DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Buying alcohol?

Someone please help me out here that knows about buying alcohol, beer, or wine coolers.

My wife, daughter, and me were just at Walmart. When were checking out we had a 12 pack of beer and 8 wine coolers. The checkout lady said let me see your ID which I gave her, then she asked for my wifes ID, which she had left at home.

The lady said I can't sell the beer or wine coolers to you, but I said I'm 39 and I have shown you my ID sell it to me. She said it is state law that everyone in the same checkout party must have a valid ID if alcohol of any sort is being purchased.

My question is is this true or was the lady messing with me? I almost exploded on her with expletives, but I held my tongue except for calling her stupid.

My wife is 35 and again I'm 39, it's not like I just turned 21 and it looked like I was buying for an underage person. We have been shopping together for almost 16 years and this has never happened before.

I can't imagine that that's true legally. Perhaps its a Walmart policy?

You should've just asked your wife to go wait in the car while you checked out on your own, right in front of the cashier.

She said it was State Law.

After we walked out and put stuff away, I did walk right back in got the beer and wine coolers went to a different lane and checked without even showing my ID.

So if I went to the store with my baby and bought a six pack she wouldn't sell it to me?

It can't be the case.

I have been turned away once buying alcohol when a friend handed me money in the checkout line that was witnessed by the cashier. My friend didn't have an ID so no dice. I then did just what you did and looped back through.

Probably a weird Wal Mart rule.

My magnetic strip went on my bank card a few years ago. I didn't know this as I was going to check out of a Supercenter Walmart in Orlando, Florida. Well, I asked if they could just punch in the numbers for me and I could pay that way. They refused even though I had multiple documents of ID on me proving that I was myself.

About my daughter, I did question her. I said what about her ID and said she is clearly a kid, She doesn't need one. I was so frustrated.

I had a similar experience at fart mart and I will never step foot in one ever again...And no that's not the law to check every ones ID... That"s just the stupid ladies bs...

You should of went to management on the lady...I can't wait for the day to see fart marts doors closed and locked...

I know in a lot of bar/restaurant if you go to the bar and ask for 2 beers, sometimes they will ask to see the second ID.. but I've never had it happen in a retail store... and now that I'm in my 40s, it doesn't happen at bars much any more either...

i just checked the Ohio Revised Code section on Liquor/Alcohol and saw nothing about all the parties needing positive ID, just the buyer. I'm no lawyer, but I think she convinced herself of a law that doesn't exist.

After looking at the Ohio Revised Code, I can't find anything that covers this:
http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/4301

I do not believe that is a state law. I can buy a drink at a table in a restaurant with minors at the table. My sister in law bought a drink when we all went to dinner last time. W#e had her 4 kids with us. They are all under 21.

Actually, reading the Ohio law, a person over the age of 21 can legally buy liquor for his/her spouse under the age of 21. A parent can also legally buy a drink for their underage kids, though I cannot imagine anyone taking the chance that the kids are actually the adult's, in accordance with the law.

Here are the laws for servers .....

http://www.com.ohio.gov/liqr/docs/liqr_ServerTraining.pdf

Who knows what the State law is.....sounds goofy to me.

I had the same experience happen to me twice at the Liquor Barn in Kentucky. Sometimes they request to see all ID's and wont sell to you if all people in your checkout group dont show it. Then sometimes they will only ask for my ID.

I was refused once at Walmart. Had a cart full of groceries, 1 bottle of Jäger, and my daughter who is under 21. I left the cart and everything there, bought nothing. She said it was a WalMart rule if they thought I was buying for someone underage they could refuse. My daughter was 6...

My understanding was that anyone that handled the alcohol or scanned it / paid for / shared in the payment could / should be asked for ID.

Having said that, there are places that have a mandatory everyone is ID'd. You can have gray hair, use a walker and carry a Golden Buckeye card and Nationwide Arena will card you for beer. Thats a big income stream for them and they will not risk it. Servers get fired for not carding.

Also.. all the rights rest with the seller. The bartender / server etc.. can refuse to sell to you for just about any reason whatsoever.

That's fine and all, but if something is not state law, don't pass the buck and say that it is.

Liability is more of the issue here as if someone was 21 and they happened to buy alcohol with their friend present, there are plenty of liability issues involved. In California, we could be held liable under law for causing the alcohol to be sold to the underage person, though store policies do differ on this.

Where I work, we card the whole group, though we are close to a college and get this all the time. Normally, they are all in the 20's to begin with and all look young. If the purchaser looks older, I don't raise much of a stink if it appears that he is just taking his daughter shopping with him. Most of the time it is quite obvious they are family. But as store policy goes, we can refuse sales for these reasons and others. Company policy is to only take US or Canadian ID, even though California law does allow for foreign passports from anywhere. Our store is a little lax on that even due to the college that caters to foreign students, though we can still deny if we feel that it is questionable. When it comes to alcohol sales, many stores will try as much as they can to limit underage sales as it is a huge liability issue. It's simply not worth risking it for most people and if store policy dictates it strictly, then the cashier is going to adhere to it, though I'm sure the cashier here was probably explained the rule in a poor fashion. State law may not require you to check everyone's id, but state law can still be problematic if you cause the sale of alcohol that gets furnished to an underage drinker and beyond that if it is not clearly written out in your state law book, there is the liability of lawsuits. People will try to find someone to blame if their little Johnny or Sally who was underage went out drinking, got drunk and got killed in the process and often it's not going to be the friend but the store with a deeper pocketbook.

In Ohio the can not refuse to sell it to a person over 21 no matter who is with them, and in Ohio it is legal for a Husband to purchase booze and give it to their wife or children if they are under the legal age. I use to purchase drinks for my wife all the time at bars when we 1st got married and she was only 17, and for my daughter when we allowed her to drink when she was 16.

I would have a problem selling liquor to someone for their underage wife/husband/child. In fact, I probably would not do so.

Sounds more like a store policy that was misinterpreted by the clerk. In other words, human error.

You're not talking state law. You are talking common law liability. State law is codified. It just so halpens that all states except one follow common law as well. It's an English thing that carried over here.

It sounds like stores may just be afraid of getting sued at all and the mere possibility of being held liable. I'd still argue the store did nothing wrong by selling alcohol to someone over the age of 21, which just so happens to be permissible under state law. What duty did the store breach which caused damage?

Wow, interesting. I'm obviously not familiar with California, but that's some rather interesting wording.