I pit myself for being stupid enough to follow company policy on tobacco sales :smack: . This morning someone from BARS* came into my store. He asked for a pack of USA Gold; I didn’t card him and thus got a red card. The gentlemen in question was a foot taller than me and did not look under 27. It turns out he was 25. Now our company policy on tobacco sales is not to card every customer, only those who appear under 27 and that we do not need to card customers on repeat visits it we remember carding them before. To enforce this the company sends 18-25 year olds around to stores, not actual minors. After the BARS guy left I looked though our manual can confirmed all of this. :mad: I’ve been working retail since I was 16 and this is the first time this has happened. So I’ve just decided to hell company policy or keeping the customer happy I’m going to card everyone from now on no matter what common sense, logic, or reason dictates. Surprisingly most people (including all but one woman) don’t mind. Among those that flipped out at me for denying their sales afterward inlcude; a man in his 70s who doesn’t carry ID, a state constable in his 50s wearing full uniform, and a drunk woman in her 50s. Fuck it. I don’t care anymore you’re clearly over 18, if I know for a fact you’re over 18, or if you threaten to shop elsewhere. I don’t care if I’ve cost the company a loyal customer for life. After work I called my manager and told him and he just said fine (he was also very confused and suprised that BARS sent a male to test us 
).
They normally only send women?
Can you provide the information about BARS that you seem to have meant to include with the OP? (Judging by the dangling asterisk.)
Sorry, it stands for “Being a Responsible Store”. It’s an organization the sends 18-25 year olds to particpating businesses to make sure they’re carding people. They don’t have anything to do with the state.
No worries, I was just curious about it.
As for carding… it’s amusing to me to remember how people reacted in Mass. when the law first passed requiring tobacco sales be restricted by age (I think it was 16, but it may have been 18.). I remember one stormy night, when some mother sent in her 6 yo daughter to purchase cigarettes. She was watching me from her car, and I had to explain to the little girl that I wasn’t going to sell tobacco to her, since she was clearly underaged.
When the mother came in to get her coffin nails, I’m sure you can guess her reaction. 
Ah, I figured you meant Behaviorally anchored rating scales
I don’t know anything about BARS, but when I worked in a grocery store, my manager told me that the local police would typically send a “cleavage girl” out on alcohol stings. I didn’t work the checkout lines very often, but when I did I just adopted a policy of carding everyone who didn’t have grey hair. It worked fine for me, although I did once unthinkingly ask to see ID for a case of Mountain Dew. :smack:
I seldom drink alcohol and don’t smoke, but every time I hear a story about carding policies at stores and bars I can’t help but think about a sign I saw years ago at a Hooter’s:
We’d card George Burns if he came in here.
So this isn’t even an official government agency? Ah, screw 'em. But you would make my day if you carded ME. Unfortunately, I don’t smoke. Well, not “unfortunately,” but you know what I mean.
But that’s bullshit. You’re not being carded because you look young; you’re being carded as part of an official policy of harassment of every customer.
Well, sure, if you’re going to look at it THAT way. 
What does carding legal, of age people 18-25 to buy a legal product have to do with “Being a Responsible Store”? Shouldn’t they be focusing on the under 18 crowd? :dubious:
All Hail the Nanny State.
How do you know who’s under 18 unless you card them?
I don’t buy ciggies, but about 10 years ago, I was carded for liquor. (I was then 35).
He made my day! 
The under 18 crowd doesn’t always look under 18.
Yes, but what is the point of sending out 18-25 yr olds for this “sting”?
Because, as a private organization, they can’t legally send minors to purchase age-restricted products.
That’s not the Nanny State; that’s Nanny Private Enterprise!
Did/do you actaully face any negative consequences because of getting red-carded by BARS? Considering they are a private company, and the information is only going to your store or your boss(es), I wouldn’t worry about it until something actualy happened. At my store, getting red-carded isn’t necessarily a problem, and management would evaluate a red-carding objectively and reasonably. Saying the guy looked 27 and was actually 25 would probably be enough to “talk your way out of” anything negative coming out of a red-carding in most cases.
If it happens again within the next year I’ll get an unpaid suspension, after that it’s automatic termination. For state stings it’s suspension for a first offence and termination for a second offence. If a store fails three state stings withing 12 months the manager is terminated.