NO2ID

New poster.

We took our student daughter out to a Wetherspoons pub in Nottingham yesterday and even though she is 21 and with us, her age was challenged. I have no problem with this as such, but she then had to produce either her passport or photo ID drivers licence, which was then scanned.


I also notice the age limit for checking has been raised to anybody who looks under 25. Is it now only a small step to ask us all for ID "to avoid age discrimination"?

Has anybody else come across this practice? Do they keep records?

http://forum.no2id.net/viewtopic.php?t= ... checkpoint

You may well find this thread, and the one linked to it very useful.

I, myself, would like an update on this, because I think it would be very useful in mobilising the student population further.

get flyering down your local pub i say, especially if you're a regular there. ask permission first naturally.

if you own/know owners of a shop then get them to hand them out when someone comes in to buy something.

your local co-ordinator should give you millions.


KEEP IT UP PPL XXX

You mean "scanned" as in putting the passport or driving licence into a barcode reader and then scanning it?

If so, that's well out of order. A glance at the document would be more than sufficient. What's to say that a record isn't being kept of the documents that are being scanned?

Does anyone know if this is a national Wetherspoons policy or just specific to this particular pub?

I'm 21 and I've had similar problems to this, I was shopping with 2 friends and paying separately and we were all IDed because 1 person was buying a bottle of beer and they saw we were in a group.

Another more bizarre moment, I was IDed when buying Lemonade at Wetherspoons, I thought the lady behind the bar had misheard my order so I repeated "no just lemonade" to which she said I had to be 18 to buy at the bar, didn't it occur to her that if I was underage pretending to look overage I wouldn't be buying lemonade would I!

Another time I went to the bar to get a round of drinks, after discovering they didn't have a beer one of my friends wanted and headed back towards our table, they asked me to bring the ID of the girl I was buying the drink for! How do they expect people to buy rounds then?!?!

It pisses me off because I don't drink and I get my ID checked more often than friends of mine who do! I've got a feeling shops have been instructed to start checking ID more often to get us used to showing ID for everything, or people just lack common sense.

Asking people to show ID for lemonade is a perfect example of function creep

Personally, I would tell the barman where he could stick his drink and not every patronise said establishment again.

This policy stinks ...

I agree with Harlequin. These are businesses, and you get to vote with your feet every time you consider patronising them. If they want to introduce awkward rules, then you can choose not to put up with it and take your money elsewhere. (If they are being leant on by the licensing authorities to "do something", then this will encourage them to push back a bit harder, or devise less irritating policies.)

Come on now, lets not be too harsh. Most bartenders are just a students trying to earn their crust. They are put in an awkward situation because the police send in test purchasers to see if an establishment ID's its customers. If they don't ID then they get an £80 fine and sometimes it goes on your record. I know because thats me usually. It annoys me so.

Incorrect, everyone does not have to ID'd and the person serving has discretion. many choose not to use such discretion & are incredibley rude about the whole thing.

Generally speaking someone in a pub with their parents is unlikely to be underage and once the documents have been viewed they dont need to be scanned for any reason what so ever

Sorry, you miss my point. If you serve the underage test purchaser you get fined £80 and usually lose your job. You don't have to ID but you run the risk of said fine. Normally I just ask their age - test purchasers can't lie - and carry on.

Normally the reason most bartenders get arsey about ID is because the customers get arsey back. It's a two-way street.

"Have you got ID please guys"?

"What?! We're 19"!!!

"oh, sorry, obviously I can distinguish between 17 and 19 year olds using just sight, having never met you before"!

"grumble grumble"

Personally, I wouldn't ever patronise said pub again.

I agree, but it would be the whole chain that I would avoid!

Imho its the uncertainty of not knowing for certain what information is retained, and of that information what is re-used. The extent of information sharing threatens to spiral out of control as a result of a failure to establish an architectural design that defends individual privacy. I'll stick my neck out to be provocative and suggest that the only way to prevent runaway undetected breaches of individual privacy in an environment that is heading headlong toward data-network convergence is the creation of a pro-privacy design standard for all information systems backed and enforced by the ICO. I say this because I believe that the law alone can never practicably maintain pace with technology and thus will never provide a reliable physical barrier to privacy breach. Also, it is politically unwise for a government to seek legislation that ties the hands of commerce, and sharing information about the habits and behaviours of citizens is precisely what business craves (anyone want a Nectar card?!)

Been in the situation and got the t-shirt, jacket, shirt & all other associated paraphernalia. Yes your right if you serve someone who is underage you will at least get a fine but that doesnt translate into checking the ID of everyone. You use whats known as 'grey-matter' to weed out those who are underage and you can usually tell by the way they act rather than how they look. Just because your scared of a little personal responsibility dont pass it off onto your customers.

And generally it is the bar staff who are rude about asking for ID first, they dont ask using nice or neutral language and they tend to also use an accusing tone of voice. When your behind a bar and act like that you can expect your customer to get a lil peeved.

Would a PASS card not have done the job?

I'm afraid it does, because not only the landlord but the individual staff can be prosecuted, and it has since the 2003 Licensing Act become massively easier to lose your licence altogether if you serve someone who us below the legal age. If someone has the choice between making unnecessary checks in order to be sure and losing their livelihood, then they will make unnecessary checks.

This incidentally explains why supermarkets and large chains are more rigorous than small traders under such circumstances. They are more aware of the law; they have more at risk financially; they are more reliant on numerous distant staff whose judgment they cannot evaluate and who cannot be permitted discretion without risk; and in the case of supermarkets they are more open to deliberate attack because of self-service and plentiful underage customers there on legitimate business.