Leaving a venue with un-opened drinks

[Guest2]

In UK, are you legally allowed to leave a venue with un-opened drinks?

My partner just left a venue (First Direct arena in Leeds) from an event with an un-opened bottle of wine which was paid for. On the way out, she had it taken off her my security. Isnt that theft?

 

[IronWarrior]

It's theft, they can't take things from you if you are leaving, that makes no sense.

They can take things from you when you choose to enter, they also can't search you, but they can refuse you entry if you refuse these requests.

 

[GreatAuk]

I imagine there will be something in the terms and conditions of the tickets that say you're not allowed to take drinks out of the venue or something. Never heard of there being a general legal reason you wouldn't be able to though.

Might be something linked to their alcohol licence I guess?

I'd still complain to them and write some bad reviews anywhere you can etc though, because it is completely unreasonable imo. Should at least give a refund on the drink.

 

[chrismscotland]

Not sure about the exact rules (licensing rules differ in Scotland) but I've always assumed its to do with the license given to the event/venue preventing alcohol being taken away.

 

[arknor]

Probably a licensing issue that they aren't allowed to sell alcohol to be consumed off the premises.

but surely they should have refunded it?

 

[Efour]

Yeah licensing rules.

 

[D.P.]

They have a license to serve drinks and not sell unopened drinks for take out.

Once as a student i won £50 to spend at the bar but had to be spent that night. We had already drank quite a lot and wanted to head home so i tried hard to negotiate getting a close bottle to take home. In the process i was given a bottle of cheap whisky but they opened it and said we couldn't leave the premises with it. I don't remember much else...

 

[aVdub]

6. FOOD AND BEVERAGE​

A variety of food and beverages are available at the Arena. Only food and beverage purchased at the Arena may be consumed on the premises.
When purchasing alcohol, you may be asked for proof of age.
We reserve the right to refuse to serve you alcohol if we consider that you are intoxicated or likely to become intoxicated if we serve you.

Terms And Conditions | first direct arena

www.firstdirectarena.com

I guess that might be the wording they need...

 

[ODuffer]

I wouldn't let them take it though. Open it, tip it down the sink.

 

[manic111]

6. FOOD AND BEVERAGE​

A variety of food and beverages are available at the Arena. Only food and beverage purchased at the Arena may be consumed on the premises.
When purchasing alcohol, you may be asked for proof of age.
We reserve the right to refuse to serve you alcohol if we consider that you are intoxicated or likely to become intoxicated if we serve you.

Terms And Conditions | first direct arena

www.firstdirectarena.com

I guess that might be the wording they need...

That's the opposite, surely... The point the OP is making is that if you buy drinks on the premises, you cannot take them out of the premises.

And yes, it's pretty standard licensing rules. That's why an off licence is called that (as they have a licence to take drinks off premises)

 

[Haggisman]

In UK, are you legally allowed to leave a venue with un-opened drinks?

My partner just left a venue (First Direct arena in Leeds) from an event with an un-opened bottle of wine which was paid for. On the way out, she had it taken off her my security. Isnt that theft?

Paid on card? I'd initiate a chargeback (even if unsuccessful, it would still cause them some aggro/admin needing to deal with it!)

I wouldn't let them take it though. Open it, tip it down the sink.

Quite - if unopened then there's nothing to stop them from re-selling it to someone else.

 

[booyaka]

In UK, are you legally allowed to leave a venue with un-opened drinks?

My partner just left a venue (First Direct arena in Leeds) from an event with an un-opened bottle of wine which was paid for. On the way out, she had it taken off her my security. Isnt that theft?

Standard licensing rules.

Purchased on site will only allow those drinks to be consumed on site under the rules of the license. They can not take them away with them. Those will be conditions of the alcohol license. Same at ANY large venue UK wide.

Theft? I think someone needs to be realistic - it's probably a 175ml bottle of cheap wine that was £6/7 or something.

@Haggisman - Chargeback? Are you for real? She purchased the item willingly, but the law states she can not remove the item from the venue. No bank is going to even remotely consider that a chargeback claim.

 

[Haggisman]

Standard licensing rules.

Purchased on site will only allow those drinks to be consumed on site under the rules of the license. They can not take them away with them. Those will be conditions of the alcohol license. Same at ANY large venue UK wide.

Realistically, what are they going to do to actually stop you if you REALLY tried to leave with it? Pin you to the ground and wrestle it off you (assault)? Physically prevent you from leaving (unlawful imprisonment)?

Theft? I think someone needs to be realistic - it's probably a 175ml bottle of cheap wine that was £6/7 or something.

So it's ok to steal something as long as it's only £6-7? The value is irrelevant; you've bought something and it is now being taken from you against your will.

@Haggisman - Chargeback? Are you for real? She purchased the item willingly, but the law states she can not remove the item from the venue. No bank is going to even remotely consider that a chargeback claim.

Absolutely - like I said, it doesn't matter if it's successful or not, you're still causing the venue a headache by having to deal with it.

I can't believe you would actually be OK with them taking it off you? If there was absolutely no way of leaving with it, then TBH I wouldn't even bother finding a sink to pour it down, it would be going on the floor where I stood.

 

[Sythe79]

If their premises licence prohibited off site sales, they really shouldn't have sold her an unopened bottle, if you want to be a pain put a complaint in.

 

[booyaka]

Realistically, what are they going to do to actually stop you if you REALLY tried to leave with it? Pin you to the ground and wrestle it off you (assault)? Physically prevent you from leaving (unlawful imprisonment)?



So it's ok to steal something as long as it's only £6-7? The value is irrelevant; you've bought something and it is now being taken from you against your will.



Absolutely - like I said, it doesn't matter if it's successful or not, you're still causing the venue a headache by having to deal with it.

I can't believe you would actually be OK with them taking it off you? If there was absolutely no way of leaving with it, then TBH I wouldn't even bother finding a sink to pour it down, it would be going on the floor where I stood.

I think you've missed the whole point here.

No one is "stealing" anything from his wife. They are removing an item that is explicitly not allowed to be taken outside of the venue. Just like you can't stroll out of the pub with a full pint in your hand and walk down the street with it. Same thing applies. Licensing Laws are very strict for that exact reason.

the "law" - the alcohol license granted to he venue will explicity state - NO alcohol can be taken off the premise.

I'm completely fine with it.... Security have done exactly as they should do. Remove an item that is not allowed to be taken outside the venue.

Where the issue lies is probably the fact it was unopened - most venues open the drinks at the point of sale and pour them into plastic glasses to stop them being thrown/used as weapons etc. If there is any failing here - that's it.

 

[tom_e]

As others have said, completely normal and I've done the same to people at venues I've worked at. Licencing officers are a strict lot and allowing that to happen could easily see a venue have it's licence suspended/removed.

 

[Sythe79]

I think you've missed the whole point here.

No one is "stealing" anything from his wife. They are removing an item that is explicitly not allowed to be taken outside of the venue. Just like you can't stroll out of the pub with a full pint in your hand and walk down the street with it. Same thing applies. Licensing Laws are very strict for that exact reason.

the "law" - the alcohol license granted to he venue will explicity state - NO alcohol can be taken off the premise.

I'm completely fine with it.... Security have done exactly as they should do. Remove an item that is not allowed to be taken outside the venue.

Where the issue lies is probably the fact it was unopened - most venues open the drinks at the point of sale and pour them into plastic glasses to stop them being thrown/used as weapons etc. If there is any failing here - that's it.

And under the guidance and Police advisement the venue would be t.old not to sell unopened containers, the security hasn't done anything wrong but the venue has. A customer can reasonably expect that if you can buy an unopened beverage, the venue has an off site licence.

 

[Haggisman]

I think you've missed the whole point here.

No one is "stealing" anything from his wife. They are removing an item that is explicitly not allowed to be taken outside of the venue. Just like you can't stroll out of the pub with a full pint in your hand and walk down the street with it. Same thing applies. Licensing Laws are very strict for that exact reason.

the "law" - the alcohol license granted to he venue will explicity state - NO alcohol can be taken off the premise.

I'm completely fine with it.... Security have done exactly as they should do. Remove an item that is not allowed to be taken outside the venue.

I've got no issue with any of that. So give her a refund. The bottle hasn't been opened, they can sell it again, there's no loss to anyone.

Problem solved, everyone's happy.

Instead they decide to be petty **** about it - at which point they're basically asking for people to be petty **** right back at them - an invitation I'd be more than happy to accept

Where the issue lies is probably the fact it was unopened - most venues open the drinks at the point of sale and pour them into plastic glasses to stop them being thrown/used as weapons etc. If there is any failing here - that's it.

Not going to disagree there

And under the guidance and Police advisement the venue would be t.old not to sell unopened containers, the security hasn't done anything wrong but the venue has. A customer can reasonably expect that if you can buy an unopened beverage, the venue has an off site licence.

Exactly. A customer shouldn't be expected to need to know the details of the particular premises licence. The T&Cs linked above also don't mention anything about not being allowed to take alcohol off the premises, so it's not like they can fall back on that.

If you wanted to be a real *** about it (which I might do, depending on my mood ), you could almost argue they've "forgotten" to include that information deliberately in order to engineer exactly this kind of situation, so they can confiscate re-saleable unopened bottles in order to increase profits...

 

[The_Arbiter]

Well you can stroll out of a pub without confrontation with a pint, hence the pint glasses around town.

In an ideal world security should have informed the customer of the rules and that the venue had made a mistake by selling a sealed bottle, so a refund would be issued if they return the unopened bottle.

But because the year is 2024:
Security instead used their bullying methods on somebody who was unable to defend their rights, because of security's laziness and incompetence to behave correctly. Therefore through the use of social media the security personnel and the establishment should be shamed, fined, sacked, and shut down.

I think a chargeback is a reasonable right to exercise given nobody knows the rules we are supposed to adhere to.

 

[Haggisman]

In an ideal world security should have informed the customer of the rules and that the venue had made a mistake by selling a sealed bottle, so a refund would be issued if they return the unopened bottle.

Are you suggesting that the item sold to her was not fit for purpose* under the Consumer Rights Act 2015?


* That purpose being for consumption solely on the premises, with no ability to remove said item from the premises