Is “Force-purchasing” legal?

[Rory640]

Hello,

 

I need your help with something.

 

I run a hardware and DIY shop.

 

A man came in and wanted to buy superglue.

 

I was supposed to ask for ID from people who looked under 25 when buying age restricted products, even though the man looked over 18.

 

But the man just put the money on the counter and walked out with the glue, in fact slightly more than what the glue cost.

 

I asked the shopkeeper next door if this was legal. She told me that “Force-purchasing” wasn't legally actionable and that the man had paid.

 

On some further research, I gather that force-purchasing is where a person pays the listed price for something but the sale wasn't approve by the seller. Legally it seems like a grey area. Possibly I could take civil action.

 

What do you think? Is it legal? What action I could take in the future? I need a second opinion.

 

Regards,

 

Rory

Edited December 2, 2022 by Rory640

[theberengersniper]

I'm afraid I can't answer your specific question, but a point worth making all the same is, as with all age-restricted products, liability for the sale of them to people under age lies with you, and not the shop as an entity. Therefore this issue with 'force purchasing' is potentially a serious issue and one you'd want to prevent in future for this reason, never mind any additional ones.

 

Edit: I do appreciate that in this case the purchaser appeared genuinely old enough to purchase, my point was more general.

Edited December 2, 2022 by theberengersniper

[Rory640]

12 hours ago, theberengersniper said:

I'm afraid I can't answer your specific question, but a point worth making all the same is, as with all age-restricted products, liability for the sale of them to people under age lies with you, and not the shop as an entity. Therefore this issue with 'force purchasing' is potentially a serious issue and one you'd want to prevent in future for this reason, never mind any additional ones.

 

Edit: I do appreciate that in this case the purchaser appeared genuinely old enough to purchase, my point was more general.

Thanks. Do you think I should report it to the police? I know they don't like people wasting their time with all the rising crime they have to deal with and the lack of recourses.

[Ethel Street]

I'm afraid I've never heard of 'force purchasing' and I'd think it was only possible if you have age restricted products on open display. Is that what you do? My local hardware/DIY shop keeps all age restricted products behind the counter so if anyone asks to buy one the shop asks for ID before allowing the customer to touch the goods.

 

As for civil action it's hard to think what the cause of action would be. Civil action in shops/selling context is usually about monetary compensation for financial loss but what financial loss have you suffered?

 

Nor has the purchaser committed a crime. As I understand it the legal duty is on the shopkeeper not to sell age restricted products without ID. There is no equivalent legal duty on the purchaser to offer ID. So by reporting it to the police (which I'm sure would result in absolutely nothing happening) you are reporting yourself for having broken the law. Not the purchaser, who appears not to have broken the law. So, no I wouldn't report it to the police..

 

I assume you have no idea of the identity of the purchaser so neither reporting him to police nor civil action are practical possibilities.

 

The only thing which could come back to you on this is if the purchaser was a 'mystery shopper' doing test purchases for local trading standards.

 

Maybe reviewing  your procedures for sale of age restricted goods would be the best thing to do? Do your local trading standards issue guidance? Some offer online training.

[Rory640]

13 minutes ago, Ethel Street said:

I'm afraid I've never heard of 'force purchasing' and I'd think it was only possible if you have age restricted products on open display. Is that what you do? My local hardware/DIY shop keeps all age restricted products behind the counter so if anyone asks to buy one the shop asks for ID before allowing the customer to touch the goods.

 

As for civil action it's hard to think what the cause of action would be. Civil action in shops/selling context is usually about monetary compensation for financial loss but what financial loss have you suffered?

 

Nor has the purchaser committed a crime. As I understand it the legal duty is on the shopkeeper not to sell age restricted products without ID. There is no equivalent legal duty on the purchaser to offer ID. So by reporting it to the police (which I'm sure would result in absolutely nothing happening) you are reporting yourself for having broken the law. Not the purchaser, who appears not to have broken the law. So, no I wouldn't report it to the police..

 

I assume you have no idea of the identity of the purchaser so neither reporting him to police nor civil action are practical possibilities.

 

The only thing which could come back to you on this is if the purchaser was a 'mystery shopper' doing test purchases for local trading standards.

 

Maybe reviewing  your procedures for sale of age restricted goods would be the best thing to do? Do your local trading standards issue guidance? Some offer online training.

Thanks. I could ask my local trading standards about what I should do.