Wetherspoons - ultimate Jobsworth award?

DG Phototraining

DG Phototraining

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Yesterday my son and his mates went to the local Wetherspoons pub, they are all 18-20 years of age

After a round of drinks each my son's 19 year old 6' 4" pal, Tom, was approached and asked for ID (he'd already bought a round and been ID'd once)

He showed them his Passport - "Its 6 months out of date" the staff-member replied

"Well yes" says Tom, "but its clearly me and my date of birth hasn't changed"

The staff-member went on to say that it had to be a current Passport, despite an out of date one also still proving his identifiable face & age !!!

Then another staff-member came over and said "Tom is 19 I can vouch for that, he was in my year at school and I'm 19 too"

Not good enough apparently

She then goes on to say "Don't you remember? Until a few months ago Tom worked here"

Still the senior staff-member wouldn't budge from her "Must be a current Passport" stance

Now both annoyed and totally perplexed, Tom says "Fine I'll just not have anything else to drink then"

Which was ok until 9pm when the senior staff-member came over to enforce the "No under-age drinkers allowed in the bar after 9pm rule" and asked him to leave !!!

UN BEL IEVABLE :D

Dave
 
A credit card is also proof of age as you can't have one until you're 18.

Who on earth takes a current passport out when going to a pub?! I certainly wouldn't. High chance of it being lost or stolen.
 
srichards said:
A credit card is also proof of age as you can't have one until you're 18.

Who on earth takes a current passport out when going to a pub?! I certainly wouldn't. High chance of it being lost or stolen.
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A credit card is not proof of age- it has no picture on it.

A valid passport or driving licence are proof, as are PASS hologram cards such as Validate, Citizencard, Connexions, Proof GB

To be fair, she was correct. It doesn't stop her being a knob :)
 
Unfortunately the letter of the law has to be complied with as not only the shop/pub/bar could be liable for a fine so could the barman/server and or manager ,exactly the same as in a supermarket or off licence .
The manager in this case might have already had a warning over a similar incident or there could be council secret shoppers doing the rounds as does happen .
 
kendo1 said:
To be fair, she was correct. It doesn't stop her being a knob :)
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Letter of Law or not, this comment is spot on :D

No-one, council or otherwise, could seriously object to a Passport proving his age (albeit one he couldn't leave the country with), and him being known to another staff member of the same age and that he worked there for a while too, so they have his proof of age details on file

Dave
 
kendo1 said:
A credit card is not proof of age- it has no picture on it.

A valid passport or driving licence are proof, as are PASS hologram cards such as Validate, Citizencard, Connexions, Proof GB

To be fair, she was correct. It doesn't stop her being a knob :)
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It doesn't have to be a valid passport- it had a picture and date of birth and is therefore acceptable- airlines accept them for domestic flights up to two years after expiry
 
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May have been a crackdown on underage drinking with exam results and school holidays etc.
 
DG Phototraining said:
Letter of Law or not, this comment is spot on :D

No-one, council or otherwise, could seriously object to a Passport proving his age (albeit one he couldn't leave the country with), and him being known to another staff member of the same age and that he worked there for a while too, so they have his proof of age details on file

Dave
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Halifax wouldn't except my sons out of date passport as proof of id for opening an account. its a pain I know but out of date passports are not acceptable proof of ID. Although the fact that other staff members could vouch for him and he actually worked there before does make the senior staff member a bit of a jobsworth.
 
I don't get why someone is a jobsworth when they are following the rules. Surely if the chap used to work there he should know the rules. I don't see what the issue is to carry valid ID when you want a drink and are in the doubtful zone from an age perspective. There is a lot more at stake for the licensee and bar staff if caught out.
 
jakeblu said:
Halifax wouldn't except my sons out of date passport as proof of id for opening an account. its a pain I know but out of date passports are not acceptable proof of ID.
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Halifax accepted mine. I have no other form of photo ID as my photo has faded away on my work ID and my driving licence is the old style paper licence.
 
srichards said:
A credit card is also proof of age as you can't have one until you're 18.

Who on earth takes a current passport out when going to a pub?! I certainly wouldn't. High chance of it being lost or stolen.
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16 year old lad turns up in a bar with his dad's credit card despite looking like he's just started secondary school - and you'd be happy to serve him with that as proof of age?

Ultimately it's the call of the person doing the serving, if they're not happy that they can say this kid is of legal age then they should refuse service. They're the ones getting the fine, not to mention risking their jobs and the license of their employer.

We do not accept out of date passports either, although with the rest of the evidence in the OP's case we would have served Tom. I've been in a similar situation where I've been called over to check an ID only to tell the cashier she doesn't need ID, she sat behind me in English class in school and is 30!

We take a very hard line on age restricted sales at our shop and it has caught quite a few out - a stand out example being the woman who sent her 19 year old son and 16 year old brother to buy her wine. We naturally refused them, they had both been choosing alcohol, we could not be sure that it was not to be consumed by someone under 18. The mother came back a few hours later ranting, insisting I take her down the till so I could ID her.
 
Considering ID can be faked it's difficult to stop those that are determined.

A school friend who is quite short got asked for proof of age. She was very pleased. She was nearly 40 at the time...
 
my lad is 18 in a couple of months....he looks about 12, its going to be a nightmare for him to get served,he is only about 5' if that so thats not going to help, my mates and i are planning on taking him round all the titty bars on his birthday...its going to be hilarious
 
As someone else said, they have to be very careful regarding under age drinking as it can be game over for the licencee pretty easily. Does he not have a photo drivers licence?

There's an argument here somewhere for national ID cards.

srichards said:
A school friend who is quite short got asked for proof of age. She was very pleased. She was nearly 40 at the time...
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I got ID'd the other day, I'm 35. I blame my boyish good looks.. :naughty:
 
srichards said:
Considering ID can be faked it's difficult to stop those that are determined.

A school friend who is quite short got asked for proof of age. She was very pleased. She was nearly 40 at the time...
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Glad you mentioned Fake IDs. Most of them are terrible, some are quite good. A selection from 2014, by the end of the season the board was full of them! The best one is top left - the license period should be 10 years, this one isn't. Also his address was not a full address, and some of the details on the reverse were incorrect. The format etc however is spot on. It doesn't help that the DVLA continually change the format of the damn things. This year we've only had a single fake.

WP_20140817_001.jpg
 
Brendan Mulachy said:
my lad is 18 in a couple of months....he looks about 12, its going to be a nightmare for him to get served,he is only about 5' if that so thats not going to help, my mates and i are planning on taking him round all the titty bars on his birthday...its going to be hilarious
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Just bring a valid ID, but remember it is their right to choose who they serve.
 
At least it's easier now than when I was young (somewhere back in prehistoric times). No ID cards, no photo driving licences, I didn't have a passport and I didn't look my age. I was getting thrown out of pubs well into my 20s. Very embarrassing when a guy who'd been trying to chat me up for ages finally got me out for a drink and we were thrown out because I was 'under age'. I was over 18..... he wasn't. Funnily enough that relationship went nowhere.........
 
Just grow a beard :)
 
dejongj said:
I don't get why someone is a jobsworth when they are following the rules. Surely if the chap used to work there he should know the rules. I don't see what the issue is to carry valid ID when you want a drink and are in the doubtful zone from an age perspective. There is a lot more at stake for the licensee and bar staff if caught out.
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Exactly
 
strumstrum said:
Why jobsworth? Bit unnecessary isn't it? And what does it matter how tall Tom is? My daughter has just hit 6' and is 15 years and 1 month old.
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LOL indeed mine is 13 and 5'10. Quite funny out here in Cyprus as they give her a shot after dinner as well ;)
 
dejongj said:
LOL indeed mine is 13 and 5'10. Quite funny out here in Cyprus as they give her a shot after dinner as well ;)
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Mines 22 and 5".

When you flying home, the weathers about to turn (still better than here though).
 
Phil V said:
Mines 22 and 5".

When you flying home, the weathers about to turn (still better than here though).
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LOL we noticed a change in the sea and temperature is definitely dropping.
 
I took this picture in debenhams yesterday , world is going mad , people comiting knife crime don't buy them in Debenhams
20160902_181839.jpg
 
OldCarlos said:
I bet daddy drank it though. :D



5" ?????????? :wideyed: Crikey, they say kids get under yer feet, but that's taking it to the extreme! :LOL:
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I actually let her, but tonight she passed on it and I had three. My wide didn't want it either :)
 
dejongj said:
but tonight she passed on it and I had three.
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Good man. (y) Always best to drink up, because If you leave them they'll start giving you sweets/puddings & then your wife & kids will leave you with nothing! :LOL:
 
This thread brings back nostalgic thoughts....... :)

In my late teens (early to mid 1970's) we regularly went to North Wales to rock climb and the local (a few miles down the road) was the evening haunt. Having passed my driving test within weeks of my 17th birthday I loved to drive but getting served in the out of the way pub was greeted with "just make sure you are not seen drinking when the bobby comes in...." even when over 18 I had issues (see next line).

As for 'looking' young I had that trouble in pubs into my late 20's ! :( but all that was before the time of "show an ID"
 
It was the being challenged if you look under 30 I was commenting on , if you look under 18 at 30 they should be throwing you a party
 
Jannyfox said:
At least it's easier now than when I was young (somewhere back in prehistoric times). No ID cards, no photo driving licences, I didn't have a passport and I didn't look my age. I was getting thrown out of pubs well into my 20s. Very embarrassing when a guy who'd been trying to chat me up for ages finally got me out for a drink and we were thrown out because I was 'under age'. I was over 18..... he wasn't. Funnily enough that relationship went nowhere.........
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Strangely enough my first date with my wife was to a pub in Leeds with bouncers on the door. I used to drink there regularly so walked straight past them and into a very busy and noisy pub three deep at the bar. Took me nearly ten minutes to get served and when I turned around to ask her what she wanted to drink, she was nowhere to be seen. Stepping back outside she was there looking rather cross, seemed the bouncers had stopped her entering, to be fair she was only 16. Not the most auspicious of starts to our relationship but we're still together over 40 years later.
 
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wack61 said:
I took this picture in debenhams yesterday , world is going mad , people comiting knife crime don't buy them in Debenhams
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I'm sure your not surprised to be told that the law doesn't only apply to Debenhams? They might buy them there if they couldn't get them anywhere else because the law didn't apply to debenhams ;)
 
Back in the 60s when I was 18 I took a new date of mine who was only 16 in to my local pub where I used to hang out with my mates. A few drinks later the police came in to throw out everyone that didn't look 18, I was included in this eviction but not my new date who finished up shacking up with one of my so called mates. In those days it was every man for himself.
 
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