blasterman
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2008
- Messages
- 1,802
A personal peeve of mine - stores or restaurants that ask for a drivers license after you hand them your Visa - even if it's signed and there are no other issues. I can understand this when buying a $2,800 HiDef LCD, but for carry out? A couple of weeks ago I ordered some take-out from a big national chain. {Given they just promised to fix the issue I'd rather not give their name} This was a $14 order, and when I went to pick it up the clerk asked to see my drivers license. I asked he why she wanted to see it, and she stated it was store policy.
Well, the first flag here is I've supported large point of sale systems and have have some formal knowledge of handling credit card transactions, security and accountability. Also, given the fact there was nobody else waiting I decided to push the issue:
Me: "I don't see a need to show you my driver's license. If there's nothing wrong withy my credit card, why are you asking for this?"
Clerk: "Well, were trying to fight identity fraud"
Me: "I understand you are following your policy, but it's not Visa's policy and there's no law that says I have to do that - can I speak with your manager?"
Clerk: "Uh, I am the manager"
Clerk then bristles up and get's a bit defiant. Big mistake. I quickly look up Visa's bluntly stated merchant policy on my smart phone regarding this and show it to her.
Clerk: "Uh, yeah..I guess you're right, but I still need to see your I.D."
At that point another couple comes in and I decide not to push it any more because I'm not getting anywhere. I show it to the clerk, grab my chow, and leave. I go home, and send a stern but polite message regarding this incident to their corporate web-site.
It' funny, but friends I've described this incident to are evenly split on it. Some say I was being a pain in the a--, while the other half agree with me. My issue is not the fact it's annoying, but that Visa doesn't require this and sternly discourages their accounts from asking for secondary I.D. Again, I've supported point of sale, and know the rules.
So, why not just show your I.D. with Visa if they ask for it rather than be a jerk about it. Simple, the store isn't trying to fight identity fraud. Stores do this because they can't enforce their clerks to check sigs on the back and if the card is expired or not. So, they make checking a driver's license a policy because it shifts accountability around from their store to the clerk and customer. Statistically I have a bigger chance of identity fraud from the minimum wage clerk seeing both my drivers license and Visa than they do from it being stolen. :scowl: No difference from me flashing my Visa and drivers license to a stranger on the street.
And...it's seems their regional VP agreed given I just got a nice E-mail back claiming it was a store not following rules and making up their own policy. He sounded a bit peeved and that the issue will be sternly corrected. Who knows...I'll stop back in after a couple weeks and see what happens. In any case, think about this before yanking out your driver's license for small credit card purchases.
Well, the first flag here is I've supported large point of sale systems and have have some formal knowledge of handling credit card transactions, security and accountability. Also, given the fact there was nobody else waiting I decided to push the issue:
Me: "I don't see a need to show you my driver's license. If there's nothing wrong withy my credit card, why are you asking for this?"
Clerk: "Well, were trying to fight identity fraud"
Me: "I understand you are following your policy, but it's not Visa's policy and there's no law that says I have to do that - can I speak with your manager?"
Clerk: "Uh, I am the manager"
Clerk then bristles up and get's a bit defiant. Big mistake. I quickly look up Visa's bluntly stated merchant policy on my smart phone regarding this and show it to her.
Clerk: "Uh, yeah..I guess you're right, but I still need to see your I.D."
At that point another couple comes in and I decide not to push it any more because I'm not getting anywhere. I show it to the clerk, grab my chow, and leave. I go home, and send a stern but polite message regarding this incident to their corporate web-site.
It' funny, but friends I've described this incident to are evenly split on it. Some say I was being a pain in the a--, while the other half agree with me. My issue is not the fact it's annoying, but that Visa doesn't require this and sternly discourages their accounts from asking for secondary I.D. Again, I've supported point of sale, and know the rules.
So, why not just show your I.D. with Visa if they ask for it rather than be a jerk about it. Simple, the store isn't trying to fight identity fraud. Stores do this because they can't enforce their clerks to check sigs on the back and if the card is expired or not. So, they make checking a driver's license a policy because it shifts accountability around from their store to the clerk and customer. Statistically I have a bigger chance of identity fraud from the minimum wage clerk seeing both my drivers license and Visa than they do from it being stolen. :scowl: No difference from me flashing my Visa and drivers license to a stranger on the street.
And...it's seems their regional VP agreed given I just got a nice E-mail back claiming it was a store not following rules and making up their own policy. He sounded a bit peeved and that the issue will be sternly corrected. Who knows...I'll stop back in after a couple weeks and see what happens. In any case, think about this before yanking out your driver's license for small credit card purchases.
), whatever, I need to show my national ID card which in order to get, among other things I had to be fingerprinted. Yes, we are all fingerprinted, all fingers. ID cards are mandatory from 14 years old. 
