Problem with difficult customer. Would I be considered culpable?

[Rory640]

Hello,

I need your help with something.

I run a hardware and DIY shop.

Last year, 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 paying 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 gathered that force-purchasing is where a person pays the listed price for something, but the sale wasn't approved by the seller. Legally it seems like a grey area.

I'm concerned I may be accused of selling age-restricted items to under-18s.

I've written to my local trading standards about the matter, but I still haven't got a response.

What can I do if I've been a victim of “Force-purchasing”? Could I report it to the police?


Regards,

Rory

[staffordian]

Not a direct answer, I'm afraid, but is it feasible to keep age restricted items behind the counter? Some shops have dummy packaging on display which a customer can select and take to the counter which gives the shopkeeper control over the sale.

[Mike4]

I'm concerned I may be accused of selling age-restricted items to under-18s.

I very much doubt you have anything to worry about. If this was a 'mystery purchase' by Trading Standards or any other sort of authority they would have asked for a receipt - the opposite of a force-purchase.

Similarly if this bod actually uses that superglue to glue himself to something and the police trace the glue purchase back to you, I think your explanation of what happened means a court would be highly unlikely to convict you, in the highly unlikely event of you being prosecuted for it at all.

Ideally, I suggest to keep the sum of money he left on the counter separate and safe as in your eyes, the sale has yet to be satisfactorily concluded and you can assert he stole the glue.


And may I swerve off at a tangent and congratulate you on running a hardware and DIY shop? We need more of you!

[Clitheroekid]

I've never heard of force-purchasing, and it's certainly not something that has any legal meaning.

However, the supply of solvents appears to be governed by the Psychoactive Substances Act 2016 - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/20 ... ts/enacted

Section 5 states:

5 Supplying, or offering to supply, a psychoactive substance
(1) A person commits an offence if—
(a) the person intentionally supplies a substance to another person

In your case you did not `intentionally' supply the substance. The customer merely took it, without giving you an opportunity to decide whether or not to `supply' it. He effectively stole it, in that he took it without your consent, though he probably couldn't be prosecuted for theft as the fact that he left payment for it would probably negate the essential component of dishonesty.

Consequently, I can't see that you have done anything wrong; neither can I see any need to report it to anyone.

[didds]

where does "the man on the Clapham omnibus" consideration enter this sort of area these days?

Or am I decades behind what really happens

[Mike4]

where does "the man on the Clapham omnibus" consideration enter this sort of area these days?

Or am I decades behind what really happens

He must be dead by now, surely?!

[servodude]

where does "the man on the Clapham omnibus" consideration enter this sort of area these days?

Or am I decades behind what really happens

He must be dead by now, surely?!

Was he called Shirley?
Those gender neutral (but heavily skewed towards lassie) names always throw me

[didds]

where does "the man on the Clapham omnibus" consideration enter this sort of area these days?

Or am I decades behind what really happens

He must be dead by now, surely?!

Was he called Shirley?
Those gender neutral (but heavily skewed towards lassie) names always throw me

Shirley of course being a suburb of/small town near Croydon.

Didds (formerly Shirley wanderers RFC)

[quelquod]

where does "the man on the Clapham omnibus" consideration enter this sort of area these days?

Or am I decades behind what really happens

Congratulating himself on his good fortune in actually getting a bus?