Dilemma faced in selling booze

11:30am Friday 16th May 2008

Comments (3)   Have your say »

Your article "Baffled by booze ban" (The Press, May 14) can only be viewed by people in the retail and/or licensing trade as unhelpful.

I am a part-time cashier at Sainsbury's Local, and it is already very difficult to make decisions about licensed sales and face the possible anger and in some cases abuse that go hand in hand with refusing a sale.

Ultimately, the decision to sell or not to sell a licensed product must be made on the cashier's judgement, as we personally face a fine of up to £5,000 in court if we sell to someone underage.

Also, we have a responsibility not just to the company that employs us, but to the local community, not to sell products that may fuel antisocial behaviour.

Sometimes, your judgements will be correct, and sometimes, inevitably, they will not be.

But I'd be interested to know what viable alternative there is? We are just trying to do our jobs, and do them well, and to avoid the many consequences of an underage sale, which include fines for us, our shops, and possible loss of a store license altogether.

Your comment column enjoins us to employ "discretion and common sense". I am confused as to where the cashier in question was NOT showing these qualities. I'd have made the exact same decision he or she did. And let me put this to you, too; if the cashier had sold the booze, and found out later the young gentleman was underage, he or she would have been doubly in the wrong. So in very real terms, we cannot win.

Perhaps you should consider the possible consequences to people on the frontline of the licensed trade before you print articles that undermine our credibility in the eyes of the public.

Leanne Rowe, Customer service assistant, Sainsbury's Local, Osbaldwick, Thief Lane, York.