"Get yourself fired for me! Come on, help a friend out!"

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Good for you for standing your ground. It's just not worth the risk and that guy was being completely dickish. I certainly hope the same thing happened to him at pub down the street.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

They left. I got on the phone and called rival bar to let them know they were coming.

They never consider the possibility that if they're a complete asshole to the staff, that the staff could be as much of an ass back to them.

Just a lot more subtle. Such as calling the rival bar and warning them ahead of time as an example.

Bet you anything they didn't find any place to go drinking that night.

[RealUnimportant]

Maniacal laugh...

[eltf177]

I don't want to threadjack but this story does fit here...

Several of my cousins have a favorite watering hole. They're good friends with the owner who's a really nice guy. His policy is clear: No ID, no booze. PERIOD. He drove this motto into every employee and manager.

One night while my cousins are drinking several girls come in and order. One doesn't have ID. The waitress says 'no'. The girls whine and bitch. Manager tells waitress to serve them. She refuses. Manager serves the girls. All of a sudden an elderly man in the back corner gets up and shoves ID in the manager's face. Yep, the local ATF inspector. He turns to the crowd and annouces, "this establishment is now closed. Please finish your drinks and leave."

The place was closed for about a month. The owner had to really jump through many hoops and pay huge fines to get his liquor license back. He shit-canned the offending manager that night (I believe he filed a lawsuit against him as well, mostly to prove his innocense). He had a meething with the employees (who lost a month's wages while all this got sorted out, he lost several good employees who couldn't afford to wait), stating THIS was why he had the 'No ID, no booze' rule in the first place!

So no, serving an obvously underage client is _not_ in your firm's best interest, not to mention opening yourself up for all kinds of trouble...

[Gizmo]

I'd love a follow up to this - I can just imagine them daisy chaining down the town of pubs and bars and each time getting scuppered.

[Jay 2K Winger]

All of a sudden an elderly man in the back corner gets up and shoves ID in the manager's face. Yep, the local ATF inspector. He turns to the crowd and annouces, "this establishment is now closed. Please finish your drinks and leave."

This is exactly what I'd be worried about if I worked in a bar and didn't get an ID from someone I carded. I don't know if the UK has an equivalent agency that polices liquor laws or whatever, but while CRML was talking about how anyone in the SCs' group could have been part of a sting, there could also have been the problem that someone witnessing the exchange might have been capable of blowing the whistle-- as he pointed out to the SCs.

They shot themselves in the foot.

When I worked at the movie theater and asked for ID, I did have someone try this whole thing.

Them: "Come on, be a friend!" (Of note, I actually did know them.)
J2K: "I'm not paid to be your friend. No ID, no ticket."

[Dilorenzo]

SC: Come on. One friend to another. It’s not going to affect you, is it? Let’s just pretend we didn’t have this conversation.

Well, since we're friends, can you loan me 300 pounds? I mean, you won't have enough to buy any drinks then, but since we're such goods friends I figure you won't mind.

[PepperElf]

Well, if she happened to have been sent undercover by a police officer to test our ID compliance, then yes it very much affects me. Sorry, Charlie.

O yeah. one of the bars in the city where sis lives got hit by a sting... dunno what happened exactly but... it was bad enough that they lost their license.


yes. a bar that lost the license to serve alcohol.
that's the kiss-of-death right there.

[crazylegs]

I don't know if the UK has an equivalent agency that polices liquor laws or whatever, but while CRML was talking about how anyone in the SCs' group could have been part of a sting, there could also have been the problem that someone witnessing the exchange might have been capable of blowing the whistle-- as he pointed out to the SCs.

It's the police - off duty officers have intervened in the past. It can get very expensive very quickly if you serve an U/18 alcohol.

[Nemesis44UK]

My wife works at a large supermarket and she has been tested by trading standards posing as over 18.

Luckily, she is sensible and asked them to prove their age. No ID, no sale. She was informed by her supervisor some time later that she had passed. I didn't know, but she would have been in trouble personally, not just the store.

[customersruinmylife]

It's the police - off duty officers have intervened in the past. It can get very expensive very quickly if you serve an U/18 alcohol.

£5000 PERSONAL fine. As well as a criminal record. And that's before they even start on the business!

That is why I absolutely hate people who don't card people who look underage. I went mad once in one of my local pubs. I walked in and it was filled with 16 year olds. I knew this because I worked with them in the school! I discretely had a word with the bartender, who I was on a first name basis with, who then said:

B: Well, as long as they are behaving, it's fine.
Me: So you have five grand ready, just in case the police come in?

[eltf177]

£5000 PERSONAL fine. As well as a criminal record. And that's before they even start on the business!

That is why I absolutely hate people who don't card people who look underage. I went mad once in one of my local pubs. I walked in and it was filled with 16 year olds. I knew this because I worked with them in the school! I discretely had a word with the bartender, who I was on a first name basis with, who then said:

B: Well, as long as they are behaving, it's fine.
Me: So you have five grand ready, just in case the police come in?

What was his reply?

[customersruinmylife]

What was his reply?

He shrugged it off, but he spent all his spare time staring at the group with his hand over his mouth. The group left shortly afterwards. I learned that they left because I was in there.

[Syriilord]

I always hated the whole 'come on, you can do it for me, we're friends, right?' or 'I'm the customer, you HAVE to do it' mentalities when it came to I.D. checking.
I once had a guy accuse me of being nothing more than a corporate robot who could only spout policies when I refused him. I just replied deadpan that I have a firm personal belief in 'The 3 Laws of Retail Servers' .
That shut him up quick enough....probably because he didn't know what I meant

[sstabeler]

It's the police - off duty officers have intervened in the past. It can get very expensive very quickly if you serve an U/18 alcohol.

primarily Trading Standards, actually. As you might expect from the name, Trading Standards are in charge of keeping businesses honest. (I am related to a retired TSO, so know a bit about what they do.)

and CRML, I suspect that bartender was a little more concerned than he let on. staring at the group, and hand over his mouth? yeah, he's really relaxed about it now!