Who was in the right?

**tips** · 27th May 2008

I have just took my lad to get a copy of GamesMaster magazine because he wanted the cheat book that comes with it. Normally my Mum & Dad (who spoil him rotten) buy him a couple of magazines a month.

We got into the shop and my son, who is nine years old, starts to have a bit of a Benny, I took him outside to ask WTF was wrong. He explains that the woman behind the counter is horrible. When I ask him why he tells me that his Nan (my Mum) took him into the shop a few weeks ago to pick a magazine, he picked an Xbox360 one and when they went to the checkout the woman (bit of a kid herself really) says "Is this for him?", my Mum says "Yes it is", and the girl then tells her she can't sell it to her. Much arguing ensued but they left the shop empty handed.

Rightly so in my opinion my Dad goes back down and buys it for him.

I know alot of the games are 18+ but I can't beleive they treat selling the magazine in a similar vain as buying cigs or alchohol for a juvenile.

Was it correct of her to refuse to sell the magazine or should she have sold it to my Mum?

**inspectercoley** · 27th May 2008

Some of the swearing and content in those magazines is questionable but i remember as a kid getting pron from smiths and they never used to question it.

**Over Carl** · 27th May 2008

Sorry I have to say it sound like the woman did her best to do the right thing there.

Can't really expect them to throughly read every word of every magazine and throughougly play every scene from all the demos to see whether this month's has any questionable content, so supposr they should treat as if every month's edition as not for kids if even only a few have contained questionable content.

**evilsatan** · 27th May 2008

Dont demo discs have ratings on them? If so it is still a restricted product. A lot of places do it with parental advisorys on music CDs.

**Little John** · 27th May 2008

If the item is an age restricted item then the shop was in the right.

**Brydo666** · 27th May 2008

It sounds like she was in the right there, but if an adult (Your Mum) said it was OK then I'd have thought she should have sold it anyways - then your lad knows he won't get it on his own and you'll know what he's reading.

DB · 27th May 2008

Another vote for the shop lady here mate, im a firm believer in age appropriate stuff.

**B B Leo** · 27th May 2008

your young lad was going to get the mag anyway! (right or wrong thats up to u m8,) but the girl in the checkout was wrong in this case cause ur mum who was buying the mag was over 18

**blaggard** · 27th May 2008

Originally Posted by bigbadleo

your young lad was going to get the mag anyway! (right or wrong thats up to u m8,) but the girl in the checkout was wrong in this case cause ur mum who was buying the mag was over 18

Yep, bang on there

**tips** · 27th May 2008

Couple have hit the nail on the head. If my lad was on his own then yep I agree wholeheartedly. But it was being bought by an adult.

I suppose you could say "Would that make it OK for an adult to buy Beer or Cigs for someone underage" and I would say no it wouldn't make that OK. But surely a Games Console magazine should not be treated the same as these items.

**neo2810** · 27th May 2008

This is a bit of a double edged argument... Substitute the mag for a bottle of vodka and the tables turn. If your mum had said "no, it's for me" then fair do's but once she has stated that the mag (alcohol) was going to the youngun, the assistant really has no choice but to refuse sale.

**Over Carl** · 27th May 2008

Originally Posted by neo2810

This is a bit of a double edged argument... Substitute the mag for a bottle of vodka and the tables turn. If your mum had said "no, it's for me" then fair do's but once she has stated that the mag (alcohol) was going to the youngun, the assistant really has no choice but to refuse sale.

Part of me was thinking shop should've allowed it as responsible adult was there to make the decision, but thinking the above is what made the decision to post my opionion earlier in the thread. However it would be more accurate to substitute drink with porno/violent film.

**Little John** · 27th May 2008

The idea of age restricted goods it so protect minors from certain material in the case of magazines.

If someone sells an age restricted item to an adult knowing that it will be given to someone that wouldn't be able to buy it then that is just as illegal as selling it direct to them. It wouldn't be your mother or the child in trouble it would be the person that sold the item so would you put your job on the line selling something to someone you shouldn't sell it to? If the seller was the owner of the shop which is the norm in a newsagent then they would loose their business all for the sake of selling your mum/son a magazine.

**doughboy** · 27th May 2008

Shop is right...end of.

all you need is 1 jobs worth council cunt testing them and there's big fines going all over the place.

the 18 is there for a reason too. boobs/flange & rude words...I get the impression many here don;t give a fuck if their small kids see that, but I would.

**matt1chelski** · 28th May 2008

as said, in the tighening of age laws in the past few years, when i was in retail, we were warned, not matter what it is, treat it as a age resricted product, even "just" a magazine. and as has already been said, it would be just as bad as selling it dircet to him one she knew about it being for you lad.

**Charona** · 29th May 2008

Originally Posted by Leo Spammer

the girl in the checkout was wrong in this case cause ur mum who was buying the mag was over 18

When i worked in a shop and if an adult was buying cigs or alcohol that you knew was for a minor you were actually in the wrong if you agreed the sale. Used to see the kids waiting outside for someone else to come out with their cigs so were not allowed to sell them.

So i think the shop assistant was in the right.

**blaggard** · 29th May 2008

OK, it was not cigarettes or alchohol, unless the magazine is illegal for minors she had no right whatsoever to refuse to sell it to an adult for the reasons given whatever her own prefs. I'm in despair at the state of this country and what people are getting away with but a shop assistant has no rights to refuse EXCEPT that it is the right of a shop to refuse to sell anything to anybody, I don't think that was the case here.

**Goldberg** · 29th May 2008

Yep shop is right. Again you cannot stop the mag been bought by someone else and passed to the child but the shop has to cover there ass.

I was in Game the other day and they would not let a lad trade in his games as they were 18 rated and he did not have ID to prove his age! Quite right I thought.

**Mario87** · 29th May 2008

They key question is, was there actually any stuff in there that is not allowed to 9 year olds?

Are the demos for 15+ or 12+? If so then the shop assistant was right, if there was nothing in the magazine that is inappropriate to someone his age (9 yrs old) then the shop assistant wrong.

Have a flick through the magazine and the demo and see what you think.

Originally Posted by Goldberg

I was in Game the other day and they would not let a lad trade in his games as they were 18 rated and he did not have ID to prove his age! Quite right I thought.

See, I dont get this! I can understand why they wont sel to anyone under 18, but why wont they let someone who is under 18 trade in their games?! They're not giving the kid games, they're taking them off him ans they can then just make sure that he doesn't buy a game that is for 18 or over unless he provides ID.