Had a row in the off-licence...

So, there's this off-licence round the corner from me, been going to it for years to by booze. Anyway coming home from work the other day I decide to swing by and pick up some lovely, refreshing booze. In I go, say hello to the bloke who runs it. He says hello. I take lovely, refreshing booze out of the fidge and put it in my rucksack, then take said rucksack to the counter and get my wallet out. Bloke who owns it then refuses to serve me unless I take my crash helmet off. I've...
a) Been going in there for 6 years.
b)Am clearly about to pay money for the goods.

I tell him to forget it, tip the cans of lovely refreshing booze out on the counter and storm off. Seriously, I am never going back there. I once had this bullshit at a filling station and it outraged me then. I think its the presumption that we must be crims....

So what is the big deal with removing your helmet when entering a business in the UK? Quite frankly I personally find it a bit odd to walk into any structure with a helmet on. Business or other wise.
Just asking...

Sometimes you have to get into the other persond head to see where they are coming from. There are too many nut cases out there to take chances. A lady wrote to the local paper bitchin' cause the cops stopped her to chat in the dark morning hours dressed in black with a black hood and large black bag. Well daaa. Look like a duck, walk like a duck, sound like a duck, you might just be a duck. Some times you will never be able to get into the others head because it just too far gone and removed. I found it best to remove the skid lid ASAP when chatting to the cops. That is when they see my experienced gray hair.

Got to admit this pisses me off too.

I used to always wear my helmet visor up into petrol stations etc now all the petrol stations seem to have a new thing about not letting you fuel unless you remove your helmet first even if you are paying at the pump. Whats the bloody point if im paying at pump?

I can get it as a security measure but if im raising my visor and paying at pump why do i need to remove my helmet yet some muslim women with a full face thingy can walk in there and buy something and no one give a second thought... because its racist?!

Yeah, to be honest apart from petrol stations I always take my helmet off when i go into a shop or other business, for all he knew as soon as he opened the till to take your tempting money you might have coshed him one, especially as you already had the beer bagged up ready to do a runner, I imagine one helmeted biker looks the same as any other so probably didn't know it was you and I wouldn't be surprised with all the youngsters on scooters these days if he hadn't had any of em trying to buy alcohol underage, if he can't see you he can't confirm your identity or age which to be fair he's legally required to do.

At petrol stations I don't mind so much removing my helmet to go and pay if they've asked as at least i can put it on their counter while I get my wallet out but really pisses me off if they expect me to remove it just to fill up, I'm not putting my helmet on their diesel soaked floor or risking it falling off the handlebar while I'm filling up, next time I'm doing superdans suggestion and putting it back on to go and pay

I refuse to go to petrol stations that make you take your helmet off, but I had to go to one last week cos I was desperate for fuel. So I tried the pump with my helmet on to see if they were going to pull the stunt again.... hey presto, it starts working .. then I go into pay and the guy say's take your helmet off. I told him I already had the fuel and he was a bit late asking me, he insisted before I could pay. I then oblige and told him that I never usually come to his place cos of the helmet shit and would definitely not be spending my money there again. I said Sainsbury's never ask me so I will continue to fill up there

I hate haing to remove my lid in either a filling station of shop. Most of the time I will remove my lid but if there is no where to put it or i am in a rush then I won't bother. Stopped using my local garage as the idiot in there instists I remove my lid even though he knows my bike after complimenting me on it. I hate jobsworths more than anything, so I'll take my money elsewhere thanks. My local Tesco Metro is somewhere i have been using for about 5 years. One night I walk in, its fooking freezing, I'm cold and just wanna get home. The women behind the counter knows who I am as I'm in there most nights. She refuses to take my money till i remove my lid. I ask the guy on the next till if he'll take my money and he says yes. The look on her face was a picture as I move my good to his till and she has to cancel the order. Stupid jobsworth baitch

I can understand why the guy in the offy asked, simply because he would not have been able to tell 1) who you were with your helmet on if he hasn't seen you in it before. 2) because if he didn't recognize you, how could he tell if you were under-age (it being an offy 'n' all).

I stated #1 because there have been a fair few times when I've been on Guard Duty at my camp and a bike that I don't recognize has come to the gate, I asked the rider for ID and vehicle pass as usual (Personally I don't ask them to remove the helmet but know others do because it is a Military camp that they are trying to gain access to), I then have a look at the ID and its a mate/colleague that I see every day. New bike + no facial recognition = asking for ID.

Going on from that, I have had riders with dark visors still down or shades on come to the gate , I ask for the visor to be lifted/shades removed. As long as I can see their eyes, I can normally tell if they match their ID.

On a second note, I too don't like taking my helmet off for fuel, and because I've normally got plugs in, I can't hear them over the tannoy so they get narked and either 1) start waving franticly or 2) come out of their little hidy hole to have a go at me, which I then reply along the lines of "Oh, sorry but I couldn't hear you. Can I have my fuel now?".

I can understand why they do it, as in incase you do a runner and they can't identify you. But it does piss me off if paying at the pump and the fact that they don't say anything about the "Ninjas" due to not wanting to be racist.

My advice would be to wear a Burka underneath your helmet.
Just imagine the jobsworths face when you obey them and remove your helmet.
They cant do a thing about it in this country,unlike France. Hahahaha

You should go back in there without your lid on and rob the bastard. That would really mess with his head!!

Ha!!

Never take my lid off when buying petrol , never had a problem , I pay at the pump with a CC. Perhaps you lads over the pond need to suggest to your local petrol stations to spend a few pounds and install credit card readers

I wear a Nolin flip up on many occasions and this exposes enough of your face to keep the fear out of suspecting hearts. I would go back to the store and become more acquainted with the owner as I am sure that it was just a predetermined responce that he saves for all customers that he is not familiar with. It is a shame to leave booze on a counter when your taste buds had been savoring the occasion.
The credit card pumps in the states ask for your zip code to be punched in prior to authorization of fuel.
This would semi protect the possibilty of a stolen card being used. If the person that tried to use your card and did not know what zip code the card came from they would not get to purchase. This is all well and good but I feel like that it is just another way of saying that you need to proove that you are not a thief or else you are.
I truely dislike having to post up my zip code at the gas station that is in my home town, that has the same zip code. If the computers are smart enough to guess you are not the owner of the card, you would think they are smart enough to realise that you use that card at that pump on a regular basis. Save the thief proofing for when I leave my zip code.

I hear what some of you are saying about him not knowing who I was, however, I don't believe that was the case. Even if he didn't know who I was, I was waving money around to pay for the goods, not pulling out a baseball bat. He can clearly do without my business, but it does not have to be this way.
By contrast I went quarter of a mile up the High St to the next off licence, marched in, got beers, kept helmet on, paid and left. The bloke behind the counter didn't treat me like a criminal and we exchanged some pleasantries. I will be going back. Over a year - given my thirst for the hops, this shopkeeper will be quids in...

Just for personal interest, why do you call it an "off license" ?. I'm assuming its a regular bottle shop/liquor store, what is off license about it ?.

Around these parts you take your helmet off everywhere, they won't turn the pumps on unless you do, and walking into a store wearing a helmet will probably have a gun pointed at you by the local rent-a-cop/wanna be hero claiming you are a terrorist.
We used to have pay at pump facilities but they've mostly done away with them now (to make you spend more in-store), was never a problem to leave it on with those.

In the UK you can have an On Licence or an Off licence, the On Licence would cover you to serve alcohol in restaurants/bars and clubs as its being drunk inside the premises, and an off licence or "offie" as we call it is the specific licence you need to sell alcohol in a shop, because your taking alcohol "off" the premises.

I love the BYO you have in Oz restaurants we need that here.

I always take my lid off when paying for goods 'cos I'm a good looking baaastid .................. and then use it to accidently knock as many things off of the counter/shelves as I can.


Seriously, the biggest issue is where to safely put a lid on a petrol station forecourt as everywere is usually covered in diesel, even last night the whole of the unleaded nossle was covered in the stuff.

Wouldn't go in a shop with my lid on, more out of courtesy.

Pay at the pump is the way to go though, especially as you can keep the bike upright to get the last drop in (06 model SD here).

Man you guys are really fooked up over there. I never remove my lid when filling but always pay at the pump. If I'm going in really quick to use the bathroom or buy something then be on my way I won't bother taking my helmet off because it's a pain in the arse to get it all back on with my earbuds in and my music going.
I can't understand why the clerk would wait for you to come pay to have you take your helmet off, by then it's too late if you're up to no good. They should ask for it to be removed as soon as you enter the store. You guys are some untrusting people that's for sure.

i dont understand this , if shops etc have rules about taking off your helmet to get served , heres a point , take off your lid , its not going to kill you FFS , it's just sheer stupid no brained pig headedness thats says otherwise !!! no im going to keep my helmet on , im an anarchist , grow up and buy a brain !!!! im sure everyone has rules and regs in what ever vocation they are in , so abide by someone elses its called being adult about it and not acting like a spoilt 6 year old !!

What's the big deal about taking your helmet off? I am seriously against people wearing the full face burkas as it could be anyone underneath the thing and just be someone up to no good. So holding to that principle I am against going into a shop with a helmet on. Ok you may have the best intentions and a genuinely great person... But these days if you are hiding your identity, you need to be considered dangerous or possible threat.

ITs a sad world but that is how it is

We live in a world that seems to demand that any possible conclusion to a situation must be accounted for. You need to show that you are not a threat or are not conceiling an identity or else you are.
This is tantamount to declaring all persons are guilty until prooving thier innocence. We accept this in our societies in the guise of protecting our citizens from possible harm. Take your flipping shoes off and proof that you do not have a bomb in your feet, cause we know you do. There is a great poosibility that personal freedoms will get whittled away till the cost of doing anything will be doubled from all the "protections" we talked ourselves into needing. The only recourse is to not reward the very techniques that limit our freedoms and our innocence. Do not let the asshole check your reciept as you leave a store, do not shop there if you refuse to stand up for your innocence and send a message that behavior such as riding a motorcycle and wearing the appropriate equipment to protect your health and welfare is not tantamount to robbing a liquar store.

One of you"keep my helmet on because my airs are cold,clumsy fitting airplug,ipod using ,FTW I don't need to show my face wan$$ers may end up having a son or daughter working in a petrol/convenience store and then your precious little views will change.I just cannot believe the shit I am reading from some of you children.F???ing grow up.

I worked in a petrol station when I was 15 behind the counter, I never told bikers to take their helmet off.

I think the point is no one likes to be criminalised and been made to feel they had the potential to stick a 12 guage against the cashiers face. If you were going to be robbed you would not get the chance to ask someone to take their helmet off anyways.

I also worked in a petrol station in my teens. Would never have crossed my mind to ask someone to remove their helmet. However if I did now and a tracksuit wearing scallie on a scooter rocked up them I might be tempted too. That is of course if they even bothered coming into the station and didn't just ride off without paying

the only thing i hate about taking my lid off is that 50% of the time the thing hit the ground... but the good thing is that ive caught the cute girl at the servo watching me