Virgin Age Policy

Famous_Séamus

I was in Virin Megastores in Dundrum today. As was to be expected it was very busy and after queing for 15mins I approached the till with among other things a Des Bishop DVD. The girl at the till scanned the items through and when she came to the DVD, she asked me how old I was. Im 18 and although I probably dont look 18, I certainly look older then 15, the DVD's certificate.

I told her I was 18, to which she replied "You're not 18". I felt asking for my age was unnecessary, but to say to my face that I wasn't 18, when she had no proof of was rude and very unprofesional. She then asked if I had ID....I mean who brings ID to buy a DVD??!? Anyway, by this stage I was fairly angry. In the end I just walked off...I didnt buy anything. In hiensight I probably should have said something else to her, because in all fairness she certainly wouldnt have passed for 18.

That wasnt the worst part though. My brother, who is 15 said he'd go up. I reluctantly let him. Now, he would just about pass for 15. He qued and this time the person at the till sold them to him without question. It was a guy this time, and he never even asked his age.

Im not sure if Im complaining about the inconcistencey shown by the staff or the fact that they wouldnt sell me the DVD. It really annoyed me that, at this busy time they wouldnt sell it to me. And its also really embarrasing that an 18 year old cant buy a 15's DVD.....:o

EDIT- I just noticed how odd the thread title is.

sceptre

Famous_S&#233 wrote: »

In hiensight I probably should have said something else to her, because in all fairness she certainly wouldnt have passed for 18.

It's not irrelevant to note that her age (or apparent age) doesn't matter, she's the one selling the DVD, not buying it.

Im not sure if Im complaining about the inconcistencey shown by the staff or the fact that they wouldnt sell me the DVD.

If you're going to complain to the store, I'd run with the first one.

Famous_Séamus

sceptre wrote:

It's not irrelevant to note that her age (or apparent age) doesn't matter, she's the one selling the DVD, not buying it.

I know, I suppose I would have said it out of frustration, because although she doesn't look 18, Im sure she is. She might then understand my situation. Of course I wouldnt really have said it...

RainyDay

It does sound like the girl was a bit rude - maybe the Christmas rush was taking its toll. I can't see how they can enforce age limits without asking for ID, can you?

jhegarty

Famous_S&#233 wrote: »

That wasnt the worst part though. My brother, who is 15 said he'd go up. I reluctantly let him. Now, he would just about pass for 15. He qued and this time the person at the till sold them to him without question. It was a guy this time, and he never even asked his age.

Sending someone else to spend money in the same shop... that'll show them who's boss...

Red Alert

I would have probably demanded to speak to the manager there and then.

Nerd note:
If you want to complain about someone working in Virgin Megastore or HMV or anywhere else that uses IBM equipment: near the top of your receipt there's a line with a whole load of numbers and the letters CASH-1 and T/O ID. The number on the far left is their ID.

Hagar

sceptre wrote:

It's not irrelevant to note that her age (or apparent age) doesn't matter, she's the one selling the DVD, not buying it.

The age of the person selling may be relevent, for instance in supermarkets AFAIK under 18 check-put staff are not allowed sell alcohol regardless of the age of the buyer. Does a similar situation arise with age certified goods?

Famous_Séamus

jhegarty wrote:

Sending someone else to spend money in the same shop... that'll show them who's boss...

I was buying Christmas presents, I had no choice they were only in that shop. The stuff was good value there, the preoblem I had was really with that certain employee I suppose.

eth0_

Hagar wrote:

The age of the person selling may be relevent, for instance in supermarkets AFAIK under 18 check-put staff are not allowed sell alcohol regardless of the age of the buyer. Does a similar situation arise with age certified goods?

Naw it's just with alcohol.

Time Magazine

Famous_S&#233 wrote: »

She then asked if I had ID....I mean who brings ID to buy a DVD??!?

There's your problem. Bring your Garda ID with you in your wallet and you'll never have any problems like this.

qwertplaywert

god........im 14 and i get surved 18 dvds in virgin dundalk..........bought like 10............only twice was i asked my age,first time ,told him i was 19,he believed me and let me buy it
second time,the guy[diffeerent guy] know i wasnt 18,cause he saw me a few minutes earlier with people my age,who just looked VERY young
to avoid embrassiment,i jsut said oh i though it was 15's sorry.............i saw it in the north for 15...........twas ingenious

Famous_Séamus

Ibid wrote:

There's your problem. Bring your Garda ID with you in your wallet and you'll never have any problems like this.

Takes about 8 months to get it....suppose I should probably order one. :rolleyes:

Time Magazine

I'm 19, so it wasn't a very long time ago when I was ordering a Garda ID, and I had it in about 11 weeks.

In the mean-time maybe you could carry your passport?

I have sympathy for people who don't serve movies, although withholding a 15s is pretty harsh. I work in Xtra-vision and I simply just don't take the risk with 18s, although I'm a little more lenient with 15s. If the person in front of the counter is under 18 and their parents are assholes my job could be gone, simple as that. Some people say "But I got an 18s last week off someone else", to which I reply "Just because they're willing to take the risk doesn't mean I am." That's the situation here, because one staff member is lenient/not checking ID/breaking the law doesn't mean another should be frowned upon for checking ID.

Cabaal

Ibid wrote:

I'm 19, so it wasn't a very long time ago when I was ordering a Garda ID, and I had it in about 11 weeks.

Years back I ordered a Garda ID and got it in 6 weeks, its come in handy twice since I got it :rolleyes:

I remember back in 97/98 I went into Virgin to buy Command & Conquer Red Alert and the clerk wouldn't allow me to buy it because I was underage, I understand the need for enforcing such things but they need to either do it to everybody or nobody.

Red Alert

What's the actual legal situation on 15/18's games and DVD's (compared to say alcohol)?

Pythia

Hagar wrote:

The age of the person selling may be relevent, for instance in supermarkets AFAIK under 18 check-put staff are not allowed sell alcohol regardless of the age of the buyer. Does a similar situation arise with age certified goods?

I also thought you needed to be 18 to draw up contracts with people. Maybe that was just the rule my shop had, but you had to be 18 to sell some a contract phone.

Famous_Séamus

Ibid wrote:

I'm 19, so it wasn't a very long time ago when I was ordering a Garda ID, and I had it in about 11 weeks.

I have a friend who got it after 6 months and another you got it after about 5 months. (Maybe I was exagerating slightly...:o)

enda1

But it was a 15s dvd. What fifteen year old has an ID?? All ye really got is a passport (maybe) and its just stupid and not practical to carry that around with you everywhere.

Gauge

Maybe it was a bit harsh in this case, but I used to work in a music store and I kind of understand where the cashier was coming from. All it takes is one angry parent to put your job in jeopardy. For all you know her manager could have been nearby- whenever my manager was near I used to ask EVERYONE their age, whether the dvd was 15s or 18s, because I feared the manager a lot more than I feared any customer!

Creamy Goodness

the kid could also be working for a mystery shopping company, who try to actually get shops like virgin fined for selling aged goods to minors.

RainyDay

Cremo wrote:

the kid could also be working for a mystery shopping company, who try to actually get shops like virgin fined for selling aged goods to minors.

Who would be paying the mystery shopping company for this kind of assignment?

qwertplaywert

okay-whats the situation with tesco these days?they have those quickpay machines..........so ,in theroe,a 7 year old could come in,pick up a 18s rated movie,scan it,pay for it,and walk out with it.

are tesco allowed get away with this??

RazielDoomgate

have had a similer experence in hmv henry st.. went up to buy a few dvds one being that of 18s and she (always women that do it) asked me if i had id.. now i had just turned 18 that week and was so suprised that i was asked as i would have bought many pire to taht with only problem. i argued for a minute or 2 and then jsut left it and walked away not buying any dvds..

i knew full well that if i just brought those dvds to another till i would get served but in the end it wasnt worth it and i left.. you shouldnt take affence to this. if you real want the dvds just go into a diffent store or if the shop has more then 1 till go there

Time Magazine

Pythia wrote:

I also thought you needed to be 18 to draw up contracts with people. Maybe that was just the rule my shop had, but you had to be 18 to sell some a contract phone.

Technically when you buy phone credit, or a jumper, or anything, you're entering into a contract. Pretty sure parental consent comes into it somewhere, but contracts are not exclusively an adult thing

Red Alert wrote:

What's the actual legal situation on 15/18's games and DVD's (compared to say alcohol)?

Games, afaik, are not legally certified, i.e. the age-cert is just a recommendation/warning. It is illegal to supply a movie to somebody under the age of its certification. Obviously some companies enforce them as a matter of policy, though.

RainyDay wrote:

Who would be paying the mystery shopping company for this kind of assignment?

Often the company themselves. It's better for Virgin to realise somebody is serving DVDs to minors before they lose their licence to sell them or whatever it might be.

Cabaal wrote:

Years back I ordered a Garda ID and got it in 6 weeks, its come in handy twice since I got it :rolleyes:

Good for you. I use mine weekly. The OP would have benefited from one too, clearly.

I remember back in 97/98 I went into Virgin to buy Command & Conquer Red Alert and the clerk wouldn't allow me to buy it because I was underage, I understand the need for enforcing such things but they need to either do it to everybody or nobody

Ibid wrote:

ecause one staff member is lenient/not checking ID/breaking the law doesn't mean another should be frowned upon for checking ID.

I agree. If the OP wants to complain about the second clerk that's all well and good, but I've sympathy for the mean one .

Soby

lol i understand asking for 18 but wheres the need for 15??cause i mean theres just no proof.least for 18s u have to have I.D...
Jesus Séamus how did u not think to bring even your birthcert or something..:D :rolleyes: ..but i suppose when there mothers like mine u check age

RainyDay

qwertplaywert wrote:

okay-whats the situation with tesco these days?they have those quickpay machines..........so ,in theroe,a 7 year old could come in,pick up a 18s rated movie,scan it,pay for it,and walk out with it.

are tesco allowed get away with this??

There was a guy in front of me at Tesco self-service buying vodka last week, and the till indicated that 'operator approval' was required. I guess that the Tesco bloke overseeing the self-service tills has to approve such purchases 1-by-1. I presume it would be the same for age-rated videos.

Safrole

Red Alert wrote:

What's the actual legal situation on 15/18's games and DVD's (compared to say alcohol)?

It's a bit of an odd one. The videos and DVD's fall under the law, so selling an 18+ DVD to a minor is actually an offence - on the part of the store. Last time I checked games didn't fall under the law - the games producers got smart and put in a 'voluntary' system before they got legally regulated.

Most stores treat them the same though. I've worked in retail and refused people 15's videos, it's a hassle at the time but its the persons ass on the line if they get a screaming parent coming in.

qwertplaywert

RainyDay wrote:

There was a guy in front of me at Tesco self-service buying vodka last week, and the till indicated that 'operator approval' was required. I guess that the Tesco bloke overseeing the self-service tills has to approve such purchases 1-by-1. I presume it would be the same for age-rated videos.

can anybody confirm the dvd part?

Creamy Goodness

anything in tesco that has a magnetic strip tag on it ie. dvd's cd's games and alcoholic drinks need operater assistance.

it's more to do with the fact that they need to remove the magnetic strip tag rather than check you're old enough to buy the goods.

Attol

A lot of games now bear the same rating types as DVDs. Those are as strict as DVDs. The thing where it gets blurry is sometimes they have the voluntary stickers on a game but there is another case for it bearing the legally binding one so in game shops you usually end up enforcing both equally as the rating is still the same even though the cover has a slightly different rating sticker.