Identity charades
Failing to ask for ID can put you out of business - but many retailers still take a chance, as Nigel Huddleston finds on an under-cover check.
Dan Tedder is a 19-year-old student, quite legally waiting to pay for eight cans of Stella at the self-scan checkout in a superstore in south London's suburban fringe.
When he passes the bar code over the scanner, the obligatory warning sounds and he's faced with the screen prompt to wait for the sale to be authorised by a member of staff. But the checkout supervisor is under pressure trying to sort out a problem for another customer at a different pay point.
Instead of asking to see Dan's ID as he should have, the supervisor takes a quick glance and waves him through, unaware that his store has just failed a check by Serve Legal, an organisation used by major off-trade retailers and pubcos to check whether their own best practice on under-age sales is being followed.
Dan is one of 500-plus young people of legal drinking age used by Serve Legal to provide independent data on whether Challenge 21, 25 or 30 ID requests are actually made, and on such matters as whether the correct POS advertising the schemes are on display in shops.
Serve Legal director Ed Heaver points out that actual under-age test purchases cannot be attempted because only the police and trading standards officers are authorised to do so.
"What we do isn't about trying to catch people out," says Heaver. "The people we use are told not to dress up and wear make-up to make themselves look older."
Sourcing the right youths
Recruits are found through employment agencies, educational establishments or referrals from friends. They get paid for their time, petrol money and reasonable shopping expenses, and visit blocks of two or three stores in one session.
Within 24 hours of a visit they have to fill in an online reaction sheet, where the level of detail depends on the requirements of Serve Legal's individual retail clients - which include Asda, Thresher, Waitrose, Budgens and Tesco.
Serve Legal is in talks with one retailer about extending its work to cover online alcohol purchases, and is also looking to get into other age-restricted areas such as gambling, games and DVDs.
OLN's trip out with Dan begins at a different supermarket chain, where everything goes as it should. Dan is clocked by the checkout operator while in the queue and is rightly asked for ID.
Heaver says: "You tend to find that if they have to queue, the checkout person will usually make eye contact and there's a better chance they'll ask for ID."
The second store we visit is a smaller off-licence in a residential shopping parade and, again, the dynamics of the shopping visit play a part. "A member of staff was outside having a cigarette and spotted me and followed me in," says Dan. The result is another textbook purchase with a Challenge 21 policy accurately enforced.
But it's not always the case. "There's one chain where the first time I went in the person serving didn't even look at me. The next time I went to the same shop, the same person served me and they were very keen on ID because they told me they'd had a bollocking for not doing it."
Caught napping, again
Coincidentally, that very shop is next on the list this evening and Dan is served by the same member of staff again. The ticking-off has clearly had time to wear off, because this time no ID is asked for.
Dan says: "A lot of it seems to be about the people who serve you rather than the type of store or location. Sometimes they're not much older than me and don't seem too bothered. But older people are. "
The last visit is the self-scan fiasco, which gives us two passes and two fails for the evening. Dan says that's "about normal" for a trip out, which shows the value of what Serve Legal does in helping retail organisations find shortcomings in their own best practice at store level.
It also highlights that the trade shouldn't be complacent just because it puts up a load of POS stating that ID will be asked for if someone looks below a certain age.
It's very clear that Challenge-Whatever-Age-Applies is not being done comprehensively. Dan is legally allowed to buy alcohol, but he doesn't look old for his age, and if he had to lie about it to, say, play for an under-18s football team, he could probably get away with it.
Heaver says: "What we do gives clients the reassurance that their staff are doing what they should be doing. They can spend tens of pounds on getting us to visit one of their stores, but they stand to lose hundreds of thousands if the licensing authorities catch them out and they lose their licence."
