This actually happened (tesco)
I work in a respectable bar in the centre of town. Unfortunately my ice machine has recently fallen into a state of disrepair, thus i needed some ice for the bar, before it opened for business.

Unfortunately when i came to purchase the ice from the sthelens branch i was confronted by a problem, namely the prohibition of sale of bags of ice to a minor.
Firstly, i am not a minor, I am 27, six foot four, i have a beard and was wearing my work uniform.
At the till the particular cashier refused to sell me the ice as i was not in posession of any identification. So i spoke to the manager and he told me he would 'let me off this once'. He told me it was Tesco's new policy to refrain from serving ice to minors (which i'm not).
So may i ask.... WHY on earth would you class ice as a nefarious product?
You may or may not know, Ice is water that is cooled below 0°C (273.15K, 32°F) at standard atmospheric pressure. It can also deposit from vapour with no intervening liquid phase, such as in the formation of frost.
If so... would i need ID to buy fish fingers?

Maybe it's because Ice can be used as an addition to alcoholic beverages, so in this case will you now place draconian measures upon lemonade, cola or other soft drinks that have the potential of being mixed into an alcoholic beverage.
What about paper cups and plastic stirrers and dare i say coctail sticks?
As you can imagine i'm thoroughly baffled as to why this draconian measure was put into operation within your stores, and can only assume that some one, somewhere has not had their tablets or is playing an immeasurably cruel joke upon human kind.
Kind Regards,
Mr Lizard

P.s - The ice was satisfactory.
(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:15, 17 replies)

The reply

I’m sorry to hear a cashier at our XXX branch refused to sell you ice as you didn't have identification with you at the time. I can understand how confused and disappointing this must be for you as... I know I was baffled when reading through your email. I must admit I've never heard of this in the 10 years I've worked for Tesco and I'd like to look into this further for you.

Please be assured that I’ll contact you again as soon as I have an update on this issue. In the meantime if I can help you further, please just let me know.

Thank you for your patience.
(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:16, closed)

XXX Town
Is that where all of the world's pornos are made?
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:17, closed)

The staff in my local Tesco
have the slightly useless habit of asking how old you are (even when you're not obviously young - I'm 28), but NOT asking for ID.

I asked one of them why and she said that if people were under 25, they were supposed to ask for ID, but if people were over 25 it was fine.

Sounds like a fool-proof policy....
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:23, closed)

I bought a DVD from Sainsbury's yesterday and got my ID checked.
It was rated 12. I do not look, under any circumstances, 12, being a good ten years older and possessing certain womanly features that a 12 year old would be lacking in.

The week before I'd managed to buy a few bottles of alcohol from them with no problems though... What's going on, I do not know! XD
( vix0r was not Matthew on, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:32, closed)

I was asked for ID when buying alcohol free lager
Apparently its the law.
(Rimmer, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:34, closed)

Its not
They just didn't know what they were on about. Unless your in America. In the UK there's different rules for Alcohol Free, Dealcoholised and Low Alcohol.
( Peej, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:37, closed)

They probably didn't believe you were a card carrying human being.
Alcohol free lager....why? The only reason one tolerates the taste of beer is to get inebriated.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:40, closed)

I bought a 4 pack of 0.5% Stella Artois, as I was craving a beer and thought it might be nice to taste and feel like I was having a beer.
It was rank, I poured it in the sink, the remaining 3 bottles are still in the fridge, in case any preggers mates fancy one. My daughter is 2.
( user_names_suck, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 14:29, closed)

To be fair
Tesco must have quite an elevated view of our nefarious youth to assume that they take their spirits with ice.
(dxg, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:50, closed)

I can only assume
they thought you might club someone with it.

Which is an odd line of thinking, since pretty much everything Tesco sells 'could' be used to cause harm to somebody.
(Falstaff's Spiritual Successor, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:53, closed)

I've had my age checked buying blank videos (yes, this was quite a few years ago) from Asda. And my girlfriend has been ID'd buying spoons. I agree, it's either an elaborate practical joke on consumers, or there are some wonderfully simple people programming POS systems who think that all videos are 18-rated and all cutlery=knives.

Thinking about it, these may be the same people that write the regulations for what you can't take on an aeroplane...
(Potedeian, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 15:57, closed)

They just want to encourage you
to buy "Tesco finest" ice, made from the Queen's bathwater.
( Pretender, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 16:09, closed)

Doesn't Queen's Bathwater
sound like a village in Surrey?
( Pretender, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 16:09, closed)

Fucking tesco
They wouldn't sell me a lighter the other day.

A fucking lighter.

I'm 30 years old.
( rofl harris, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 17:04, closed)

Wetherspoons...
ID'd me for a coke at about 4pm in the afternoon a few years back...

Still baffles me...
(Rubber Fish is waiting, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 18:21, closed)

Similar thing
happened to me in a pub near my mates a few years ago.
Asked for a coke and the girl behind the bar said she couldn't serve me without ID.
I didn't have any on me but I asked to speak to the manager who just looked really confused as to why I'd been asked in the first place.
(FootOfTim, Thu 2 Sep 2010, 21:09, closed)

me too!
Got ID'd buying a cooked breakfast in a Wetherspoons, makes you wonder what's in them
(lowzie, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 11:29, closed)

They do that near me sometimes
But only after 8pm, because they boot out all the under-agers by then.
( MatJ LOOK, Fri 3 Sep 2010, 16:44, closed)

Clicked
If only for your use of Kelvin.

That given, I was asked to produce my passport when trying to buy painkillers at a similar store. But was able to buy Becks on my next visit without any ID.
( glasnt is playing herself off., Sat 4 Sep 2010, 3:24, closed)

My local Co-Op
refused to sell me paracetamol and brufen as they are the "same mecication".
(kitescreech still here, Sun 5 Sep 2010, 17:25, closed)