Hi Guys,
We have seen that we have been mentioned in this thread so we thought that we would give some more information and hopefully clear up some misconceptions.
As from the 1st October 2015 Under the Children and Families act 2014 you have to be over the age of 18 years old to purchase e-liquid and electronic cigarettes (this doesn't seem to cover accessories like resistance wire, drip tips etc but it is not very clear).
Due to the new regulation companies selling e-liquid need to be able to prove that their customers are over the age of 18. This is a simple process for B&M's, if the customer looks under 18 they just ask for photo ID. If the person cannot provide ID then they are not served, the same as in pubs, office licenses and supermarkets.
Unfortunately this is not possible for online businesses as we do not normally meet customers face to face. The only exception to this is that if the company has their own delivery service such as Tesco who can verify the age of the customer via the delivery driver.
There are a couple of ways to check someone's age, the way the
cigeliquid is doing it, by asking customers to upload identification via email etc. This method is used by a wide range of industries such as gambling websites like William Hill & Ladbrokes, also subscription adult site such as .... well you get the picture. These sites also use Age Verification companies to perform automatic checks the same as we do.
Most if not all companies that sell products intended for persons over the age of 18 use age verification checks, they just hide it in their T&C's.
This is taken from thedrinkshop.com T&C's
I think it is a testament to the electronic cigarette industry that we are been upfront about these checks and that we are informing our customers instead of hiding the fact.
We use a company called LexisNexis to validate your age, they check information from various sources, such as the electoral roll register, birth index data, GB driving licences and
credit activity data, to verify your age.
As someone said in this thread:
Yes, in most cases there is a credit check performed. This is where people get worried that it will affect their credit rating. Don't worry it won't.
There are two types of credit checks "Hard Footprint Checks" and "Soft Footprint Checks"
Our check leaves what is called “a soft footprint” meaning that nobody other than yourself will be able to see the check. The check only leaves a soft footprint so that you know that the check has been performed. These checks are quite common for ID checks and you also get them when you apply for insurance cover etc. This check is not a credit-application search (Hard Footprint) so it does not affect your credit score. Here is a quick article from
thisismoney.co.uk with more info on soft footprint checks.
We understand that these checks are not ideal and that some people feel that companies are "mining data" or "spying on customer" but unfortunately there is no way around them, it is the law. All we receive is a report with a green light and how many points of reference there are confirming your age. The whole process is automatic and happens instantly.
Trading Standards do not want to see every report, they just want to make sure that we are doing our due diligence. In all likeliness we will only be asked to prove that a couple of customers are over the age of 18 a year.
If anyone has any further questions please let us know.
Dean
