Refused sales log

What you need to know

The plain-English guidance that comes with this document.

• This is the single most valuable document in the shop. When Trading Standards run a test purchase, or your alcohol licence is reviewed, the refusals log is the first thing that shows you're a responsible retailer. A log with regular, genuine entries says "this shop refuses underage sales all the time." An empty log says the opposite — it can actually count against you. Fill it in every single time.
• Log all four reasons, not just under-age. Refusing because there's no acceptable ID, because you suspect a proxy sale (an adult buying for a youngster), or because a customer is too drunk to serve are all refusals worth recording. Each one is evidence of a switched-on team.
• Don't record customer names — a description is better and safer. You rarely know a refused customer's name, and writing down personal details you don't need creates a data-protection problem. "Male, late teens, red hoodie" is enough to make the entry real without holding anyone's personal data.
• Ten seconds, at the time — not from memory later. The value is in the habit. Keep the log by the till with a pen on a string. An entry written three hours later is worth far less than one written as the customer walks out.
• Review it, don't just file it. A cluster of refusals at a certain time, or the same suspected proxy buyer, tells you something — maybe it's time for a word with the local school or the police. The log is a management tool as well as a legal shield.
• Keep the pages. Don't bin last month's sheet — keep a rolling record (many shops keep at least a year or two). If you use an EPOS system that logs refusals electronically, that counts too, but a simple pad by the till never breaks down.
• Adapt the reasons to what you sell. If knives or fireworks are a big part of your trade, make sure staff know those refusals go in here too, not just alcohol and tobacco.