This is absurd. Honestly, as long as the person 'buying' the alcohol is of age it shouldn't matter who enters the store. Banning those who are underage is not going to prevent stealing or underage alcohol consumption. This reminds me an incident where my husband and I visited the Wrest Point casino in Hobart with a tourist friend. The others walked off ahead whilst I tended to my newborn baby and when I attempted to simply walk through the pokies area with my sleeping newborn to find my husband, security made a huge embarrassing scene telling me to get out with my underage child. I was already more than half way through the area and could see my husband - was not allowed to speak to him or continue through to the closer exit as they demanded I return the way I came in. Seriously, I have never even used a poker machine in my life, I was not about to sit down at one with my child. People need to use common sense!
Phil Emanon - 10 years ago
I have been a Security Officer in both NSW and QLD for more than 20yrs.
I have never refused any adult entering a Liquor Store with small children.
Should an Adult be with children aged 12yrs and up, then that is a different store.
But to refuse a Mother carrying her 18mth old child, that is just so crazy.
Discretion here is the key.
There is no chance in this case of "Secondary Supply", so what is the issue?
If it was me in the same boat I would in the future take my business else where.
Peter - 10 years ago
If this happens everywhere then people will start to leave the kids locked in the car which is a greater crime than taking them into a shop
bottle-shop man - 10 years ago
I understand the frustration here guys and there is no excuse for the rudeness you have endured, but this are laws applied to these stores by liquor and gaming if they are not adhered to the people that work here can be fined and loose their jobs, these sanctions are only put in place in extreme circumstances, where the bottle shop has been deemed high risk, in regards to minors trying to obtain alcohol, theft and in areas where there is high factors of alcohol abuse causing problems like damaged to property and people. Coming from someone who works in this industry i have seen mothers holding their children in their arms conceal bottles of alcohol using their child to cover it, use prams and other such objects to walk out with hundreds of dollars of stock and also people steal and then sell to minors for profit and also and lets face it parents all over are guilty of supply their teenagers with alcohol which some of you don't realise is actually against the law. Its a horrible thing to have happen but its something to think about when ur buying alcohol. It is a legal over the counter drug.
Kev - 10 years ago
Where the hell do you leave the child then. Outside so some creep can take them away in an instant. Bug brother sux. Laws gone overboard. Utterly crazy.
.
Belinda - 10 years ago
Abandoning not dining!
Belinda - 10 years ago
Same thing happened to me. Same Belmont store. They are rude about it! Like my 2 yr old was going to buy alcohol. Another lady pushed her 4 month old into the store and was asked to leave as well. It's stupid! If you leave your kid in the car or outside the store, you're a dining your child! When will it end
sam - 10 years ago
I had this same problem yesterday at mandurah store I was rudely told to leave the store by a man pointing at the sighn not explaining to me as to why I could not enter.later my friend explained the reasons why.i was holding my 19month old daughter and my son age 7 was also with me.i do understand the reasons BUT as a mother needing to go in there what am I suppose to do with my children you can not leave them in the car as its a huge fine or leave them running around the frount of the store..how about getting better security who actually look out for theives.or change the laws that the security can use force or pepper spray on refusal or narsty behavior by theives.
tassie devil - 10 years ago
dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. if this mother had of left her child in the car whilst buying her items, someone would have dobbed her in. she takes her child into a bottle shop and then is refused entry. me, personally, i have taken my 12 year old to a bottle shop, but made him wait outside, as at that age, you can. good ol society and the do-gooders have made the country into a place where it is getting ahrder and harder to do anything.
Rachel - 10 years ago
I see where the confusion stems from;
whats the difference of a parent walking in with there 17 year old.
Can the parent still purchase alcohol?
Vanessa Evans - 10 years ago
Had a similar experience at our local bottle shop. My daughter was about 12. My arms were full from shopping and I asked her to hold one of the bottles for me. I couldn't hold both of them. A sales assistant came up to me and said she can't hold that she's underage. She was very rude when speaking to us and flatly refused to hear me speak. Then on another occasion my daughter went to the shops without of her adult sisters and the older one was refused service because apparently she could have been buying for her younger sister. Even when she went to sit outside the shop they said we still won't serve you as we can see her. I understand that people are doing the wrong thing, but come on this is a bit over the top. Why are the honest law abiding patrons being penalised. Don't determine people are breaking the law just because they have their children or younger siblings with them. I don't even drink and buy the alcohol for my husband. I'm fed up this abismal treatment and I think a stand needs to be taken.
Clare - 10 years ago
Our local IGA has bottlo inside so wouldnt be able to do shopping in there if staff had the same mentality as this one did
Belinda kaminski - 10 years ago
Just because there is a minority buying alchol irresponsibly means the rest if is have to go with out or suffer. I'm so sick of this minority rules crap. Ban those who do from drinking simple. They don't want parents leaving their kids in cats but deny them entrance from just doing to buy it?! That's ridiculous. I'm a former security guard and a mother if five. She's coming there to buy it, not drink it!!! To me this is all about being sexist. As I know I worked with quite a few, who had the same attitude. Even when I go out for a night. I hadn't even enters one place and found the guards rude and obnoxious. Hard one of tem say as I entered" should be at home at this hour with her kids". Not that I owe any explanation, but turns around and said you should be home with your wife, not chatting up young women". What's your excuse". I made a complaint to the manger. The security company was replaced weeks later. As they had had many issues with the guards. To many new Australians with no idea how Australians laws work. The fact out women have more freedom then a good majority of those guards. Gets up their noses. No it's no being racist as I married a Muslim. Just stating a fact, as most were middle eastern.
Sarah - 10 years ago
I understand there is a surprising amount of parents/babysitters drinking irresponsibly while they are supposed to be fully alert to watching their children - if a parent came in intoxicated they should be able to refuse them entry with the child. But I remember the car breaking down late at night in deserted area with my older brother when I was in my early teens. We were near a bottle-shop and nothing else so he took me up there out of the dark to wait for him while he went to get reception and call for help - they refused to let me in and left me huddled outside the door terrified. My parents were furious - understandably. They didnt even let me sit on the chair in the doorway so I was at least in eyesight and out of the dark - nowhere near the alcohol. They need the right of discretion.
This is absurd. Honestly, as long as the person 'buying' the alcohol is of age it shouldn't matter who enters the store. Banning those who are underage is not going to prevent stealing or underage alcohol consumption. This reminds me an incident where my husband and I visited the Wrest Point casino in Hobart with a tourist friend. The others walked off ahead whilst I tended to my newborn baby and when I attempted to simply walk through the pokies area with my sleeping newborn to find my husband, security made a huge embarrassing scene telling me to get out with my underage child. I was already more than half way through the area and could see my husband - was not allowed to speak to him or continue through to the closer exit as they demanded I return the way I came in. Seriously, I have never even used a poker machine in my life, I was not about to sit down at one with my child. People need to use common sense!
I have been a Security Officer in both NSW and QLD for more than 20yrs.
I have never refused any adult entering a Liquor Store with small children.
Should an Adult be with children aged 12yrs and up, then that is a different store.
But to refuse a Mother carrying her 18mth old child, that is just so crazy.
Discretion here is the key.
There is no chance in this case of "Secondary Supply", so what is the issue?
If it was me in the same boat I would in the future take my business else where.
If this happens everywhere then people will start to leave the kids locked in the car which is a greater crime than taking them into a shop
I understand the frustration here guys and there is no excuse for the rudeness you have endured, but this are laws applied to these stores by liquor and gaming if they are not adhered to the people that work here can be fined and loose their jobs, these sanctions are only put in place in extreme circumstances, where the bottle shop has been deemed high risk, in regards to minors trying to obtain alcohol, theft and in areas where there is high factors of alcohol abuse causing problems like damaged to property and people. Coming from someone who works in this industry i have seen mothers holding their children in their arms conceal bottles of alcohol using their child to cover it, use prams and other such objects to walk out with hundreds of dollars of stock and also people steal and then sell to minors for profit and also and lets face it parents all over are guilty of supply their teenagers with alcohol which some of you don't realise is actually against the law. Its a horrible thing to have happen but its something to think about when ur buying alcohol. It is a legal over the counter drug.
Where the hell do you leave the child then. Outside so some creep can take them away in an instant. Bug brother sux. Laws gone overboard. Utterly crazy.
.
Abandoning not dining!
Same thing happened to me. Same Belmont store. They are rude about it! Like my 2 yr old was going to buy alcohol. Another lady pushed her 4 month old into the store and was asked to leave as well. It's stupid! If you leave your kid in the car or outside the store, you're a dining your child! When will it end
I had this same problem yesterday at mandurah store I was rudely told to leave the store by a man pointing at the sighn not explaining to me as to why I could not enter.later my friend explained the reasons why.i was holding my 19month old daughter and my son age 7 was also with me.i do understand the reasons BUT as a mother needing to go in there what am I suppose to do with my children you can not leave them in the car as its a huge fine or leave them running around the frount of the store..how about getting better security who actually look out for theives.or change the laws that the security can use force or pepper spray on refusal or narsty behavior by theives.
dammed if you do, dammed if you don't. if this mother had of left her child in the car whilst buying her items, someone would have dobbed her in. she takes her child into a bottle shop and then is refused entry. me, personally, i have taken my 12 year old to a bottle shop, but made him wait outside, as at that age, you can. good ol society and the do-gooders have made the country into a place where it is getting ahrder and harder to do anything.
I see where the confusion stems from;
whats the difference of a parent walking in with there 17 year old.
Can the parent still purchase alcohol?
Had a similar experience at our local bottle shop. My daughter was about 12. My arms were full from shopping and I asked her to hold one of the bottles for me. I couldn't hold both of them. A sales assistant came up to me and said she can't hold that she's underage. She was very rude when speaking to us and flatly refused to hear me speak. Then on another occasion my daughter went to the shops without of her adult sisters and the older one was refused service because apparently she could have been buying for her younger sister. Even when she went to sit outside the shop they said we still won't serve you as we can see her. I understand that people are doing the wrong thing, but come on this is a bit over the top. Why are the honest law abiding patrons being penalised. Don't determine people are breaking the law just because they have their children or younger siblings with them. I don't even drink and buy the alcohol for my husband. I'm fed up this abismal treatment and I think a stand needs to be taken.
Our local IGA has bottlo inside so wouldnt be able to do shopping in there if staff had the same mentality as this one did
Just because there is a minority buying alchol irresponsibly means the rest if is have to go with out or suffer. I'm so sick of this minority rules crap. Ban those who do from drinking simple. They don't want parents leaving their kids in cats but deny them entrance from just doing to buy it?! That's ridiculous. I'm a former security guard and a mother if five. She's coming there to buy it, not drink it!!! To me this is all about being sexist. As I know I worked with quite a few, who had the same attitude. Even when I go out for a night. I hadn't even enters one place and found the guards rude and obnoxious. Hard one of tem say as I entered" should be at home at this hour with her kids". Not that I owe any explanation, but turns around and said you should be home with your wife, not chatting up young women". What's your excuse". I made a complaint to the manger. The security company was replaced weeks later. As they had had many issues with the guards. To many new Australians with no idea how Australians laws work. The fact out women have more freedom then a good majority of those guards. Gets up their noses. No it's no being racist as I married a Muslim. Just stating a fact, as most were middle eastern.
I understand there is a surprising amount of parents/babysitters drinking irresponsibly while they are supposed to be fully alert to watching their children - if a parent came in intoxicated they should be able to refuse them entry with the child. But I remember the car breaking down late at night in deserted area with my older brother when I was in my early teens. We were near a bottle-shop and nothing else so he took me up there out of the dark to wait for him while he went to get reception and call for help - they refused to let me in and left me huddled outside the door terrified. My parents were furious - understandably. They didnt even let me sit on the chair in the doorway so I was at least in eyesight and out of the dark - nowhere near the alcohol. They need the right of discretion.