn't mean that employee is literally dismissed on the spot, it simply means that they're dismissed without any prior warnings in place. The disciplinary process will still be followed, they will simply be dismissed at the end of the process and not given any notice pay.

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UCthrowaway78404@reddit

It's just tesco covering their backs. Tesco LEgally are not in any danger. The kid may have chosen it. But if the 18+ is buying it and the shopkeeper hands it to the adult then there is nothing legally wrong here. Tesco are just putting thr standard up so high so they are sailing so far away from the thin line that it's just not common sense. Having said that, these are Tesco rules and customers need to understand that and not argue with the staff over it. It's the worst part of working with the public. When adult children are told about a policy and they have a tantrum. Just buy a stick of polo and learn your lesson for next time.

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elyterit@reddit

I used to work at Tesco until 6 years ago. People failed Tesco & Trading standard test purchases all the time and they got a sit down and talking to, then had to do training again. These test purchasers are always between 18-25 just to see that you are checking ID. One person even failed a police test purchase while I was there. Since it was the first instance, the police required all staff to receive additional training and confirmation of this. They would also be carrying out more tests to ensure standards improved, if not, further action would be taken. The member of staff essentially got a pretty serious final warning from Tesco, no fine from the police. The police test so that shops are on their toes and staff routinely ID. They aren't trying to actually catch them out and impose these harsher penalties on the first failure.

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Highermoney@reddit

But you can steal £200 worth of stock and walk out without consequences

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

Depends, but yes, essentially, the police won't come to the store unless the amount you have been caught with meets a sentencing guideline. Which actually makes sense. If Jane has stolen a loaf of bread, then the cops.wont do anything cause its literally not worth their time cause nothing will come of it.

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caleom@reddit

Well be angry at the company then. All you ever hear is excuses saying it’s correct when ethically or morally or practically or common sensically all our guts would say no it’s not

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

Ethics and morality are not what's on the staff mind when they are getting paid just over minimum wage (infact, they used a loophole to pay less than minimum wage this year). It's the fact they have to deal with yet another high and mighty twat telling them to care about things way above their pay grade.

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caleom@reddit

Then stop caring, these shite jobs don’t fire any fucker. It’s a complete myth

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

I mean I have litterally been in meetings where staff were fired as a note taker so I can guarantee you that you are wrong there mate.

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Mobile-Hovercraft-78@reddit

See in regards to proxy sales the law and challenge 25 only cover cigarettes and alcohol. Does Tesco's training specifically mention scratchcards? I've asked about this before as the same thing happened to me buying red bull and I said what exactly would be the problem if I choose to give my child a red bull as there's no law against it and the staff couldn't say or remember anything in their policy about proxy sales regarding anything other than alcohol or cigarettes.

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Ok_Adhesiveness_8637@reddit

It's in the exact same training document that they have to do twice a year every year, at least it was during my 14 year stint there. It's a think 25 training document. Yes there is no law about redbulls, there was going to be and the supermarkets jumped on it, then the law was never passed and it was marked as a "kids health" thing so is still on the training. Just because you can legally buy something from tesco doesn't mean they have to sell it to you. You can legally decline a sale for any reason. Managers are told they cannot over ride think 25 decisions from staff.

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mediumtrousers@reddit

Correct. Worked for Tesco for year and was not paid enough to give a shit if someone didn’t like the rules we didn’t invent.

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lewwiejinthemix@reddit

As someone whose worked for the company for a number of years, I've yet to see an example of where this specific element of think 25 or proxy sale prevention has had to be enforced. Sad cases (aka test purchasers) don't use it to catch you out, and there's generally no one sad enough I work with who's been in close enough proximity to me to notice me not caring if someone's child picks their scratch card. The rule is more useful at telling those gullible and without critical thinking skills apart from those with.

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intenseskill@reddit

Wdym? He was not buying for her he was just asking an opinion. Since when does asking someone's opinion on what to buy mean you are buying it for them?

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Traichi@reddit

> Blame the policy, not the worker having to enforce it. All of the major supermarkets are fucking stupid now about this type of shit. Seriously, why does it matter.

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Grimdotdotdot@reddit

Right?! If we don't get kids to start gambling at a young age, the betting industry might suffer!

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Traichi@reddit

Nobody is starting kids from gambling. They're just stopping adults from doing something perfectly legal because they spoke to their kid. Gacha games are far more damaging when it comes to inducing kids to gamble than a scratch card.

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CatFoodBeerAndGlue@reddit

>Whilst it's annoying for you, it's much more annoying for the person who has to stand there and take the same shit from the 4th person that hour just for following the rules the company makes for them. Doing it without a shit eating grin on their face would probably help.

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Massaging_Spermaceti@reddit

OP reports a shit-eating grin, perhaps they were just smiling to try and alleviate the tension or appear friendly. Or weren't smiling at all, and OP just wants to get us on their side.

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Ok_Donkey_1997@reddit

OP also makes derogatory comments about the manager.

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arfur-sixpence@reddit

Or even just asked for change without necessarily buying anything

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batteryforlife@reddit

They def wont give you change without purchase.

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Melodic-Document-112@reddit

OP has a raging gambling addiction which they are trying pass on to their unsuspecting child

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CitrusShell@reddit

On the third attempt to gamble and losing his shit about it I certainly saw it that way, sadly.

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Ok_Donkey_1997@reddit

LOL. I definitely have my own biases which make me think the Tesco employee was doing the right thing, and I wouldn't expect everyone to agree with me, but I think more people would agree that OP didn't need to characterise the employees the way they did, and that they could have made everyone's day easier if they just bought something else. Assuming they didn't actually want the scratch card.

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Massaging_Spermaceti@reddit

"I needed change when I was with my toddler, so naturally I tried to buy a scratch card. When that didn't work, I wanted a lottery ticket." Coulda just bought a Flump or something. OP's own post doen't paint a very complimentary picture, lol

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CatFoodBeerAndGlue@reddit

I'm just going off the information provided.

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ArcTan_Pete@reddit

sometimes you just cant win when you're in a customer-facing position. If someone doesnt like what you do - no matter how you present yourself, no matter if it's your fault or not - they are going to interpret your actions as hostile \[and OP doesnt use the phrase 'shit-eating grin' in their post\]

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CatFoodBeerAndGlue@reddit

I get it, I worked in a Bargain Booze in my 20s and I had my fair share of abuse for turning people down for ages restricted products, but I still never would have delivered the rejection with a smile or grin. I took no pleasure in it, it was an awkward situation for all parties. My favourite reaction when I turning someone down for no ID was them shrugging and just walking out with the booze anyway. 😅

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pelethar@reddit (OP)

I don’t give a flying Fanny if you’re on my side. It’s just what happened.

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360langford@reddit

Yeah this is all starting to make sense

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Unlikely_Addendum_47@reddit

You seem like a piece of work and immature.

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Kolo_ToureHH@reddit

> Doing it without a shit eating grin on their face would probably help. OP is trying to garner as much sympathy as possible for his position.

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Wise_Monkey_Sez@reddit

They probably thought that they'd just passed a "test" by a planted "mystery shopper", and had given the correct answer and were slapping themselves on the back at having spotted the trap and given the right answer. Don't blame the employee, blame corporate who stages these sort of bloody stupid "traps" and "tests".

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gameofgroans_@reddit

My local Tesco have refused me an energy drink at the counter before (I’m in my 30’s ffs) and they absolutely loved it too. In my experience the people at those desks can be absolute jobsworths. Like yeah it’s a rule but you don’t need to act like you’ve won the bloody lottery turning someone down

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Different_Usual_6586@reddit

I've been refused a disposable bbq before in my mid 20s, duno what damage they thought I could cause with something I couldn't light

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

I've had plenty of this nonsense as well & the same smug "haha" facial expression. I have never had a good experience in any Tesco tbh now that I think about it, it must be something to do with the training they give out. I've genuinely never had that sort of shit in Asda/Lidl/Aldi.

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Burnsy2023@reddit

That might just be an unconscious response to when they're nervous.

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endot@reddit

It's not impossible the checkout person thought OP was a secret shopper, and that they were passing the test with flying colours. When I worked in a bar we'd get a reward if we passed a secret shopper inspection.

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Ruby-LondonTown@reddit

Right, exactly what I thought.

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MotleyKhon@reddit

Source : Wagie.

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Express_Permission50@reddit

I did this with an 8 year old in Sainsbury’s at the weekend and there were no issues.

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Winter_Cabinet_1218@reddit

Got to say it's another ott policy. I get what they are trying to prevent but it's not. In reality it's some hot shot trying to resolve big problems with a superficial solution. I mean I feel for the store staff... I've been there but myself and manager have always pushed here's a policy not a law please use some common sense. I got ID'd when I was out with my teenage daughters and I mean I do look younger than I am but the member of staff wanted ID from all of us to buy a bottle of Rum at Xmas. I handed over my ID and made a joke about getting it when I was 18, so said ID is old enough to have its own ID and purchase the rum for me. Also these two are my daughters 16 & 14 and if they want rum they better go get jobs and buy their own. Member of staff then called her manager over who literally asked her why she was being called when I was older than said manager and these Were obviously my kids. Now I never get ID'd in that shop I'm either known now or just look really old now

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CommercialPug@reddit

The store can lose the ability to sell lottery products if they fail a test purchase. It's not ott. Same with alcohol. Personal fine for the staff member and the store loses its ability to sell alcohol. I think it's a very reasonable policy

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

It is over the top, because nothing in the OP was illegal. There's not even "proxy sale" laws around the lottery AFAIK - it is "not the same with alcohol", which has separate statutory legislation

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CommercialPug@reddit

What I was referring to was that for both alcohol and national lottery products, a failed test purchase can result in the store being banned temporarily or permanently from trading said product. You may be right that there is not proxy sale rules for the lottery but the vast majority of retailers specifically instruct staff to refuse lottery sales if a child picks the numbers due to potential ambiguity. The National Lottery age of play is 18 and that is law. Most retailers are just not going to take the chance of staff getting confused.

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Hamking7@reddit

You can blame the worker if, as described, they're clearly enjoying the power trip.

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FrankLebouefCurtains@reddit

> (She was absolutely loving the entire interaction). Sounds like she was enjoying her power trip. I'd go to a different store, buy as many as it takes to win and then go back to her to cash it in and then turn around and give the money to my daughter (if I had one)

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bonkerz1888@reddit

Or said worker could have a shred of common sense and just sell the product anyway. I worked on the checkouts at Tesco for 3 years and never once had this issue as I wasn't an anally retentive jobsworth 😂 Surprise surprise I was never hauled over the coals by management and never had the police looking to level a fine worth thousands of pounds at me (as the training videos made the point of hammering home multiple times). The people who fastidiously follow the rules such as in this example are simply just powerless people on a power trip as it's one of the very few things they have control over in their lives. It's easier for these jobsworths to make someone else feel as miserable as them than it is to do the right thing and actually push themselves out of their own comfort zone. We've all met and worked with/under these losers in the past.

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Not_Good_HappyQuinn@reddit

Hard not to blame the worker when they are smiling smugly at you during the interaction and her child don’t choose the lucky dip lottery so doesn’t explain why she couldn’t have that.

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ReflectionNo3948@reddit

Can anyone supply the correct information about the following question. I am a regular scratch card purchaser. I have a budget, and i never go above it. I have been more fortunate than many and have had a few good wins. Today I cashed in my winning tickets and replaced them, had a few more winning tickets and replaced them. On cashing in a winning ticket i was informed that I had purchased nine tickets and could purchase no more .I tried to explain the legislation on not buying more than ten in one transaction. When I questioned this I was informed that I should leave the store if not happy .is this the Tesco policy,? And how did they monitor my purchases I have been a regular customer at this shop for many years. Thank you

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pelethar@reddit (OP)

You’re probably better off making a new post.

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woolage@reddit

I saw a very similar thing happen in Tesco the other day. However, the cashier accepted how frustrating the issue must be for the customer, acknowledged that it was “over the top” but explained why she had to insist on denying the sale (customers young son was handing her the things in her basket and one was a bottle of wine) and that she was very sorry for the inconvenience etc. After doing so, the customer (bit of a dick still) was much more accepting of the situation. Sometimes the issue isn’t the rule but how it’s enforced. This sounds like one of those times.

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Big-Ginger-Bear_2000@reddit

As with most of these "challenge 25" policies they're utterly stupid but sadly necessary. The staff are usually following the policies they're just poorly designed policies.

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Internal-Fan-2434@reddit

I think it’s more of the managers pulling up the employees on any little thing should they be looking to get rid, and this counts as one. But also, the employees shouldn’t physically be seen to enjoying the interaction, that is just a piss take.

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OccidentalTouriste@reddit

Could have been a typically awkward British grin of embarrassment.

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Simple_Pizza4029@reddit

My thought exactly

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KarenFromAccounts@reddit

I wonder if they thought OP was a mystery shopper and were really chuffed with themselves for noticing. It's as if someone walked in and just played out the exact obscure situation they were just trained on, so they're thinking 'oh ok mate, I get it, i know what this is... no you can't, that's our policy!'

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JLB_cleanshirt@reddit

"I'm not a secret shopper" "Course not mate"

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Postik123@reddit

"That's what a secret shopper would say"

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ISellAwesomePatches@reddit

I wouldn't be so quick to assume this. There was an middle aged supervisor in Sainsburys who used to take great joy in doing this to parents when I was a teenager. I know this because I knew another staff member there and she'd brag about it to her colleagues real smugly. My mum had gone in to get my Nan who was in hospital a scratch card and she asked for the wrong one and all I said was "nan asked for the other one" and I immediately knew from her smirk that I'd given her an out. She seemed to take joy in denying my mum in particular. She was the only one on the cigarette kiosk at the times me and my mum went though. Another time she denied us because my Mum passed me her car keys to hold whilst she got her change out as she had an injury on one hand, and that counted as "assisting" my mum who was buying cigarettes. She was horrible. Just downright horrible.

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boudicas_shield@reddit

I had a customer service manager like this when I lived in the States and worked at Walmart. She was a judgmental, uptight biddy who liked the mini power trip and took great joy in smugly denying sales. She also seemed genuinely obsessed with people’s alcohol consumption; it was strange. She’d even instruct us to deny sales for made up reasons or assumptions, totally outwith legal requirements or store policy. (For example, she tried to get me to deny sales if anyone was buying enough alcohol that it might be for a party, because “they might invite someone underage”). People like this do exist, I’m afraid.

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BeagleMadness@reddit

Just remembered when I worked in Meadowhall as a teenager in the '90s. A colleague who was lovely, but not the brightest spark, ran around every department whispering hurriedly to staff, "Be careful this week! I overheard the boss saying Mister Chopper is coming into the store. He's right important, that Mister Chopper, so watch out!" When asked exactly who this "Mister Chopper" was, she said she thought he was some Big Boss from Head Office. When we finally twigged - ohhh, "Mystery Shopper"? it dawned on her that she'd misheard slightly!

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KatVanWall@reddit

One of my colleagues said she regularly used to get hotels thinking she was a ‘mystery shopper’. The reason? Her name was Mrs Mistry. That had honestly never occurred to me, because I’m from Leicester, where Mistry is like Smith. But she swore up and down it was a thing that had happened to her several times!

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BeagleMadness@reddit

That's brilliant. Top service everywhere you stay, just in case!

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ResponsibleTartlet@reddit

That’s what I was thinking, particularly as OP absentmindedly “included” her daughter in the transaction. Possibly it seemed like a really obvious test to the employee. She could just have been uncomfortable, or unpleasant, but she may well have thought it was a mystery shopper.

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steviedreams@reddit

When I worked at Tesco, specifically 9 years on this type of counter, we were told to remain friendly and keep smiling. The one time I didn't and refused a sale, the demented customer shouted in my face for bring miserable and then threw the charity box at me. Fucking wanker. Oh and then followed me home. So yeah, I'd smile.

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Internal-Fan-2434@reddit

Ah that customer was a grade A cunt, sorry you had the mispleasure of meeting them.

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IAM_THE_LIZARD_QUEEN@reddit

Someone tried to headbutt me once because I didn't let her into the cinema with the wrong ticket, and because I smiled during the conversation it was apparently my fault for goading her and therefore she wasn't banned. The joys of dealing with customers, you're damned either way.

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steviedreams@reddit

Fucking hell. People are insane.

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Efficient-Lab@reddit

Did we work together at Odeon MK?

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Fiyerossong@reddit

Clearly someone hasn't worked retail in a while, it's our job to smile, literally get it drilled into us day by day to smile at customers

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Internal-Fan-2434@reddit

Smile, yeah, shit eating grin, or visibly amused face at the customer’s uncomfortableness, naw man.

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ChosenPuddle@reddit

They might have been smiling because they thought it was a test, one if those secret shopper things. "Aha! I know what this is, you won't catch me out!"

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FenderForever62@reddit

Or that ‘oh great it’s going to be one of those interactions but I’ve got to put on a positive face for the customer’ Plus we’re only getting OP’s point of view who is annoyed by the whole interaction, despite it being a very obvious policy. As soon as they said their child picked out the ticket I knew what was coming, as I’m sure most people reading this did. We can’t trust their judgement of ‘oh the counter person was smirking the whole interaction’ because they’ve already decided the counter person was in the wrong for denying them a sale

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Hyrules_Saviour@reddit

There's no way secret shoppers ever have kids with them

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Not_Good_HappyQuinn@reddit

But you’d still be marked badly for customer service if it was a secret shopper and you looked happy about them not getting what they asked for.

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Slyspy006@reddit

A smile can also be a nervous reaction to confrontation.

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Content-Passenger234@reddit

We had Tesco delivery last night. I was ID before they gave me the shopping. I had no products in my shopping which warranted ID. However the delivery driver said tesco had recently been fined a massive sum. On the contrary whenever I have ordered alcohol or tobacco in the past I’ve never once been ID 🫣🤔

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Affectionate_Sky5508@reddit

In spite of everyone’s comments, I can tell you after my 20 years in retail management that they were being a huge jobsworth and I would’ve absolutely spoken to the manager. Challenge 25 has gone way beyond the realms of logic

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BigDan1190@reddit

Can I just say "spawned in" made me lol

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Rideordiecdxx@reddit

Why people on minimum wage acting like they are doing something important lmao

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33Yidana53@reddit

Is it right unfortunately yes, is it also BS totally yes. There does need to be a bit of common sense. Ffs op just asked their kid in general what one they should they get. As a parent we do this this all the time when our kids are young. It helps stop them moaning about going into the shops. Now when a parent asks their 12 year old what flavour vape that is obviously for the kid and a no. Kevin ‘bloody’ Wilson sang it best, Common sense ain’t that common anymore.

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Itchy-Gur2043@reddit

Imagine if shop staff saw you asking your kid which cigarettes or which bottle of wine to buy. Lottery tickets = the same.

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newcoffeeaddict@reddit

I've worked at a supermarket before, you have to do training on this periodically (1-2 times a year). They scare you shitless about mystery shoppers / police making test purchases. As soon as you are with a minor they can/should refuse the sell. The cashier as an individual is liable if they get caught and pay a fine (15 years ago it was £80). So I understand it when people get annoyed with refusing sales and asking for IDs etc. But I do understand it as I have been on the other side. She does sound like a jobsworth though.

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5n0wgum@reddit

>As soon as you are with a minor the cashier should refuse the sell. I'm calling bollocks. I get being refused if you let your child pick but simply being in the presence of a child isn't enough to refuse service.

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Reasonable-Horse1552@reddit

And there is a policy in place for that too. The presence of a child while you're buying anything age restricted isn't taken into account. Or nobody would be allowed to buy a bottle of wine if they had children with them.

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BeagleMadness@reddit

I've been refused alcohol in Sainsburys as I had my then 13 year old with me. He hadn't even touched the alcohol or looked at it at any point. The again, I was also refused as I didn't have ID at age 45. My son was 18 by then and did have his ID with him. Cashier refused to serve him, as he may be buying it for me 😂 She couldn't understand why the suggestion that I may have given birth to my son before I was even born myself was a bit daft, really.

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boudicas_shield@reddit

My husband and I got denied buying dinner and a bottle of wine at Waitrose at the end of a long day, because he didn’t have his ID. He’s older than me, and I was 30 at the time. We got it, I used to be a cashier myself, but the elderly man behind us was so outraged on our behalf that he tried to buy it for us. (She wouldn’t let him, of course, and we thanked him anyway). We left and just got wine elsewhere, but my husband did remark that it’s tiresome that common sense can’t be applied. I obviously wasn’t there buying pasta and wine for myself and my 17 year old boyfriend; he was clearly my age or older, and my ID showed I was 30. My husband only has a passport for ID and doesn’t like carrying it on him everywhere, so it is an annoyance on the rare occasion this happens.

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BeagleMadness@reddit

I find it slightly hilarious really, given how local shopkeepers used to serve me alcohol and cigarettes when I was 14-16 without question. Yet at age 45, when I'm standing there with my almost adult children, they deny me service because I can't be bothered to carry my passport around everywhere (I can't drive for medical reasons).

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Maleficent-Purple403@reddit

Not that long ago I got ID'ed at a small-ish branch of a local chain of newsagent / tobacconist / offie type mini-markets; by complete fluke I had ID on me - don't usually carry anything. I made a joke about how my new face-cream must be working (I am mid-to-late forties and wrinkly AF) - and the young cashier completely broke me by saying "naw it's just the boss is in and I always used to get in trouble for not asking for ID" ⁠

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Reasonable-Horse1552@reddit

That really is ridiculous and over the top. I had 3 teenagers with me and bought 3 cans of red bull and they didn't even look at what it was before pressing the Do Not Challenge button on the checkout.

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Neenwil@reddit

Wow. I've seen some daft ones but yours is right up there! It's definitely much worse in supermarkets, it seems that all logic and critical thinking goes out the window when it comes to store policy. In hospitality we generally have to use more of a common sense approach or we'd have no business! We obviously take it seriously, we can only trade if we have a license, but going by supermarket standards, no one would be able to take their children into a pub or restaurant and entire families/groups would have to be refused service if any of them looked under 25 (which itself is arguably subjective but again, common sense.. we're not ID'ing people who are 45 because they're with an 18 year old..) All licenses are different and some have stricter terms than others. You could have 3 pubs, 2 restaurants and a supermarket on the same street all with different licence conditions, but the majority of over the top supermarket policy is just that, store policy, not actually legal licence requirements. I understand this can mean losing your job if you don't follow it and I don't blame workers for sticking to that, it's the supermarkets that should have better policies, trust their management to use common sense and not put the fear into their staff that they'll get sacked for serving a 45 year old who should never have been ID'd in the first place! (Or the one I read yesterday about the 35 year old being refused paracetamol without ID.. )

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AussieHxC@reddit

That's not their policy though, it's just staff being dim or having shit managers.

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samiam221b@reddit

When I got training years ago, it could be. If the kid interacted with the age restricted product at all, we were told to refuse the sale. Even if they were just helping unload a trolley. It’s bonkers

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Beave-@reddit

The official policy is the sale should only be refused if the colleague has reason to believe the item is being purchased for the under-age person. Most people will try be acommodating and not say anything as long as the child doesn't get involved but if they point one out or mention how they can't wait to scratch it etc then it has to be stopped

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Hazbro29@reddit

Exactly, you turn up to the till with a baby, full cart of shopping and a six pack of beer. Obvious you're just buying beer for yourself You turn up to a store with a teenager in tow buying nothing but vodka and mixers, yeah that's suspicious.

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setokaiba22@reddit

That is utter bollocks and not true at all. The issue is the person underage choosing the item that’s filled the transaction. The same applies if the underage person put an item on the till (say out of the trolley/basket alcohol or a dvd with a higher age rating) or the parent is standing there but gives them the money to pay. You don’t fail the transaction just these there’s a child there.

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TheToolman04@reddit

I call truth, I went into a bookies years ago with my then toddler, he was under 2 but I was asked to leave even though he wasn't making a bet, I was. I asked why, and it was simply because the kid is not of legal age. I know it's a bookies and the rules apply wholly across the building, but I daresay the rule applies to OP here as well. Sucks because yeah, jobworths.

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JellyfishAway3787@reddit

I worked in a bookies and got so much shit for not letting people with kids in. It's the law. I got pulled up early on because someone brought their kid in through the back and made them duck down so they couldn't be seen over the counter, and I totally missed it. The worst was Grand National day, when non regulars would come in to make a bet and bring the whole family. Never mind that there were signs everywhere saying "no under 18s".

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buy_me_a_pint@reddit

I remember when it was Grand National Day when my Dad used to put a bet on, I used to have to stand outside the shop this was back in the 90s as I was not 18.

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TheToolman04@reddit

Sorry you got shit from people. My questions to the bookie were out of general naivety but I left with no further issues. Fair play to them for telling me, no rudeness between either party

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5n0wgum@reddit

That's different. That's stopping a child enter a betting shop. If what the comment said was true then you couldn't get a lottery ticket when doing the weekly shop with your kid, couldn't buy fags or a bottle of wine or whatever in the presence of children.

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itsfeckingfreezing@reddit

Unfortunately they do, I know people who have been refused a bottle of wine at Waitrose because they have been with their 8 year old.

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Amaranyx@reddit

My mum has back issues, she asked me, I was 15 at the time, to get the bottle from the bottom shelf for her as she coupdnt bend down and when we got to the till they would not sell it to her because I had touched the bottle.

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alexq35@reddit

Ironically it would be perfectly legal for your parent to give you the alcohol to drink when you got home

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BeagleMadness@reddit

I had similar when shopping with my son. So for years I just used to send him to wait outside while I scanned and paid, until he turned 18. My youngest is now reaching the age where Sainsburys might decide I'm buying it for him, no doubt I'll have to do the same with him soon.

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_indi@reddit

I hate this policies. Where does it end? “You look roughly of childbearing age, you could have children at home. Sake denied.”

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fairylighterfluid@reddit

My dad got refused tobacco when I was younger because I was standing behind him. Didn't interact with the worker at all and had already bought my stuff but she said because I was there she couldn't sell it.

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nicskoll@reddit

I hear you, although, I was refused a sale because my friend who was with me, didn't have their ID in them to price their age. I was about 32 at the time and had to show my driver's license, he was about 25, but didn't have ID to prove as much. Very annoying. Understandable, but annoying

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AutoModerator@reddit

[Driv**ING** licence.](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/image_data/file/99914/s300_s960-eng-full-front-flag.jpg) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*

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LongBeakedSnipe@reddit

The fact that it has an official name doesn't change the fact that driver's license is still correct use of English. This is a gammon bot if I ever saw one.

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AutoModerator@reddit

[Driv**ING** licence.](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/image_data/file/99914/s300_s960-eng-full-front-flag.jpg) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*

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Ecstatic_Food1982@reddit

Driver's license

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AutoModerator@reddit

[Driv**ING** licence.](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/image_data/file/99914/s300_s960-eng-full-front-flag.jpg) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*

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yeeyeevee@reddit

driver’s licence

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AussieHxC@reddit

Exactly this. Some others have suggested that there's official national lottery guidelines on the kids picking thing but I've worked plenty of shops/supermarkets and that's never been an issue we dealt with. Most times it was someone giving their kid the winning scratch card to go and collect (alone) which we then had to disappoint.

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IansGotNothingLeft@reddit

I did my personal alcohol license training many many moons ago when Threshers was still a thing and "Think 21" was in it's infancy. We were told to use our judgement and common sense, but if someone was with a child who seemed interested in the alcohol in any way, we were to refuse the sale. On a busy Saturday night when there was no time to watch people in the shop, my manager just refused anyone with a kid. Yes, it's ridiculous.

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LondonCycling@reddit

But there is no offence of buying a scratch card for a child, unlike alcohol. In fact grandparents the country over buy them as Christmas presents for their grandkids (whether this is a good idea or not is another matter). It may be company policy of course, and you're right there may be mystery shoppers testing that policy, but it doesn't make the policy any less daft. Mum wants to buy a scratch card, asks child to pick a colour - happens every day up and down the country.

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RevSolo@reddit

I used to be a trainer at a Supermarket. The training DVD we used to show at staff inductions explicitly stated that proxy sales only apply to alcohol related products. Everything else was fair game. Want to buy cigarettes for someone under 18? Crack on.

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LondonCycling@reddit

Yep. The rules on cigarettes may actually have changed since. They've been updated a fair few times in recent years, to account for nicotine in vapes, to try and tackle antisocial behaviour from teens smoking, etc. I haven't quite kept up to date (as I no longer work retail!), so I didn't really cover it as I'm a bit out of the loop on it. The proxy sales for alcohol were drilled home when I did my personal licence (England/Wales). Back then it was super common for teenagers to chance it in pubs, especially in groups with their mates. These days a lot of pubs, especially chains like Spoons, will see a group and just ID the lot of them.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

no but the lotto company can and will remove your licencing for failing a proxy test purchase

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RevSolo@reddit

Unless the law has changed a proxy sale only applies to alcohol. It doesn't apply to scratch cards. You can sell a scratch card to someone over 18 even if you know they are buying it on behalf of someone under 18.

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Personal-Listen-4941@reddit

And why do you think that if the child wins on the scratch card, it’s an adult who has to claim it and lie it’s their card?

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

*Thank you* Jesus wept this thread is annoying, I think you're the first post I've found (other than my own) actually calling out the reality.

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Apidium@reddit

I'm sorry but folks have kids they need to look after. They aren't a dog. You cannit tie them outside.

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Slyspy006@reddit

I dislike the word "jobsworth" because here it could be "is your job worth more or less than a scratch card for a random stranger". The term "jobsworth" should only really apply to those who have the agency and power to bend, break or otherwise avoid the rules of their employment but choose not to.

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BrianThePinkShark@reddit

It's ridiculous, you are paid to do your job and can get pulled up on disciplinary if you don't follow procedure. To have ignorant people call you a jobsworth just because you are doing things the way you have to so you can keep yourself fed and sheltered is demeaning.

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hungry110@reddit

My guess is that's why she was grinning. Thought she was being clever spotting a mystery shopper.

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misslgracie@reddit

Happened to me in co-op once, I asked my niece to pick a number from 1-12 then chose the corresponding scratch card and they tried to refuse to sell it to me. I argued and won, but it felt silly. Appreciate it's the law etc but let's be serious, our country would be in less of a state than it is if everyone was able to apply a bit of common sense to a situation.

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Hyproglo79@reddit

This happened to my wife about 5 years ago in Glasgow, very same situation.

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Dazzling_Upstairs724@reddit

While it is Tesco policy, it lacks common sense.

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Suspicious-Shoe-2260@reddit

I think some of these shops are getting ridiculous with policies. Me and my husband and two kids were in shopping a few months ago back we must have had about £200 of food shopping. A lady scanned nearly all of it got to the drinks and my husband put one bottle of beer in the trolly and she wouldn’t sell him it because we had kids with us?? He was fuming so we ended up walking away and leaving the lot

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Metga_Lesbian@reddit

Sounds like Tesco is just trying to cover their backs, but it’s frustrating for customers!

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Artistic-Main-3845@reddit

I went shopping in my local Tesco with my teenage daughter some years back, had some alcohol in with my weekly shop and had a manager walk by and say I couldn't purchase the alcohol because I had a child with me and it might be bought for them. He claimed this was policy. I said if she stands outside can I then make the purchase? He said yes but he would have to take the alcohol from my shop and put it back on the shelves first. I then walked behind him all the way to the alcohol aisle and as soon as he put the items down I picked them up again and took them back to the checkout and paid for my shopping. Seemed a pointless exercise.

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47q8AmLjRGfn@reddit

Nearly had a similar thing in Waitrose but red bull with my 16 year old boy standing next to me, assistant came over to authorise and question who this legal to buy under 18 drink was for.

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Kaiisim@reddit

Yes. They can't sell you a product banned for under 18s if they suspect you are buying it on behalf of someone under 18. Lots of twats buy scratch cards for kids, getting them into gambling early so it's something to look out for.

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

> Yes. They can't sell you a product banned for under 18s if they suspect you are buying it on behalf of someone under 18. What legislation says this for scratch cards?

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bacon_cake@reddit

To be fair nobody said anything about legislation, I think it's Tesco policy.

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

Well if you're saying "They can't", that's very different to "they choose not to"

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bacon_cake@reddit

I personally read it as "they" meaning the assistant, "can't" is in they could lose their job.

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

Pretty sure they meant "they" as in Tesco, or any shop - especially with their second sentence

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SweepTheLeg69@reddit

Pretty sure... but not absolutely sure?

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Old-Scar6520@reddit

Probably the Gambling Act you dingus

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

Probably? But...does it? I'll give you a hint - the answer is no, it doesn't.

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Cam2910@reddit

>it is an offence for a person to invite, cause or permit a person under eighteen to gamble. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/19/notes/division/5/3/7/2

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Euan_whos_army@reddit

I mean, that isn't what's happened here at all though is it? The adult is attempting to use their own money to buy a scratched for themselves, the child hasn't gambled at all.

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Cam2910@reddit

That's not how it was presented to the shop staff, though. It was presented as an adult buying a scratchcard on behalf of a child. Swap it to alcohol. If a shop worker saw you looking at the booze aisle with a child, letting them pick out which booze to buy, they wouldn't be allowed to sell you that either. Doesn't matter if the adult in question actually had any intention of giving the booze to the child.

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Euan_whos_army@reddit

The act of using your money to buy the scratchcard is the act of gambling though. Using your money to buy alcohol and allowing the child to consume the alcohol is the actual danger. At no point has that child gambled. This is the policy of Tesco, which is fine, that's up to them, but let's not go about claiming all they are doing is following the law.

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Cam2910@reddit

The law is very open to interpretation. Different people and companies will have different interpretations. Let's not pretend Tesco follows that policy for the good of the children.

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Euan_whos_army@reddit

So, the original comment was, that it was not against the law and you posted a law that didn't actually refute the original comment, and I said as such and now you are agreeing it isn't against the law? great contribution

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Cam2910@reddit

Sorry, that should say: "also, this isn't actually illegal" My interpretation of the legislation is that it would refute the comment that it wasn't against the law. I don't imagine it's ever been tested in court, but it's similar to alcohol. It's not against the law to give a child alcohol or a scratchcard. But it is against the law to sell alcohol to a child, or someone you suspect of buying it for a child. I'm arguing that it's the same for scratchcards.

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

> but it's similar to alcohol It's not *remotely* similar to alcohol because it is a separate offence to buy alcohol for somebody under 18. This is exactly why this thread is so bloody frustrating because people are coming in saying "It's like...." when they're nothing alike. There is statue legislation criminalising buying alcohol for somebody under 18, and it's also illegal to buy it under 18. The same is not true for lotteries - so long as the person completing the transaction is 18, then it's perfectly legal for all parties even if the scratch card is specifically for the child.

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Cam2910@reddit

I'm suitably proven wrong. Apologies. Do you think the strict policies on not allowing children to pick scratchcards when an adult is buying it are just to protect the retailer from claims that they sold to the child by proxy?

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

I think it's just a demonstration of what's going on in this thread - people mixing up laws, and probably erring on the side of caution. To a degree, I get it - it's all more complex than it probably should be, and trying to teach your average 17 or 18 year old part time checkout operator is probably not that an easy task The guidance doesn't help, tbh because when you read about "proxies", they tend to use alcohol as an example. Some in the thread are saying the lottery are strict (they're ultimately responsible for keeping their licence through responsible practices), so I can certainly buy the idea that they're being very overzealous but I do not buy the idea that they're trying to prevent parents buying lottery tickets with a kid in tow. At the end of the day, shops can serve who they want and I accept that - I just hate people hiding behind false laws. It's very reminiscent of "Oh, we can't do that because of health and safety" to me. You don't *have* to do anything, but don't lie to me!

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Cam2910@reddit

>it's all more complex than it probably should be, and trying to teach your average 17 or 18 year old part time checkout operator is probably not that an easy task You've probably hit the nail on the head there. P.S. Thanks for all the info and keeping it civilised.

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

The lottery is not covered under that - you realise it was 16 until (separate) legislation was changed, right?

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Cam2910@reddit

Does any of that include scratchcards?

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

Yes, national lottery scratchcards are covered entirely under the national lottery regs - again, which is why you could buy them at 16 until the separate National Lotteries Act changed them a couple of years ago.

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Infrared_Herring@reddit

"...an awkward looking 19yr old spawned in" lol

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FizzyLemonPaper@reddit

Yeah, I've heard of this Tesco policy before. This isn't the first time I've seen people get caught out by this on Reddit, someone else had it happen to them a while back and posted on another UK based sub.

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audigex@reddit

I do think it’s ironic though that I can’t buy alcohol with my 16 year old niece standing next to me, but they’re fine with me buying it with a 7 year old standing next to me Like, surely the latter is worse?

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JistHaudOanAMinute@reddit

Anything to do with the lottery right now is imprinted on the retail workers minds. Allwyn UK are rolling out their new training in every retail store these last few weeks, it'll have been hammered into them how "important" these rules are. That & the new 10 scratch card limit rule has brought fresh training around this month.

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Prudent-Ad-5290@reddit

To second that, Allwyn seem to be being much more proactive at running test purchases for all three types,underage sales,proxy sales and excessive gambling. Likely because they're into a new contract and need to show they can run it legally without issue. Already heard of a couple of stores in our area failing their test purchases which can lead to some fair shit for the employee. Not worth the risk really. So no, OP , employee and manager were both in the right, any other shop should also be doing the same and likely will, and a complaint will be met with pretty much the response you got here.

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audigex@reddit

Plus the fines for individuals can be hundreds of pounds which is a lot to anyone, but especially those on minimum wage My personal policy when I worked in a shop was “I don’t give a shit if you walk out of here with a scratch card, I very much give a shit if I get a £500 fine”…

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NeighborhoodLarge427@reddit

I would be annoyed at this too

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RevSolo@reddit

From what I remember unless the law has changed... A proxy sale ONLY applies to alcohol. It doesn't apply to any other age related products.

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Not_Sugden@reddit

All things aside though I do agree that the rules are over the top. I'm not saying I have a better soloution though, its not like you can define an age at which a child stops being the one that _has_ to come along, if that makes sense. Like if I had a 4 year old with me and asked him what scratch card I should buy, obviously its not for him but I'd also respect that the shop worker is only following the rules by refusing a sale. but if I had a 15 year old with me, then I'd even understand why they would refuse the sale. But theres no definitive age they can legislate this at really. A 'common sense' approach would be ideal, but not practical.

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EconomicsFit2377@reddit

Overzealous cashier, petit Napoleon could see it was not transacted on behalf of the child.

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TheCurlyComputing@reddit

Yes, this is right. I used to work in a supermarket and the guidelines we would get from the National Lottery explicitly stated that if the adult let the child pick which scratchcard to get, it was considered a proxy sale. I appreciate it is a bit of a silly rule but you'd get test purchases pretty frequently too so you had to keep an eye out. The person on the till probably should've explained that to you though.

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Euan_whos_army@reddit

Such a ridiculous policy should be advised in advance via a sign, not sprung on you by surprise with no ability to change the outcome. "Please do not allow children to pick the scratch card as it is against our policy to then sell you the card.

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giraffelegz@reddit

This would surely be seen as telling people who are buying scratch cards for a child how to avoid getting caught

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-cunningstunt@reddit

I worked in Sainsbury’s years ago and we were told this too, it isn’t just a Tesco thing.

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BuildingArmor@reddit

There's age restrictions on these things, and an adult obviously buying it for somebody underage is as much of a no-go as the child buying it themselves.

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Anaksanamune@reddit

You really think the 10 year old would be given the winnings?

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worldworn@reddit

Missing the point. It's not the winnings but the addictive nature of gambling that the rules are in place for.

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Anaksanamune@reddit

How's it missing the point? do you think the 10 year old in ops sorry is going to get addicted for picking out a pink piece of paper be a green one?

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poppalopp@reddit

The law exists for a reason.

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The_Blip@reddit

But the law doesn't state this exact scenario is forbidden.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

"A person commits an offence if he invites, causes or permits a child or young person to gamble" Allowing a child to select a scratch card is permitting a child to gamble, because they're selecting a gambling product.

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The_Blip@reddit

That isn't the definition of gambling in the legislation you quoted. "An arrangement is a lottery if— (a)persons are required to pay in order to participate in the arrangement" If the child isn't paying, they aren't gambling. There is no mention of 'selecting a gambling product' meeting the definition in the legislation.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

Their stake is being fronted. If I give a kid £10 to buy booze that doesn't mean it's legal because I'm buying it.

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The_Blip@reddit

Of course it isn't legal for you to give a kid £10 to buy booze. The child can't be sold booze. The child isn't buying a scratch ticket in the scenario OP presented. The adult is. What do you think a scratch card is? The only chategories of gambling are: Gaming, Betting, and Lottery. There isn't a seperate category for scratch cards. It says, right there: "Act an arrangement is a lottery, irrespective of how it is described, if it satisfies one of the descriptions of lottery in subsections (2) and (3)." It's literally described in the legislation you quoted. Did you read it?

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glasgowgeg@reddit

>The child isn't buying a scratch ticket in the scenario OP presented. The adult is And the child isn't buying the booze in the scenario I described, I'm buying it. It's my money, not the kids.

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The_Blip@reddit

"If I give a kid £10 to buy booze" How are you going to buy the booze when the kid has the money?

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glasgowgeg@reddit

Kid's gonna hand it over, obviously

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The_Blip@reddit

I don't think you know what the word 'buying' means.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

Define buying in a way that includes everything which would constitute buying, and excludes everything that doesn't then?

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The_Blip@reddit

Buying is the act of recieving goods or access to services in exchange for payment.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

So if Man A sends Man B to an auction to bid on a painting using Man A's money, Man A didn't buy it?

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The_Blip@reddit

In any of that entire transaction, did Man A recieve a good or access to a service in exchange for payment?

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glasgowgeg@reddit

All the information is in the question.

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The_Blip@reddit

And the answer is all spelled out there for ya. Just gotta put two and two together.

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glasgowgeg@reddit

You didn't give an answer, you asked for further information. If the question is too difficult to answer, that's fine.

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The_Blip@reddit

My answer is already there, you just have to put it together. Do you need some help doing this?

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glasgowgeg@reddit

You didn't answer. I asked you a yes or no question, you elected to request further information.

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The_Blip@reddit

The answer is right there in my comments, you just have to put two and two together. Are you unable to do that?

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glasgowgeg@reddit

I'll just assume you can't answer the question if you won't give an explicit answer, no skin off my back.

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BuildingArmor@reddit

It's known as a proxy sale, and it's against the law. A different law than directly selling to somebody underage, I think, but still against the law.

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The_Blip@reddit

It's only a proxy sale if you the person actually reasonably believes that the person purchasing the ticket is buying for the underage person.

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BuildingArmor@reddit

OP literally describes it as such. Having the child pick out which scratch card "we" will get.

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The_Blip@reddit

Why are you adding quotes to "we" when OP never said that?

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BuildingArmor@reddit

So are you the OP on a second account, or is that just some real coincidental timing? I'll assume good faith, and let you know that it did say "we", and OP had edited their post. The last edit was, at the time of writing this comment, 3 minutes ago.

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The_Blip@reddit

That's pretty hilarious and I don't care to defend OP's weaseling. Have a good one.

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Anaksanamune@reddit

There's a certain irony in seeing that comment posted from someone with Louise as an avatar.

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poppalopp@reddit

Louise respects the law. Gotta know it if you’re gonna break it.

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worldworn@reddit

You are missing the point because that's not how life works. People tend to believe because they wouldn't do a terrible thing, that noone in their right mind would do it, so what's the problem?! Why do we have such stupid laws?! Or worse, well it didn't affect me. So it won't affect anyone. So it doesn't matter, everyone is stupid apart from me and my very narrow limited experience! Whereas there **are** people who regularly buy their kid a scratch card, that studies (and common ssense) have shown, exposing children to gambling at a young age leads to addiction. The cashier cannot tell the difference, there is no parenting test, no parental certificate, so any sign of breaking the law is met with a side of caution and no sale.

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SafetyUpstairs1490@reddit

It’s absolutely stupid and pointless, doesn’t prevent anything. You can just go to the next shop and get one.

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worldworn@reddit

It's not perfect, but that doesn't mean it's pointless imo. There will be shops that sell to anyone, but they risk massive fines and loosing their licences. The alternative is to make it easy to access and normal to do, that's why we see kids vaping who have never smoked.

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PinkSodaBoy@reddit

Have you not met any 10-year-olds before? That's more than old enough to understand gambling and scratch cards.

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BuildingArmor@reddit

I don't know, but even in the way OP decided to frame it, with the cartoonist grinning villain, they made it clear that the child has involvement in the scratch card. If you want to argue that maybe just a little bit of gambling should be ok for a kid, that's a separate matter and not one that plays out at the Tesco counter.

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KeyCress9824@reddit

Don't blame the messenger for telling you you're a dick. Ignorance is no excuse in the face of the law.

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Terrible_Clothes_465@reddit

Except it’s not the law lol

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X0AN@reddit

What law stops adults buying stratchcards because a child has said buy that one daddy.

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Anfa34@reddit

I had the same thing happen to me at Asda. Exactly the same smugness.

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Miglioratore@reddit

When I was 8-10 yrs old one of the things I loved was going with my dad and choose the numbers for the lottery. Usually on a Sunday morning.. my dad was not into gambling, it was just a fun thing to do once in a while. Depressing times we are living in, you can’t sell a scratch card if a child has chosen it but then no one bats an eye when children are being murdered daily few thousands miles away in the Middle East

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towelie111@reddit

What a ridiculous policy. Your kid can’t buy it, your kid can’t claim the prize. Your buying it, your claiming the prize. It’s not like you’re buying cigs or alcohol to pass on to some under age kids.

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X0AN@reddit

Absolute jobsworth for denying the sale. Honestly some people shouldn't be working with customers.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

think 25 applies to lotto cigs and booze same for proxy sales its to stop kids from gambling also the policy is not store policy its allwyn (lotto company's) policy

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

I know, it's so stupid to compare then.

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Particular_Meeting57@reddit

Malicious compliance! The assistant thinks it’s ridiculous as well but they are just doing whats expected of them. The world continues on its path to madness, thank god we are focusing on the big issues!

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_User-Name_Taken@reddit

Employee was right. If a test purchaser would have seen this , and they sold you the scratch card, the colleague would have failed. Back in the days of being a supermarket manager, we were always advised that any interaction/discussion with an underage person, regarding a product with an age requirement would then result in a fail if said product was then sold to the adult. Wouldn't matter if it was play talk/joking. They have targets to meet and will be as strict as possible.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

It just makes me wonder how many levels of petty this goes into. A mystery shopper should be there to stop people selling to kids, not some technicality about seeing a child's opinion when a parent is buying something. They could have had a whole separate conversation around the shop about it, given the parent their pocket money, and not said a word at the till and it been bought with no issues.

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YazmindaHenn@reddit

Nobody cares enough to be petty. The millions of shop workers aren't being petty, they're following the rules. These rules also mean that they can be fired/personally fined for mistakes, so why risk it for a customer you don't know?

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X0AN@reddit

Except they're petty rules.

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terryjuicelawson@reddit

When it becomes their job, it just happens. There probably are hardly any kids trying to buy booze or lottery tickets in supermarkets so mystery shoppers would look pretty useless if they didn't find that one 8 year old with a parent buying a bottle of wine, or giving an opinion on a scratchcard. Then they look useful.

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_User-Name_Taken@reddit

Complete assumption to suit your narrative.

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existingeverywhere@reddit

>Nobody cares enough to be petty. I so wish this were true, but all the years I worked at Tesco taught me otherwise.

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bounderboy@reddit

I think normalising gambling with children is a more pressing matter to discuss.

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LopsidedEquipment177@reddit

Yes. It's right. The worker saw someone under 18 choosing a scratch card, of course they said no. I don't understand why you don't get that.

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X0AN@reddit

What an absolute jobsworth. Honestly somme people just shouldn't be doing these kind of jobs.

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SheepherderAway6829@reddit

You're the second person who has had this exact scenario within the last few weeks. Almost to the letter, word for word exact same problem

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DAMPF1NG3R@reddit

Ok can I have 20 Regal, 20 mally reds, 20 b+h, an ounce of golden Virginia and some brandy plz.... Oh and some big skins and a lighter... Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep Nah, changed my mind.

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shakesfistatmoon@reddit

Putting your patronising comments to one side. It is right, if there’s any suspicion that a lottery sale is not for an over 16 then the sale should be refused. Due to its highly addictive nature all gambling is subject to regulation and laws, including something as seemingly innocuous as a scratch card.

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DrHenryWu@reddit

Can the child redeem any winnings? Seems stupid. It could never be for them as they can't collect any winnings

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

18 now but the rest is correct

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elyterit@reddit

You have to be over 18 to buy one now. Since 2021 I think. Which is helpful since 16 year olds rarely had ID to buy them anyway.

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T7MMU@reddit

I think the problem albeit the fucking ridiculous policy was more the fact the assistant was clearly getting a kick on refusing you. I would have kicked off. If they said i know it may seem silly but it's the stores policy im very sorry, you or i probably would accept it without much push back. When someone acts like they've got one over on you is generally when it gets peoples backs up.

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Greglebowski74@reddit

I was refused a meal deal with an energy drink because I had my daughter with me at the self service checkout last year. The member of staff covering the area came over and said "I can't authorise this purchase, because it might be for your child." "Ok, but it's not. It's for me. She's got a bottle of Fanta". "Well, you might give it to her outside, so I can't authorise the purchase" I asked for a manager, and he said the same thing. I honestly can't understand stopping an adult buying an age restricted item just because they have a Child with them. What if I'd been doing a big shop and had a couple of bottles of wine in the trolley? Would they stop me then if I had the kids with me?

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Alex_Plisko@reddit

Why would you ask your kid what scratch card you should get? 😂 shot yourself in the foot with that one

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pelethar@reddit (OP)

True 🤣

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FamiliarSolid3315@reddit

Nanny state. From the answers in this thread I understand why the employee reacted like this, but....nanny state.

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Upstairs-Hedgehog575@reddit

I mean it’s the law, but by all means if you think an official complaint to Tesco might encourage them to lobby the British government for a change to said law then that’s absolutely not a waste of your time. Would you have expected the staff to behave any differently if you’d asked your child to choose a pack of cigarettes?

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small_cabbage_94@reddit

It's not the law though, buying a lottery ticket on behalf of an under 18 year old is not illegal in the same way as buying alcohol for them would be. It's an overzealous Tesco policy, like how they ID for alcohol free beer. An official complaint to Tesco, for all the good it would do, is very reasonable in this situation

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Lew3032@reddit

But it is the law, it is illegal? Its called gambling by proxy and its actually more illegal than buying alcohol for someone under 18, as you are alowed to drink under 18 in your own home. You cant gamble in any capacity no mater where you are under 18 though.

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Euan_whos_army@reddit

Gambling by proxy is "dad if I give you £2 will you buy me a scratch card?" It is not an adult buying a scratch card and letting the child scratch it off.

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Lew3032@reddit

As much as I agree with you, that's not how the law works. The law has to be black and white, it doesn't have these "oh I only let them scratch it off" grey areas. Including someone under 18 in the process in any was can be seen as having a proxy Not saying I agree with it it's just how it is

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Euan_whos_army@reddit

Oh go and send me this law that describes an adult using their money to buy a lottery ticket in the presence of their child being the definition of proxy gambling!

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Lew3032@reddit

Gambling act 2005 part 4 principle offences https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/19/part/4/crossheading/principal-offences A child can not participate in ANY WAY when gambling. This includes helping choose the scratch card

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Euan_whos_army@reddit

You're gonna have to give me the actual line number to read please.

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Euan_whos_army@reddit

Unethical life pro tip, go and fill a basket full of shopping, take it back to the kiosk and allow for everything to be scanned and packed into a 20p bag. Before you pay ask for the scratch card, when she then tells you no again, just say ok fine I don't want any of the shopping and walk out.

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intenseskill@reddit

Anyone saying technically you was then buying for your child is being very dense. If you was asking because yes it was for her then that is one thing but asking someone for an opinion does not mean you are buying something for them. The actual fact is technically they was wrong and was not applying the policy correctly.

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Thatdudegrant@reddit

Worked in both Tesco and Sainsbury’, this is considered a proxy sale by guide lines, we also have to ID for rolling papers and lighters (I’ve been screamed at A few times for those interactions). its nothing personal but if you’re one of the many people sent by the police to check we’re following guidelines it’s can cost us our job and the store some heavy fines or even the right to sell those products.

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Professional-Sir2147@reddit

I'm honestly surprised people are being so anti-OP on this thread. I worked at Asda for three years, the policy was if there was reasonable suspicion that the adult was buying it for the child. It is painfully clear that this is not the case here. What would the child have done if they had won the scratch card? They couldn't cash it, they couldn't buy it, the adult would have been doing all the actual "gambling" here, best the kid could have done is scratch the card. It's not like the kid was picking their favourite beer. Some cashier refused to sell my dad beer once because I was with him when I was around 12, I thought it was stupid then, I think it's stupid now.

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AussieHxC@reddit

> I asked for a manager; an awkward looking 19 year old spawned in and backed up the assistant saying yes this is our policy Unless there is a grievous error in judgement by the 1st person, for something relating to restricted sales, then any management will back up the cashier. It's the kind of thing they'd get thrown under the bus for, if they were seen the undermine staff IDing people. The only other exception I can think of is if they knew the person personally i.e. big shop and it's actually a staff member from a different department etc or family/friend. - That's not to say any good manager won't later have a quiet word if they think the cashier is being a little OTT.

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Luxor1978@reddit

Even if the manager knows the person, they should still back up their college. Once a challenge for ID is made, ID needs to be produced. Always back your staff.

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thatscotbird@reddit

Nope, not true. You don’t have to ID people you know. If they’re over age, they’re over age and it can be proved. I certainly didn’t ID people I went to school with cause that’d be fucking stupid and a power trip. Think 25 is a stupid policy that doesn’t work. Everybody has a different opinion on who looks over or under 25.

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Luxor1978@reddit

Idiot reply. It's not about ME knowing someone's over age. It's about the person serving them. And then the manager backing the server. If i was serving someone I knew was overage for any reason. I'd not ID them, obviously. Think 25 is the response to law, basically firmly stating that if you sell to anyone underage, then you're liable. The reason the age is 25 (previously 21) is to hopefully weed out any underage people. Yes its very subjective. But it's the line. Would you prefer challenge 30? Or 40? Or just ID everyone?

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thatscotbird@reddit

This isn’t the “gotcha” moment you seem to think it is, I’d be happy to ID everybody.

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Luxor1978@reddit

No. Its me telling you you're wrong. Never mentioned gotcha. Anyway have a nice day.

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KeremyJyles@reddit

He isn't wrong though, a manager knowing for a fact someone is overage means IDing isn't necessary. It should never be done just for show.

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thatscotbird@reddit

I’m definitely not wrong, it’s an opinion you absolute weapon

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AussieHxC@reddit

In theory, yes. In real life, not really. Though it depends a bit obvs. If you get called over and recognise your mate/cousin/neighbour/whatever, greet them and explain to cashier that you actually know so and so, can verify that they are an adult and ask would they be happy to serve them. You're putting the power in the hands of the cashier and letting them know they've done their job properly. Vs. If you get called over and basically go, "nah yeah mate I know them, it's cool." Then you're a bit of a prat and it's not going to help the situation or instill confidence in the cashier to actually continue to apply the check 25 process in the future.

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Luxor1978@reddit

That my friend is a very fair and reasonable compromise. You realise that this is reddit? It's not supposed to be that way! 🤣 You hit nail squarely on the head. Never undermine your staff.

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AussieHxC@reddit

Hah I know! > Never undermine your staff Absolutely the golden rule. It's the fastest way to turn an entire store in a toxic dump and start to lose even more staff.

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masoudahg10@reddit

Good

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Longjumping_Laugh337@reddit

Those desks also sell chocolate bars and sweets why not just buy one of them instead of being this awkward?

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Knowlesdinho@reddit

In all honesty, it was probably a nervous smile tinged with battle-worn assertiveness acquired through many negative interactions with customers over rules that need to be enforced, which may seem bureaucratic to a customer. The reality is, they are mystery shopped and tested to make sure that they follow these rules. Sometimes random people even test them out just so they can cause a scene, even filming it for clout on social media. The fact that you called for the manager tells me all I need to know about this interaction.

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Yaseuk@reddit

Couldn’t have put it better! I’m a nervous smiler/laugher. It’s easily done. Op sounds like a piece of work for wanting to make a proper complaint.

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Apidium@reddit

I'm also a nervous laugher. 90% of the time my choices are to laugh or break out sobbing. I would prefer to not ugly cry all over the place at the mildest issue simply because I have anxiety issues. Folks take shit the wrong way all the time and it's really frustrating tbh.

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TheIrishHawk@reddit

Nailed it. The next customer would complain if the clerk wasn't smiling enough. Retail is hard. Customers like OP don't make it any easier.

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BigBadRash@reddit

Called for a manager, then made a post on reddit saying that they were still considering complaining because the staff followed the rules

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Knowlesdinho@reddit

Also commented on the manager's age, clearly showing a lack of respect for a 19 year old to be in a supervisory position. We've got this customers cards marked!

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Realistic_Ad_9751@reddit

This happened to me years ago in a Morrisons. My little sister told me which number card I should pick and as a result I was refused the purchase. So daft.

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Apidium@reddit

Your kid picking means it is immediately considered a proxy sale. Same as if she said which flavour of vodka she wanted. As for the employees face. Well they have one. It does things. Without being psychic you really don't know if it was some sort of malice or if it wasn't.

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zandigdanzig@reddit

If you do need pound coins, you can usually withdraw some from most post offices

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greenllama94@reddit

I know you’ve already got the answer but to anyone else reading this is from former a checkouts team leader, please just never get a child to pick even if it is for you, or joke in that matter that is what causes to much unnecessary friction. The cashier will always refuse, and remember that any under sales or proxy sales have far more serious consequences than what people think. And calling for manager is just stupid, they will back up the cashiers. And this isn’t only for tesco.

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pelethar@reddit (OP)

I get it. I didn’t word it very well but the thing that really threw me was that they then refused to sell me a lottery ticket which clearly had not been picked by my daughter. But others have explained how aggressive Tesco are in enforcing this rule, using secret shoppers etc, so it makes total sense to me that they would err on the side of caution on it. Thanks

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Ok-Comfortable-3174@reddit

interesting. Absolutely crazy but interesting!

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charlottedoo@reddit

Tescos bad at the minute for this. My partner (28) has been ided every time he try’s to by an energy drink on his one. But it’s the arsehole 19 year old kid that does it every time. My partner knows the manager and gets them every time to serve him instead.

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zilchusername@reddit

Yes it’s correct I believe it’s gambling laws at least that’s what I was told when I questioned it when it happened to me. I was once holding my very young son in my arms (he was being grizzly) whilst buying a lottery ticket and to distract him I gave him the money to give to the lady. They wouldn’t take the money from him! My son couldn’t speak let alone comprehend he was buying a lottery/gambling ticket 😂. They did take the money from me to be fair when I took it from him and handed it over.

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Icy_Obligation4293@reddit

Kinda impressed by the cashier there tbf, pretty much everyone with young kids gets their kids to hand over the money/tap the card, I don't think I would have even clocked the technicality of selling to a minor.

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LondonCycling@reddit

It's not the law, it's company policy. Unlike alcohol, there is no offence of buying a scratchcard on behalf of a child.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

not an offence but allwyn (lotto company) can fine you/the store and store can lose lotto licensing

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zilchusername@reddit

Ok thanks shop assistant probably just said that as it sounded better. I don’t blame them I don’t suppose they want to get into an argument about it with customers.

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

That is unbelievable man, how ridiculous can a policy be?

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

Doesn’t sound unreasonable. Also if you let your child mark the numbers on your lottery slip, they won’t allow you to buy the ticket

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Miss-Hela@reddit

I was with my friend shopping in Tesco a few years ago (both adults) with her daughter, who was about 1 year old at the time, and on the way out she decided she wanted to cash in and buy a few more scratch cards. She had her ID, but they wouldn't sell it to her because I didn't have mine. I didn't even speak to the person at the desk, but she said because we were together I needed my ID as well because she could be buying one for me. I asked as we left if that same rule applied to her daughter and does she have to come completely unaccompanied when buying scratch cards in the future?

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diamondthedegu1@reddit

This is the policy in i think every shop selling scratch cards, your child being the one to pick the card is the issue here. On a level, I get that it seems overboard as you likely didn't actually intend to give the card to your daughter, and any winnings on the card would be considered your own, not your daughters. But shop workers can't know that, they only know what they can see - your child picking the card. It's the same reason that you can't let your child hand over the money for a shop that contains alcohol or tobacco - in this case the items likely wouldn't be taken off you but the member of staff serving you would have to decline accepting the money from your child, noting it has to be handed over by you or another adult over the age of 18.

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Grand-Wizard-Leroy@reddit

The assistant probably hates the policy and is enforcing it to show their bosses how fucking stupid it is.

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Dazzling-Wash9086@reddit

Gonny just do your lottery stuff online please and top cluttering up the fag counter for 10 minutes at a time

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glasgowgeg@reddit

Can you buy scratchcards online?

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Dazzling-Wash9086@reddit

Sure can. They are called instant win games

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throwthrowthrow529@reddit

Make a proper complaint over a scratch card. Grow up mate

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bonkerz1888@reddit

Has anyone ever met a checkout worker who was fired from their job and fined thousands of pounds for selling a licensed product to an underage shopper? Used to hear about it all the time in Tesco training videos but in all my years working there, and the decades that have followed.. I've yet to encounter anyone who knows of anyone that this has happened to.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

Yes + one of my current colleagues has a criminal record due to a police test purchase

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bonkerz1888@reddit

Do you know the circumstance around the purchase? I only ask as the kids who police use for test purchases are always quite young looking.. enough that they still look like teenagers. Anyone who sells alcohol to a customer who is clearly a teenager is a bit daft in all honesty 😅 Can't say I've ever heard of the police using a grown man and his ten year old child to catch a retailer potentially selling gambling products illegally, especially when the man in question clearly states the purchase is for him and even selects a different product afterwards. As an aside, it seems that society is starting to creep into overkill with regards to risk aversion. People will be too scared to do anything in a couple of generations time unless they've checked a RAMS or policy statement prior to doing it.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

i do customer came in got ided and all that was fine, left came back sub 1m later to buy a lighter didnt id him and got done for that

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bonkerz1888@reddit

I'm amazed that would stand up in any court.

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DumbledoresWife@reddit

This happened to me too, I guess it’s just the policy they have to follow regarding proxy sales. We wanted to set the fire pit on in the evening so went to The Range to grab fire logs. I went with my uncle, he parked up and told me to head in and grab them. When I went to pay he asked me for ID, I was 21/22 at the time so it’s not that I was underage but it was a Sunday at 3:50pm so they were gonna close down soon. I said I’ll send my uncle in, went to the car and told him what happened so he went inside. They said you definitely can’t buy any “fire related items” from here today because it’s a proxy sale and we know you’re buying it for her. It is annoying but I guess it is what it is.

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DisastrousDinner9575@reddit

The all but minimum wage tesco could've been disciplined for selling you the ticket. Slagging off the staff for following company policy isn't cool. They have a hard enough time from the great British public

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Ammmy2@reddit

Ridiculous but its their policy. Staff are treated like retards which is why they brought in the think 25 stuff. Unfortunately a lot of them act like idiots and love having a bit of power... a simple 'I'm really sorry but I could get in trouble' would be enough to end most complaints but most go with 'Nope' and grin. My wife (36) got refused sale of a canister of helium she was buying to inflate balloons for our daughters birthday because she didn't have ID. Under their logic she didn't look 25 and so they couldn't sell her a product that they require you to be 16 to buy!? Essentially they stood there and argued that my 36 year old wife, who is covered neck to toe in tattoos by the way, could be a 15 year old girl who has ordered a product online to collect in store and then drove to a retail park way out from any residential areas to collect it. INSANE!

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

aerosols are think 25 same with energy drinks or anything else thats age restricted even those restricted to 16+ "drove to a retail park way out from any residential areas to collect it" .... you realise you should have your license with you when driving somewhere

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googooachu@reddit

You don’t need to carry any ID with you in England or Wales if you don’t wish to. If the police ask to see it you have 7 days to present it to them.

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byjimini@reddit

Yep. Used to work in retail and we’d constantly be reminded of it. I wouldn’t have sold one either.

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RiotSloth@reddit

Weirdly, I guess if it was a bottle of wine or beer the kid 'chose' it wouldn't have been a problem.

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worldworn@reddit

This comes up semi regularly, the employee was following store policy based on the law. The fact she was grinning hardly warrants a complaint, it was likely nerves as some people will be dicks about an employee doing their job. And take it out on them. Or raise a complaint. Some people cry their fucking eyes out, because they think employees should bend the rules for them, that it "doesn't matter", that they are being a jobsworth. Not giving a toss that the employee could lose their job. Expecting anyone to risk their livelihood for a stranger over a case of beers or a lottery ticket is top tier entitlement.

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

The frustration is that it doesn't follow the law - it's an overzealous policy, which conflates different legislation as demonstrated in this thread. There is no offence of: 1. Buying a lottery ticket for somebody under 18 2. Giving a lottery ticket for somebody under 18 3. Knowingly selling a lottery ticket to somebody buying it for somebody 18 So long as the sale was to somebody over 18, then no offence has been committed. That isn't to say there's not some onus on the shop to reasonably try and adhere to the terms of their licence, but thats' what I mean when I say it's utterly over zealous, and not rooted in law.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

it may not be an offence but stores can lose their lottery licensing over these issues plus with the risk of fines or dismissal

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

There are no fines, because no offence has been comitted. Yes, Allwyn or whoever may themselves be hot on proxy sales, but I find it very very very hard that they are this strict. If they are, then it's they who are being stupidly overzealous and unhelpful

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worldworn@reddit

The reality of the situation is that supermarkets are protecting themselves from fines and loosing a massive income should they be suspended from ticket sales (which has happened). The law is clear about a child buying a ticket / scratch card. In ops situation the child was part of the buying process, the kid picked a ticket and OP paid for it. So certainly muddy and I think could be seen as a proxy sale. The supermarkets are not being overzealous or unhelpful, it's sensible business practise to have rules in place to prevent loss and protect their image. The gambling bodies (whoever they are) often face backlash from the government, so need to be seen to be doing everything to uphold the law, or face tighter restrictions so will come down hard on places they have their product in

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

> The law is clear about a child buying a ticket / scratch card. YEs, the person making the transaction must be 18. > In ops situation the child was part of the buying process, the kid picked a ticket and OP paid for it. So certainly muddy and I think could be seen as a proxy sale. Except there's no legal concept of a "Proxy sale" here. The sale was to the adult, which is entirely legal. There is no muddiness, no grey area, and no issue whatsoever.

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FearTheGoldBlood@reddit

As someone who's been written up after a secret-shopper visit, sorry bro rules are rules

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Roper1537@reddit

I'd rather there be a proactive policy like this in place that causes a minor inconvenience than them doing nothing. Scratchcards are a moron tax anyway.

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motivatedfoibles@reddit

Hi - as far as Tesco policy is concerned it was a proxy sale and once a proxy sale is suspected I think they have to refuse any subsequent sales. Doesn’t matter that you changed the scratch card - they had reason to believe it was a proxy sale. I know it’s frustrating but it’s not the workers fault. They get tested on these and the store can lose their licence with Camelot which I assume would have some consequences for the member of staff so it’s really not worth it for the member of staff to even risk their livelihood for the sake of a scratch card.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

allywn now rather then camelot everything else is still correct

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motivatedfoibles@reddit

Oops sorry 😅 - thanks for the correction!

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Betrayedunicorn@reddit

What’s the male version of Karen called? Kevin?

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Omni314@reddit

Tesco policy is to back up whatever decision the first cashier makes.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

yes but managers/other colleague can offer to serve the customer themselves if they wish

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CitrusShell@reddit

Not in Challenge 25 cases.

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bonkerz1888@reddit

What you encountered was a couple of idiot jobsworths, who miserable with their own jobs/existence decided to spread that misery. They clearly have no power or control in their everyday lives so abuse what tiny wee shred of responsibility they're given at work. You'll undoubtedly get at least one reply in your responses defending those two eejits because of "Tesco Policy". I worked on their checkouts for three years and never once created an issue like this. The folk who blindly follow the most extreme interpretation of Tesco's policies in situations similar to OPs are either naturally scared of authority, have very little control in their own lives, are too stupid to think for themselves, or a combination of the lot. For anyone defending these two jobsworths, what would've happened had they sold OP the scratchcard or lottery ticket? Would they have been arrested? Would the police have been called? Would they be internally disciplined within the company? Or.. would management have even noticed?

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

regarding your last paragraph if it was a police test purchase for a proxy sale then they would of recieved a fine and a criminal record with a good chance for being sacked. These "jobsworths" are just normal people trying to make ends met who cant afford to get a record + sacking because they wont be able to get a new job.

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bonkerz1888@reddit

They would t have failed a police test purchase as the purchase was clearly for the adult and not the child. The second one especially. I worked the checkouts for three years. It's really not difficult to not be a prick and apply the supermarkets policy fairly, as it was intended. The policy wasn't intended to prevent the sale of licensed products to people who are clearly over the age of 18 and are clearly purchasing the product for themselves. So aye, these two were 100% being jobsworths. As a wee aside, I'm a qualified electrician and our regulations contain stuff that's widely regarded as overkill in the industry, regulations which every electrician deviates from on a daily basis. So long as the electrician can back up why they deviated from the reg in a court of law, then the regulation can be ignored. The same can be applied in the OPs example. The policy is only there to try and prevent every viable scenario (which is impossible).

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Nightowl_1786@reddit

My friend went into Asda & her child who is under 10 was carrying a bottle of wine, they refused service. Obviously the wine wasn’t for him & he wasn’t drinking it so she had to go to her car, get her husband to buy it instead. Don’t think it’s just Tesco who’s going mad with the policy

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ames_lwr@reddit

I’m guessing you’ve never worked in retail…

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zis_me@reddit

Complaining to a supermarket is like pi$$ing into the wind. Save your energy.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

yeah atleast complain to allywn the lotto company whos policy it is we enforce

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Personalpriv78@reddit

Will say as someone with extreme anxiety, I have often beamed a fat smile in a very uncomfortable situation. Think the worst kind of situation you would want to express a smile in. Very possible matey is the same.

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pelethar@reddit (OP)

Yep fair and some others have made other very reasonable suggestions as to why she might have been grinning. I take it on board.

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Personalpriv78@reddit

No worries ofc might not be the case but if it is they’ll probs be ruminating on it as long as you!

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notasolution_@reddit

Would it be different if you let you child choose which bottle of vodka to buy?

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homelaberator@reddit

Sounds like absolutely fucked policy. Even if the regular worker in front of you isn't permitted to exercise judgement, it should be possible to escalate to someone who is allowed to think. Ultimately, all these rules are meant to be created for the benefit of people not the other way around where we exist only to follow rules.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

dk about tesco but sainsburys policy is managers cant overrule staffs proxy sale / no id refusals Policy for lotto or scratch cards is allwyns (lotto company) not the retailers

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ames_lwr@reddit

I don’t you why you take issue with the assistant smiling at you, maybe they were being polite? Would you rather they scowled at you instead?

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BlooRox@reddit

What an entitled bellend

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-Po-Tay-Toes-@reddit

About 15 years ago I was at the supermarket with my GF and her dad doing the weekly shop (we were both 15), he was refused a 4 pack of beer because we were with him. I got that they're the ones that are held liable, but sometimes it's just a bit daft. I'm 30 now and I still get ID'd for a can of monster half the time.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

energy drinks are think 25 for stores that age restrict them

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-Po-Tay-Toes-@reddit

Yeah they generally fall into the challenge 25, which is crazy. I get it when I'm buying 24 cans and not much else lol, but when I'm buying a full weekly shop and a single can, it's a little silly.

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Junior_Tradition7958@reddit

I noticed a sign on the counter in Tesco that said this the other day so yes I think it is their policy.

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RedKiteOnReddit@reddit

its allwyn (lotto company) policy applies to all retailers

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RoyalMaleGigalo@reddit

Mate, it's total bollox. Its workers who do not have the confidence or comprehension to deal with this situation. You were very clearly buying it for yourself. When im out with my daughter I talk her through the shop all the time just so she feels involved and not ignored. This country is losing its mind.

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

I know right? Kid's love to be involved in the process, even if it's just pointing to ask "what's that?"! Tesco would refuse a sale for that as well & it's a utterly bonkers.

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RoyalMaleGigalo@reddit

Yup, utter madness.

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MathematicianBulky40@reddit

Mate. As someone who has fond memories of family members buying me lottery tickets for my 16th birthday or my 10 year old cousin being sent to the corner shop with a signed note that the fags are for his mum, I fully agree that the country is losing its mind. That said, please don't blame the workers. We place people who are barely making above minimum wage in a position where they can face potential legal action for making an honest mistake at work.

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superkinks@reddit

It’s probably just the fixed smile you get after working in customer service for any significant length of time. Otherwise you get complaints about “looking miserable”

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Slyspy006@reddit

These policies come from due diligence to laws designed to protect your child. Rather than asking for the manager you should be reflecting on your own behaviour.

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Prestigious_Mall8464@reddit

denied an age restricted item so you tried to buy another? Then you stood there escalating things to the manager and came running back to reddit with nothing but bad things to say. Just get a pack of chewing gum or a chocolate bar ffs. Not the brightest bulb are you?

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PM-ME-YOUR-DIGIMON@reddit

It’s called buying by proxy Karen.

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CombDiscombobulated7@reddit

The way you talk about these members of staff - you sound like a right piece of work. I can promise you they were not loving anything about the interaction. People like you make retail worker's jobs hell. Staff are not required to risk fines or their job because you want a scratchcard. Just get a freddo or something if you need change.

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Limp_Implement2922@reddit

They’re okay to sell your child highly processed life shortening foods. They don’t get fines for that - so that’s okay then.

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Space_Cowby@reddit

We had the same experience in Asda with our 16 year old daughter.

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Zealousideal-Bug4824@reddit

I used to work for them ,and when we got training we were told this things or u will get fired,fired plus fine ,fired plus fine and Jail time so it’s ntg wrough with that if we’re told to do that

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fiddly_foodle_bird@reddit

>Can this be right? Yes absolutely. And the whining way you have worded everything makes me even more likely to take the stores side.

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Then-Elephant-8729@reddit

The law's* side

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Ram-In-The-Thicket@reddit

You sound like the problem here and don't come across very well in YOUR version of events... The fact you said the girl was loving it... I can guarantee as someone who worked in retails, she absolutely was not. She just wanted you to leave without a fuss.

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

It's really stupid to say cause you once worked in retail you can "guarantee she absolutely was not". Plenty of jobsworths love aggravating people, with the shit-eating smug grin. I've literally witnessed it from co-workers in previous jobs, nevermind the amount of times it's happened to my literal self or family/friends. Tesco is one of the shops that is consistently mentioned for staff being that way & I'm starting to think it's the training they get. But you can "guarantee" it 😂😂

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Ram-In-The-Thicket@reddit

I can, aye.

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Even-Tomatillo-4197@reddit

Some of them absolutely fucking love it though. The only tiny bit of power they have over other people and it gives them big fat erections to wield it.

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

Exactly I mean it's really stupid for them to say you guarantee it cause you once worked in retail.

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Admirable_Ad_3422@reddit

It’s called proxy sales, apples to alcohol, tobacco and lottery. Can attract £5k fine for the person buying as well

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Round-Spite-8119@reddit

> lottery Except it doesn't. > y. Can attract £5k fine for the person buying as well And it can't.,

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CranberryMallet@reddit

Do you have a link to anything about it applying (in law) to the lottery? As far as I was aware it's only illegal to proxy sell alcohol and tobacco.

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janusz0@reddit

That would be the little counter where they're always happy to just give you change to unlock their trollies? No purchase necessary!

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pelethar@reddit (OP)

They actually refused that as well although we’d already had the scratch card argument by that point so probably just were locked into an antagonistic loop. I bought a bar of chocolate in the end to get the change!

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pelethar@reddit (OP)

!answer Thanks to everyone for the responses - sounds like Tesco genuinely are super hot on this and the assistant was following policy correctly. For everyone telling me I was a dick for asking to speak to a manager - if it makes any difference that was specifically to check on them refusing to sell me a lottery ticket as well, which seemed incomprehensible. But from the answers here I can see why they would have erred on the side of caution!

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Disastrous_Heron_574@reddit

Yes sadly it can be over the top however it is policy of any retailer who wishes to keep the national lottery as we do get spot checked and the company can lose their license as the seller doesn’t know if you would give it to your daughter who scratches it off. I know it sounds silly but Tesco doesn’t want to loose the rights to sell national lottery products as it brings customers in and therefore can’t sell you it. Personally I warn the customer and sell them to you, however would say something like, please be careful as I could lose my job over this. Next time I won’t be able to serve you. Then let it slide until you do it again. It is rare that they come but they do. I refused a sale due to no id and then a bloke behind the customer in the queue said congratulations! I was like for???? He said you passed the national lottery test and gave me a certificate for the store. So yeah it’s best to be safe because you never know.

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nbrazel@reddit

Same in most supermarkets if staff are doing their jobs properly. Similarly you can't take the money off a kid if a lottery ticket involved (was usually grandparents thinking it was cute to make their grandchild pay for the shopping) always ended in an awkward exchange.

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WarehouseEmpty@reddit

It’s really wrong, and as a 25year old got caught out with no ID to buy a bottle of wine, it peed me off, I’d be more annoyed with a lottery scratch card. But I do feel for the staff, because they are the ones who get fined or sacked if it’s a set up, which is most frequently is, so I’d take it as lesson learned, do not let your child pick your choice of scratch card and always take your ID.

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2epicpanda@reddit

tescos is the worst for this, i got refused an energy drink…yet i worked there. Member of staff looked really stupid when I put my work jacket on shortly after

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dismylik16thaccount@reddit

Yes they're in the right, they're just trying to not get fired or prosecuted I've Heard stories like this before but about alcohol, parents are refused sale when they have their underage kids with them If you want an 18+ product, it's best not to take a person under 18 with you. It's annoying but the staff were just doing their job

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threeca@reddit

The assistant was probably grinning at you because they thought you were a mystery shopper with that kind of question, rookie mistake! Just the same as asking a kid which alcohol they would like right next to the till.

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ackbladder_@reddit

As an ex tesco team leader I’ve had this exact scenario happen, although obviously I wasn’t enjoying it. In training we get told awful stories about people who’ve lost their jobs or managers having to remortgage their house to pay fines from not following challenge 25. It makes most of us not want to take any risk. I think it’s stupid, especially as I used to get scratch cards as gifts from about 13. That being said scratchcard addiction is no joke after serving many regulars over the years. Maybe the government has just taken the wrong approach.

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BaseballFuryThurman@reddit

You sound exhausting to be around.

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notanadultyadult@reddit

Yeah unfortunately this falls under proxy selling. And for age restricted sales, the manager will ALWAYS back up the employee. It’s policy. Literally. I used to work for Tesco and managers were not allowed to overrule the decision of the checkout staff making the sale. I know it’s annoying but consider this: if you had bought the scratch card and it was for your daughter, that person behind the till is looking at a fine, jail time and the loss of their job.

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factualreality@reddit

they were trying to stop you teaching your daughter that scratch cards are something worth spending money on. maybe take the hint and don't teach her bad habits.

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Hey_I_Had_A_Question@reddit

They just wanted to be mean.

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Shazalamadingdong@reddit

Better still, don't introduce your daughter to gambling 😂 but seriously, there are some daft policies going on and as for not letting you have a lucky dip lottery, which clearly your daughter had no say in, was just stupid - I mean, if it was the policy why not just say "we can't sell you any lottery items now" instead of letting it carry onto another lottery sale that was never going to happen... I doubt the retail assistant was loving the entire interaction, I lost count of the number of times I had to "smile" throughout many aggravating issues (Anyone else work for Staples a couple of decades ago? lol) when smiling was the last thing on my mind but things tend to go next level if the assistant gives you a look like they're about to get in the ring with you.

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AdThat328@reddit

It was probably nerves knowing she couldn't sell you it rather than enjoying it... But yes, as with anything age restricted, if they even think it could be given to someone you're with they can deny the sale.

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sambes88@reddit

I caused a stink in Tesco because they wouldn’t let me buy a bottle of wine because my wife didn’t have her ID who was stood with me. I got the manager involved and asked “if I had my 9 year old some with me, would you not sell me the wine because he’s underage?” She said she would sell me the wine. Then I pointed out how ridiculous their stance was. The manager couldn’t understand the point I’d made.

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SpeedWobbles87@reddit

Just walk out and re enter the store, new transaction. Unless the policy is that you may never again buy a lottery item there with your daughter present? Doubt it. Walk out walk in and good to go.

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

I wouldn't give them my business ever again for that ridiculousness lol.

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mana-milk@reddit

Yeah, that isn't how it works. They would definitely refuse the sale a second time.

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SpeedWobbles87@reddit

Ok so 2 hours? A day? A week? What’s it say in Tesco’s handbook? If it doesn’t state a time then my idea should be fine

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apeliott@reddit

Something similar happened to me in Tesco. I was at the checkout with my wife and so. My wife and I were packing the bags and I asked my son to hand the cashier the money. the cashier refused to take the money out of his hand saying it was because there were a couple of cans of beers in the shopping. I took it out of his hand and gave it straight to her. It was kinda weird.

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MitchellsTruck@reddit

I had a cashier refuse to sell me beer because my 6 year old son had taken it out of the trolley and put it on the conveyor belt.

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

That's a bloody joke man, wow.

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ClaphamOmnibusDriver@reddit

Don't support (or reduce your support) for businesses that have insane policies/staff.

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MitchellsTruck@reddit

Actually, we don't any more. My wife finally got a job worthy of her two degrees and 20 years of experience, so we shop at Waitrose now.

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AussieHxC@reddit

They're just being pedantic cunts or they're too thick to understand

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MathematicianBulky40@reddit

Or they don't want to be arrested/ fined for making a mistake at work?

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AussieHxC@reddit

Doesn't happen. You have to basically be doing it on purpose and not caring about it in order to face any legal issues. Shops fail official checks all the time and still retain their licenses. Think the most we had was 4 official fails in a year. I've worked in shops/supermarkets at different levels for ~10 years. The staff are essentially shielded from any legal repurcussions. The point is, the shops hammer the training into the staff and they run internal tests all the time.

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YazmindaHenn@reddit

It does happen. No no, you're just making shit up now. You're just assuming "it only happens if", no. People get personally fined and fired for it. You wanting to involve your child is the issue, now the worker who will not lose their job or get a fine because of you.

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AussieHxC@reddit

No, not assuming. I've worked in various shops at different levels of the years. It's exceedingly rare for anyone to receive any form of action personally unless they're going out of their way to serve kids. I.e. your dodgy corner shop Shops themselves fail official enforcement checks on a regular basis and as long as they don't fail too many and are seen to be actively training staff, they get to keep their licenses. Again, also look at the scope of this person's situation. It doesn't fall into any sane stores policy in a million years, let alone the law.

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RoyalMaleGigalo@reddit

You are 100%. These shops seemingly have scared people into thinking they can just fire you on the spot. Completely forgoing any kind of employment rights and their own personal contracts. Don't forget the unlimited fine rubbish. Like you have said, it would have to be proven to be on purpose. For a place to lose its license it would have to be prolonged.

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MathematicianBulky40@reddit

Ok, cool. We've accepted that shops have their workers scared into believing, rightly or wrongly, that they can face serious financial and legal consequences for making a mistake. So, why the feck are we blaming the individual worker?

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YazmindaHenn@reddit

I've worked in shops too. Her situation is exactly against store policies, and the law. You aren't allowed to buy ages restricted items for children. Her involving her child in choosing the scratch card means that the shop worker isn't allowed to sell it. They could lose their job, or be fined for it, personally. Why would the worker even **want** to risk their job be sure of a random customer?

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BRbeatdown@reddit

Have you ever actually SEEN it happen. (I know you'll just say yes now I've asked) You'd have said so by now, if you'd actually known someone to get fined, but you didn't. You didn't, because you're just vomiting out words that were said to you, back to someone else.

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mebutnew@reddit

Because the cashier is personally legally responsible for not selling to minors - it might seem pedantic but they earn minimum wage, cut them some slack for following the rules because they don't want to be fined.

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Beginning-Leek8545@reddit

If she expected that the adult was buying for the minor she could’ve completely refused to sell it. The person who actually hands the cash to the cashier is irrelevant. Sometimes kids like to do small things that adults do. It’s cute

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TheRealGriff@reddit

Getting fired and ending up homeless because your jobsworth manager decides you sold alcohol to a kid is decidedly less cute though.

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Bertie-Marigold@reddit

It is right, and mad as it sounds, you need to take a step back and think about your actions here. You were teaching a child how to gamble, does that sound like a good thing to do?

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TheEbsFae@reddit

If you walked in and I saw you doing that with wine I'd think you were buying it for the kid so yeah it'd look like a proxy sale. Just put yourself in a different situation. "Which wine shall we get? How about that pink one, that looks good!" sounds like the kids gonna be driving it lol.

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DW_555@reddit

Yes, it's correct, in the same sense that they shouldn't serve you alcohol if you're with a minor. Source: worked for Tesco for 24 years.

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Freebornaiden@reddit

Also not sure I'd want to introduce my child to gambling like that either.

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planetf1a@reddit

Though annoying I think they acted appropriately. Massive issues individually for staff and the company if they breach these laws which are designed to protect kids

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Obvious-Water569@reddit

It's completely over the top and helps exactly no one, but it is correct procedure unfortunately.

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No_Significance_8941@reddit

Everyone defending that this is a policy… It’s still pedantic af 😂

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Saltypeon@reddit

Yes, it should be made wider IMO no gambling purchase with a minor present. But asking your kid to choose the card is no different to "pick a vodka/smokes." It's probably worse, as I am sure the kid would have been the one scratching it as well. Hence the rule. This is why retail workers should get paid more, a lot more. People are out of their entitled main character minds. They see every law/rule is a targeted personal grudge, how some £25bn company has time to specifically target them, them being so important and all.

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mysticmaelstrom-@reddit

That is utterly ridiculous, what an absolutely bonkers policy. One of my favourite childhood memories is helping my granny pick the numbers for her weekly lottery ticket. This is like the third post I've seen in as many days complaining about some bonkers policy that Tesco has & a worker very clearly enjoying the power trip. It's quite cringe to be honest. Looks like people need to start complaining or stop shopping in Tesco. They're one of the shitest supermarkets in the UK anyway. You'd think they would be trying to get people in the door instead of drive them out it with mad, over the top policies.

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LemmysCodPiece@reddit

This is the same type of stupid policy and it is stupid, that prevents under 18s buying an energy drink like Red Bull or Monster. Yet the same store will allow an under 18 to buy something like a Pepsi Max or tinned Coffee, which has more Caffeine.

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Evening-Web-3038@reddit

>I asked for a manager; an awkward looking 19 year old spawned in From their perspective an annoying parent with their child spawned in. The only question is, will a complaints letter spawn in as well?

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alexccmeister@reddit

Next time, just get it from another store and don't bring your daughter into it. LOL!!

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hitiv@reddit

UK is really a bit fucked when it comes to many rules and legislations. It is illegal in this country or at least most places use this rule when it comes to lottery items.

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postvolta@reddit

To be fair, the member of staff may well have thought you were a mystery shopper coming in to test the policy, hence the grinning (as if to say "nice try mystery shopper!")

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buy_me_a_pint@reddit

I remember years ago, this was back in the 90s, my Grandad took me and my sister to get some sweets at the local newsagents, my Grandad had a winning lotto ticket (£10) and gave it to my sister to hand over to the shop assistant the shop keeper told my Grandad this was not allowed as my sister was under age.

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ADHDean29@reddit

On top of everything else people have pointed out by it being store policy. The way you talk about and assume that the assistant was "absolutely loving it" and then the way you describe the manager shows how much of a Karen you are. Going to reddit to see if you should make a complaint tells us all we need to know about you. Poor kid.

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mana-milk@reddit

>whether I can be bothered making a proper complaint over it, or if I’m just disproportionately annoyed by the assistant beint aggravating I've worked supermarket retail before and you're being a dick. One of the things they hammer into employees is to adhere to the Challenge 25 regulations. I don't think you understand that if you're caught supplying restricted materials to an individuals without following the protocol, it isn't just the company they will come after, it's the employee personally. Do you want some poor till jockey to lose their job and be fined thousands of pounds just because you can't engage your brain?

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CarlGustafThe69th@reddit

The you were right and you acted like a proper Karen OP.

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slimedewnautica@reddit

Yeah, that's right. It's seen as buying by proxy. It's just as annoying for the staff to enforce

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flower-_-petal@reddit

It's to prevent introducing the child to gambling. Newish under age gambling policies are being properly enforced by large companies now, including fruit machines in pubs. If the team follows the letter of the policy in pubs and your kid pushes a button for you on the gambling machine, you'll be asked to leave.

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Neo-Chromia@reddit

Not Tesco staff (anymore) but yes, same policy where I work too. Sounds ridiculous to people who have never worked retail but we get severely disciplined if we fail a legal check. One of those is a proxy sale from people doing exactly what you did.

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iwantafancyusername@reddit

She was probably grinning thinking you were a mystery shopper and she'd realised that as per the training she'd got this was exactly what they were trying to catch her out on

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Jazzberry81@reddit

Yes this is definitely their policy. If you ever see r/Tesco there are always people on there asking this question.

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FarmerJohnOSRS@reddit

Classic taking the rules too far.

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elyterit@reddit

Yeah it's right. Technically the same as if your child was to pick which fags you wanted or crate of beer. I used to work the fag counter and I would've just severed you. This is 6 or so years ago though. They were stingy with the rules then too, think 25 and all, but I would use my common sense if it was just you and I present. I don't want to waste my time either. In the unlikely event I got called up for something so minor, I'm more than happy to have words with a manager, or just take a slap on the wrist. Staff did far more dubious things in my 4 years and they just get a talking to. It's scaremongering.

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Jessica13693@reddit

In my local tesco express there is a little sign next to the lottery stuff stating ‘if a child picks anything to do with the lottery they’ll refuse to sell’.

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Massaging_Spermaceti@reddit

Yes, it's right, and you can see the divide in people who have worked on tills and those who haven't in the comments.

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Diligent-Salt8089@reddit

I always try to think a lot of these people working are just having to follow rules, not their fault, they are there to pay for rent food etc It’s crazy how verbally abusive strangers can be to someone just doing their job, it’s like a personal attack to the customers ego rather than understanding the situation is what it is

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Dry_Preference9129@reddit

Yep, I remember my brother working on an art/marketing project at school. He designed labels for craft ale bottles and did some photoshoots for them. Dad would drink them, wash the labels off, so my brother could stick the new ones on. He went with mum on the weekly shop and selected some interesting shaped bottles. Turns out, he had been spotted pointing at some of them, so a note had gone round to refuse alcohol sale to my mum. They had to leave all the bottles with the cashier, and text my dad to pick them up on his way home.

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PrincessStephanieR@reddit

It’s so pathetic isn’t it?

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Geeky_Monkey@reddit

Yes, that sounds like standard procedure to me. Haven’t been a supermarket manager in 20 years, but if you’d been the mystery shopper and the person had sold You the ticket they’d be getting a write up/sacked if they’d sold it just like any orher age related sale.

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DualWheeled@reddit

On top of the comments about how strict the proxy sales rules are - the manager was 100% right to back up the assistant's decision regardless of what that decision was.

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Fairtogood@reddit

I agree. Employees have to face so much rudeness and entitlement (that’s not directed at OP) I think the managers need to be on their side.

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UTG1970@reddit

Children are not permitted to gamble

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Blandiblub@reddit

I'm old enough to remember my nan giving me some money to go to the corner shop to buy her cigarettes for her. I was probably about 10. One of those situations where the shop keepers turned a blind eye if they know you well enough. I'm assuming can't happen anymore but I get why.

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boredmoonface@reddit

Yes this is right I used to work in a shop and wouldn’t be allowed to sell to you anymore since you asked your daughter which one. Staff can be punished for underage sales so they will air on the side of caution. Maybe she was smiling as she felt awkward, I really wouldn’t worry about her body language as some people are neurodivergent. Unless she was actually rude to you and said rude things then let it go.

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Gullflyinghigh@reddit

Retail workers get this sort of stuff drilled into them along with various scary punishments if they're somehow seen to have failed in stopping an under-age sale. It sucks for all concerned, from experience it was never fun to have customers that decide that whatever policy/rule I was forced to follow is stupid and therefore doesn't apply to them, seemingly not understanding that it wasn't my own personal sodding rule. The woman who had a full on screaming fit because I wouldn't let her buy 10 boxes of paracetamol was a highlight, especially as we were within a 5 minute walk of a boots, a superdrug and several newsagents.

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bishibashi@reddit

Just leave it, it’s a real policy and complaining about your feelings being hurt because you feel the Tesco worker’s body language wasn’t appropriate is just ridiculous.

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TheDettiEskimo@reddit

Sounds fucking ludicrous to me. 🤣

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Nine_Eye_Ron@reddit

It’s probably right to deny you it but it’s VERY wrong to be happy about it. Talk the their manager about it, not the policy but their attitude.

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28374woolijay@reddit

Go back today and buy a scratch card ostensibly alone but with your daughter right behind you in the queue with another family member, and when you get the stretch card turn round and give it to your daughter and say loudly how it’s the one she wanted and that your so happy Tesco are willing to sell scratchcards for ten-year olds.

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sir__gummerz@reddit

This is a compoface type complaint, you couldn't buy a scratchcard, move on with ur life

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knight-under-stars@reddit

Sounds pretty jobsworth like to me. You might be better posting in the Tesco subrreddit, it's very active and filled with actual Tesco employees.

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