21 year old furious with Wal-Mart

Most stores will not allow people to buy alcohol if they have someone
with them who is underage. It's the law,and employees aren't willing
to go through hoops and get fired just because you couldn't have your
way. You should have just went to another store. No sense it whining
now since corporate will tell you the same thing the employee did.

Believe it or not people, shop assistants are not a) psychic, b) good
at working out ages and c) pushovers. They do not have any way of
knowing if it's a secondary purchase (buying alcohol for someone
underage) but yes, they do also have to show some common sense. I
doubt they'd allow a sale if the child was between 18-20, but if the
child was say 4 or 5, they would most likely let it go through.

Hi I worked at a liquor store for 7yrs and I can understand your
frustration but you can't get upset with the company for doing there
jobs. It's the law for any establishment who sells alcohol not to
serve someone who has individuals present with them who's under 21.
Considering the fact that you are 21 you should know the drinking
laws!!

ITS A STATE LAW, ITS NOT WAL-MARTS FAULT!

This happened to me when I was 20, doing some weekly grocery shopping
with my boyfriend that I lived with. We had a bunch of food and he
decided to buy some beer. When they tried to card me I said "oh, I'm
not 21! This is his beer". But they wouldn't let him buy it if I was
with him. So I went out to the parking lot and sat in the car and
then they let him buy the alcohol. I think rules like these are just
stupid. I see them carding 80 ladies too.

. . . or you could have just gone to a different store.

They should make it a federal offense for a store employee to sell
alcohol to someone 21 and over if they have an underage person with
them. They should also raise the drinking age to 25 because so many
young people at 21, 22, and 23 are so irresponsible with alcohol,
especially in college.

I am 27. And yes, I do drink, on occasion (sp?), A mixed drink. But
I am not what a lot of people would call a "drinker". Meaning, I have
an alcoholic drink about once every 5-6 weeks. If that. I just don't
see the point. Anyway, where you "So excited" to be 21 that you just
HAD to drink? I think it is a bit odd that just beacuse you are 21,
you think you have to drink. I am betting that you drank before.
Belive it or not, but I did not drink until I turned 21. And I was
with my Dad and step-mother in Reno when I did. I have been in
Safeway with my husband, who was buying a bottle of wine to cook with,
holding my 6 month old son. BOTH of us were carded. And he is 33.
He looks older then 33 too. Costco too. And in the state I live, you
cannot get hard liquer anywhere but a Liquer Store.

Oh, and for thoes out there who think the legal age should be higher,
I think it should be DROPED to 18. If you can go out and DIE for your
Country, you should be able to have a drink.

Yes I know, there are 18 year olds that can't handle drinking, but
there are 50 year olds that can't either.

After reading most of the post I thought I wade in with my two cents.

I used to work at the Wally land and did it for quite some time.
Wallys policy states that if two people are in the SAME order everyone
in that order has to be over 21. So if you and your friend are on two
different orders, only the person paying for the order with the
alcohol has to be over 21.
So if it was two different orders then her age should not have been a
problem (since there would be no record of the underage person getting
the alcohol.)

Geez, posting the same letter (word-for-word) on PFB *and* my three
cents.com?

Time to let it go, already.

my3cents and getting just about the same responses as here. Maybe
she'll try other forums until she gets one that agrees with her. :)

i think this is pretty dumb. however, you say that your friend just
happened to be there, standing next to you. can you honestly tell me
you guys didn't just stop at another store, get the liquor you wanted,
and get loaded that night. it sucks when you have friends that are a
couple months younger than you. you have to sit there and drink right
in front of them and tell them that in( however many months)you too
will be of legal age. ha ha ha i have been denied beer because my 9
yr old daughter was with me. but i look at it as this. everybody says
walmart is just all about the almighty dollar, however, that shows
that they care about more.

Are you Nicole, or, Brad? Have an issue deciding your "true" gender?

Can anyone here actually cite a law that makes it illegal for a
retailer to sell alcohol to an adult who is accompanied by a minor or
someone between the ages of 18 to 20?

I've been able to find a few references that it is illegal for an
adult to furnish alcohol to an underage person, but nothing that makes
it illegal for an adult to buy alcohol when accompanied by an under
age person. That would make it illegal for a store to knowingly sell
alcohol to an adult who showed intent to provide it to an underage
person.

So I don't see this as a law, just as draconian policy that some
stores are using to appease safety nazi groups that are using
entrapment stings against local merchants.

Large nerchants such as Walmart generally cave into pressure groups
because they are easy targets, and are in fact often targeted because
"social welafre" groups just hate Wal mart on general principal
(Big=Bad).

I don't know whether to feel sorry for Walmart, or to hate them for
being so support nanny State Socialism. Either way, I'd suggest that
freedom loving adults who don't want to endorse a nanny state society
take their business to stores that have a common sense alcohol
policy.

actually you are wrong about a mother being allowed to buy alcohol
when accompanied by her teenagers. This happened in Springfield Mo
where i live a couple of years ago. A woman in line with her 16 year
old daughter was told she couldn't purchase the booze she wanted to
buy because of her daughter being with her and under age. I'm not
sure if this is fair but i don't think people should drink, so i was
on Walmart's side. And let's face it, since i'm a teetotler, i think
it's great.

I don't know where the Wal-Mart is that is the subject of your
complaint. But maybe this might help to clear up the cashier's
actions. Where I live, not only is the store liable for the sale but
the individual cashier can be fined up to $500 him/herself (and some
jail time of the judge wants it) for making an illegal sale of alcohol
to a minor or facilitating possession. If I were a cashier, I'd be
pretty careful since I'm on the hook personally for a fine, a criminal
record and even jail time if the JP or municipal court judge were so
inclined.

Folks who have been fined usually get hit with the full $500. So do
their bosses. Even if it were only the business on the hook, I'd be
disinclined to keep a cashier on the payroll who kept getting me fined
for sales of alcohol to minors--it's expensive and makes it hard to
keep a liquor license. So, I can see why a cashier would want to err
on the side of caution--who'd want to lose a job over something like
this?

I realize that you're ticked but try to keep this in perspective. You
weren't allowed to buy booze. I know it's totally fun to whip out a
legal ID the first few times after turning 21. But what you've
described is annoying and maybe even frustrating but does it rise to
the level of furious? Buying alchohol is not a right, it's a
privilege.

Alot of stores have that policy in place, I use to work at Krogers
awhile back and we even did that there to. If someone was buying
alcohol everyone needed ID, and they needed to be 21. Think about it
in a broad view, they're trying to cut down on getting busted for
underage sales.

Nichole;
If they changed that rule there would be MORE TEENAGE DEATHS FROM
DRUNK DRIVING. Besides, if you buy beer for yourself then give some to
a friend who is underage, if anything happened -- you would be sued &
Wal-Mart too. Is it worth it? NO. So, since you lost your ability
purchase any beer or other -- stay that way! You'll live longer & so
will your friends.

It's probably been stated (many times) but if the buyer of alcohol is
suspected by the seller of the alcohol to be buying liquor that a
minor will be partaking of then the seller can deny the sale. If the
sale goes through and the buyer lets a minor partake of the liquor
then the seller is culpable if it's concluded that the seller should
have known based on the "prudent person" test.

This would also be true if, let's say, a buyer was inside a store and
was wanting to buy liquor and his/her friends were standing outside
the store.

When the cashier would not sell you the beer you should have told her
that you did not know the person in front of you but you were just
making small talk with her because you were behind in line, that the
cashier would not think you were together. However if you tried to
purchase the beer together then they would know you know each other.

Admittedly, that is sort of a pain but I am sure you can understand
the reason for the policy -- inconvenient as it may be at times.
Expecting a cashier at Walmart to determine whether you are really
together or just happened to run into a friend while shopping is
asking a bit much.

My wife and I (both over 30 at the time) had something similar happen
at a reasonably high-end liquor store. After one of the employees had
helped us pick out several bottles of not-inexpensive wine for a gift,
the cashier could not sell them to us because store policy was that
everyone in the group had to have an ID and my wife had not brought
her wallet since I was driving. They set aside the order and I had to
come back with my wife's ID later. She was upset but I understand why
these policies are in place.

This war on alcohol stuff is getting out of hand.

Its only a matter of time before kids rediscover a KEY FACT.

Brewing is STONE AGE Technology. Anyone can brew beer, wine if they
don't mind waiting a few weeks. My g/f used to brew wine in high
school.

Those with some good shop/metal working skills can even get up to
brewing high proof stuff.

All it takes is one kid with the time and privacy.
if that doesn't work, consider smoking marjuana, its propably easier
to get these days the alcohol.

"I am 21 years old and I was recently in a Walmart store buying
alcohol. I happened to be standing in line next to a friend who was
purchasing her groceries and she happened to be underage. I was denied
alcohol because my friend was not 21"

What probably happened was that she was line with the underage friend,
chatting with the friend as her groceries were being scanned, and the
cashier put 2 and 2 together and decided they were with each other and
since the friend was underage, he/she decided not to sell her the
alcohol.

Which is following the law. I went into a liquor store with a friend
who was 20 at the time, and because he was 20 and in the store with
me, I could not buy my alcohol. I had to go someplace else and have
him wait in the car.

It serves no purpose other then making a third party buy er learn that
his/her friends have to wait in the car at the NEXT liquor store.

I can see this law stopping the absoluely DUMBEST drinkers, but lets
be honest, your kids aren't that stupid are they?

And this exactly why they have a "legal age." Some people just aren't
mature enough to handle it. Some people, clearly, at 21, aren't
mature enough.

In many places (I don't know where you live, so I can't comment), it
is the law (as some others have said) that all members of a group must
be "of age." The easy solution for you is to not bring your underaged
friends in line with you. I know, you weren't buying together. But
it's easy enough for you not to chat with your friend for a few
minutes, if this annoys you so much.

You argument about parents and children, as odd as it may seem,
doesn't hold. At least, as I said, in some places. Without going
into too much detail, there are specific responsibilities of a parent
or legal guardian that come into play, which makes it easier for a
parent to buy alcohol when with their child.

No way that Wal-Mart is going to change things for you.

If it's important to you, go alone and don't talk to anyone that's
underaged.

While it might seem wrong for a retailer to refuse to sell alcohol
because a minor was accompanying you, think about it this way: How
many times did you send someone over the age of 21 to purchase alcohol
for you before you turned 21? I admit that I did it all the time in
college. I hope you see where I am going with this.

Retailers don't want to be held liable for breaking age restrictions
on things like alcohol and cigarettes. If you notice, many
establishments now post signs that if you even LOOK like you're under
35, they won't sell these items without a valid ID.

My brother works for BP. Unless you have grey hair and hobble in with
a walker, you'd better have an ID if you want beer or smokes. It
isn't personal, it's just to protect the interest of the company and
to prevent people who shouldn't be buying these things from getting
them.

Leave your wallet at home? Think you can get your friend who has hers
to buy the stuff for you? Forget it. It's known as a third party
sale and BP (and I am sure many other stores) have random "secret
shops" on their sites to make sure this rule is being enforced.

If a staff member is caught selling alcohol or smokes without carding
or selling to a third party (person with the underage or ID-less
person), they are terminated IMMEDIATELY for violating company policy,
no questions asked.

To be honest, I'm sure the cashier could not have cared one bit if you
or your friend were insulted or inconvenienced because she could not
sell you beer. She was trying to avoid losing her job.

Like I said, it really wasn't a personal thing against you or anyone
else who is 21. It's just a rule meant to protect everyone involved.

It isn't a rule. It is a law. At least in Buchanan County, Missouri,
which is the only place I ever worked where selling alcohol was part
of the gig, all members of a group must be carded when buying alcohol,
if they look younger than 27. I hated having to do it, but do it I
did. It is a matter of self-preservation. The clerk wasn't overeager
(sorry Red :)) he was trying to keep his job and not pay a huge fine.
Apparently your area has a similar law, and it was enforced.

If you are unhappy with your state or county laws (and I admit it's a
silly one imo too), you need to write to your Congressperson, not to
Wal-Mart. Then check out the voting records of the candidates running
in the next election, find out their stance on "morality laws" and
vote for your issue. Wal-Mart is incapable of changing laws, so far
at least!

This is a very common practice. First, stores can refuse alcohol
sales to anyone for any reason. Second, they don't know if your
friend picked out the alcohol for you to purchase with the intentions
of everyone sharing it. In order to avoid this in the future, get in
separate lines or leave her in the car.

I had to refuse sales to a gentlemen once... probably in his 40's. He
walked in with a kid who I actually knew from school (we had graduated
already). I knew the guy wasn't his father and he helped pick out
what to buy. I told them that I couldn't sell it to them. They were
furious... Cussing at me and actin'a fool. Thank goodness I had
bullet proof glass around me! lol

HAHA...I recently turned 21, and my problem was no one was carding me
at all...now they do lol. Anywho...I agree with a previous poster,
next time, go in two seperate lines, or a drive thru... my friends
never got denied (even tho i was in the car and underage at the time)

I'd be mad too. Heck, I'm annoyed by establishments (bars, not liquor
stores -- liquor stores seem to have their heads on straight) that
insist on IDing EVERYONE, including senior citizens. It's patronizing
and stupid.

The clerk you got was overeager to be the upstanding employee she
wants to be. Next time, choose a checkout lane that's empty or has
people who are older.

However, I think you should have asked to speak to a manager. This
clerk went overboard. If you had your younger sister or an underage
friend with you, I'd say this clerk did a great job, but as it stands,
I think she was over the top.

Drink up!

In the state of NJ you cannot purchase liquor in a store, convenience
store or any Walmart. Only in a liquor store or a bar. So for me to
hear this, makes me realize that other states with more leniency on
where it is sold, are doing their jobs well by protecting the law and
making sure that it is sold responsibly. You are new at this and
although you might be responsible there is no way Walmart knows that.
Don't take it personally.

Hate to tell you, but it is definitely possible that your mother would
not be allowed to purchase alcohol if you were with her and under 21.
It's the law. I've seen it happen to my friends, ages ago, when I was
underage and they weren't.

It's not Walmart's rule.

You want to talk about furious? I was at a concert a year ago and at
the frozen daquiri stand, they had a sign up that said "if you appear
to be under 30 years old you will be asked for ID". And they didn't
ask me!!! Now THAT, my friend, is reason to be furious. All about
perspective, you know...

They should raise the drinking age to 25. I think even 23 year olds
are too immature and imcopetent to drink alcohol.

If you're this furious at 21...wait till 30 rolls along.....believe
me. Had you and your friend been "secret shoppers" for the liquor
control board, the store could lose it's liquor license, the cashier
her/his livelihood and possibly face jail time and or a hefty fine.
Depending on the laws in your state.
Perhaps keeping your liquor cabinet stocked by seperate specific
liquor runs...
Perhaps a quick stop on your way home at another store could have
gotten the problem resolved. But liquor only delays having to deal
with things...the Fury problem is still there.
Your argument is flawed. At seventeen in some states you can join the
army....but not vote OR buy alcohol or cigarettes but it's fine to
handle firearms and put your life at risk to protect adult's rights,
including that of buying liquor.

Mant states have laws that anyone in a group that appears to be under
the age of 30 must be ID'd. You apparantly made it obvious that you
and your friend were together, and only furthered their suspicions
when your underage friend purchased everything but the alcohol.
Stores do have the right to refuse sale for any reason, including your
attitude.

Did you have ID, if so there is no reason that you should have been
denied, if not they don't know your age so how do they know that you
are 21.

This is completely personal on my part, but I wager that if you had
this attitude in the store, said attitude had more to do with the
denial than the age of your friend.

Wal-Mart, like most retailers, restuarants and businessess, retain the
right to deny service for a variety of reasons. Quite frankly, I hope
they continue to deny you alcohol until you grow up a bit and learn to
control yourself better.

Speaking from bitter experience, alcohol and anger do not go together.
Just because you are 21 does not mean you are mature enough to drink
responsible.


My apologies to the posters here at PFB. If you must drink, drink
responsibly. :)

How do you know a mother with her 18 and 20 year old children wouldn't
be denied? You don't. When I was in Buffalo eons ago a friend was
denied purchasing alcohol because I was under 21 and he wasn't. Maybe
that's just the way it is.

If that gets you furious you'd better take anger management classes
now - you have a lot more furious situations to look forward to as you
grow up.

I don't think it's a company rule, but more like a law in the state
where you live, and certainly nothing to get furious about.

Now that you are aware of the law, next time just check out at a
different register than your friend.

By the way, don't go into a liquor store with any of your underage
friends, because you won't be able to purchase alcohol there either.