Ignacio writes:
I wanted to inform consumerist that the manager from the Apple Store at Stonestown called me back to apologize about the incident and to invite me back to the store. She apologized for the employees making ID a requirement of purchase and that they were doing it to protect from fraud. She then mentioned that they understand they were not following the merchant agreements but will do so here on out. I will go back to make my purchase!
Thanks for your support,
Ignacio
Ah, we love a happy ending.
(Photo:PhotoMarkR)
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@floyderdc: What if you don’t have your ID on you, since you KNOW for a fact that all you need to make a credit card purchase is your card, and your signing hand? In that case, you can’t show your ID.
Of course, I worked in a bay area Apple Store, and we all knew this policy, so this is just Stonestown’s mess up.
@ludwigk:
I always carry my ID everywhere I go, have since I was 16. Why would you leave the house without your ID?
@racermd: “Even the ones that actually do check it probably aren’t trained to spot a subtly different signature between the card and slip.“
And for this I’m quite glad. I can’t write my signature twice without it containing major differences, let alone subtle ones.
@humphrmi: Due to several factors (including my job), I’d prefer people NOT know where I live, hence my resistance to showing an ID unless it’s absolutely not avoidable. Besides, IDs are anything but foolproof — we used to make fake IDs that looked even more realistic than the DMV’s in high school as an underground yearbook fundraiser, long before the days of modern computers and inkjet printers.
Here we go again. Can’t we just associate new stories on this topic with a prior comment thread about it to save us all a lot of time?
Thanks.
@racermd:
This is also not a good thing. About a week ago I was trying to do a wire transfer through my bank. (why is a long story) anyway I faxed a page to my bank asking them to do it. Three times, all three they said my signature did not match what they had on file. I do not know what was wrong with it, but I could not sign the paper the “right” way. I think you would be the first to complain on this site how some clerk did not take your card because your signature did not match.
@floyderdc: Let me ask you the same basic question — Why would you leave your house with an ID?
To the best of my knowledge, despite appearances America isn’t legally a police state (yet). There’s no SS mandating that people wear/carry identification with them 24/7.
I’ve spent much of my life the public eye and managed to stay relatively anonymous and maintain my privacy despite this fact. I prefer it stay that way, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to do. I’ll grab onto any shred of privacy / barrier to the spread of my info that I can at this point.
This debate is making my eyes hurt. But I can’t stop myself from posting!
I was shocked (shocked!) that the Dollar Store in Rehoboth Beach, DE only accepts Visa and Discover. No MC?! No Amex?!
Now I know why. All those shifty dollar store customers making off with tens of dollars worth of cc fraud merch!
Seriously, I am glad Nacio got his apology and the stuff he needed real bad. Here’s to Apple following the rules!
@WillScarlett: One word Ghetto!!
Please, Apple people reading this: continue to ask to see (not write down, tho) ID for CC purchases. A minor speedbump to pros, surely, but a great way to weed out the meth-head, purse-snatching types.
@ShadowFalls: Remember, it isn’t just the credit card companies that get a headache when your card is compromised, you get one too.
Do you say this from personal experience? I have had my card compromised and it was not a headache at all. Perhaps you’re thinking of having a debit card compromised?
When someone cloned my card and tried to use it, Chase recognized it as fraudulent and called me to verify/issue me a new card. Also, when my mother’s credit cards were stolen, all it took was one call to American Express and everything was fixed. They overnighted a new card.
Although getting her money back with her debit card was harder since it required her to fill out an affidavit at the bank.
@ShadowFalls:
Y’know the funny part? None of my Visa cards are signed, and all of them have that “Not valid unless signed” tag on it, and I never have an issue using them, whether or not I show ID.
Granted, I’ve yet to find a pen that I can use to sign the damn things that doesn’t smear and become unreadable the minute I put it in my wallet.
@Starsmore: Try a sharpie.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: having your ID checked is NOT a protective measure. Everyone who claims they feel more comfortable by giving their ID out to strangers should realize that security comes with keeping your documents confidential, not handing them out.
You are ALREADY protected by your credit card company. If you’ve signed the back of your card, then there is nothing you need to worry about. If your card is stolen, simply report it and you’ll get your money back. If your card and drivers license information was stolen, than you have a much bigger problem on your hands.
Besides, if someone stole your card the last place they’re going to use it is a place that asks to see ID.
@STARSMORE: If your card is stolen then you are technically not protected by your credit card company and you are responsible for all fraudulent charges. There is not good reason not to sign the back of your credit card as it hurts instead of helps.
LAF
@sam1am: Wow! You don’t know what you are talking about!
Using a Credit Card You have 0$ liability as long as it is reported within 10 days. Way to know what you are talking about.
I believe if you use a debit card with Visa or MC logo you have 50$ liability and a couple days to report it.
Credit cards offer WAY WAY more protection then debit cards, and you sir are in no way shape or form qualified to make comments any longer since you are still in middle school.
@ecwis:
I guess you have to give it in retrospect to which company you are dealing with. Some have no issues like American Express, while others will give you nothing but trouble.
If you have ever had trouble with a minor issue with your credit card company, it might make you want to think how they might handle a major one.
Stores do that shit at all, i was doing work as a secret shopper for a company and they sent me and some others to stores to specifically purchase items with credit cards ranging from 1-600 dollars to see if they would asked for an id and if they charged surcharges and they did everytime we went to department stores, resturaunts, fast food places, really expensive stores etc .
and then the next day we went back to the stores and confronted them about it and they were lieing there ass off saying that they didnt, and then i told the person you asked for my id yesterday and others about them charging surcharges and fees and we have it on camera within 20 minutes they got a call from a credit card company about it.
…and B drives down the lane…he shoots…SCORES!…F….T…..W!!!!!
@enine: Sounds to me like management just telling you what they want you to believe.
@kaatn: …and put a strip of clear scotch tape over it after the ink from the Sharpie dries, and rub it down well. Been doing that for years on all my card and I’ve never had a problem with it getting stuck in readers etc., and the signature stays as clear as the day it was written on the card.
I don’t get why anyone has a problem with showing their ID.
Think about it for a second: The store is trying to protect you from fraud!
@sam1am: “Besides, if someone stole your card the last place they’re going to use it is a place that asks to see ID”
Yes, this IS the point. If everywhere checked for ID, thieves would have less cause to want to steal your Credit Card in the first place.
@yesteryear: Self-consistent means free of contradictions.
The dictionary suggests I should have simply said “consistent”. Please accept my apologies.
How is this a happy ending? I wish everyone would check my ID. It would make it that much harder for a dickweed that steals a wallet to use the cards.
I still find it funny that I’ve been told over and over again by reatil stores both as a customer and employee that they are required to check ID on purchases when the opposite it true.
I’ve also had card numbers stolen and a local K mart claimed my card was swiped through the reader at their register so I pulled it out of my wallet and asked “this card?” I even asked them why they didn’t ask for ID and first they said it was a small purchase so when I asked how they considered $600 to be small they decided it was a new cashier and she should have checked ID.
I also lost a credit card while working at a grocery store through college, I had been there a while so I was well known yet my credit card was used to purchase items at that store so I asked the store even why they didn’t ask for ID because the cashier should have seen and recognized my name and knew that the person using the card wasn’t me.
I had a debit card stolen through Yahoo’s store system and one of the vendors even lied to my bank and claimed they refunded my money all through the dispute process stretching it out past the two year mark where they legally are no longer responsible so I never got the $200 back where someone bought some stupidly overpriced shoes. That same company (eastbay.com) a few years later charged my SIL’s AmEx card for shoes she never purchased from themr either, seems they have that problem often.
It sounds like I should lock up my debit cards and only use my credit cards and never let anyone touch them or see any ID at all.
Ok, going to visa.com to look for something stating that I shouldn’t be showing ID I find this:
“Don’t volunteer any personal information when you use your credit card, other than by displaying personal ID as requested by a merchant.”
So it looks like they are ok with showing ID, where does it state otherwise?
I’ve recently been just showing my work ID which is just a badge with my picture and name and nothing else, not even the company name.
@B:
oh god…I read that at my workbench with 1/2 a macbook on my lap and nearly dropped the damn thing I was laughing so hard. even had to step away from my desk for a few minutes
comment of the week right there
@northernplateguy: “And to the chuckleheads who say that they would refuse my purchase if I refused to show ID on the basis of “acting suspicious” or that they have the “right to refuse service to anyone” you just earned yourself another check on my report to MasterCard.”
I bet you’re fun at parties.
If I DON’T get asked for ID next time I shop at an Apple store (big ticket item store) I will be filing a complaint. Asking for ID protects me (a victim of fraud in the past) and other cardholders and the ID info isn’t actually recorded – the clerk just compares the photo to you and name to the credit card you’re paying with.
Seems like people don’t care about crime or its victims and will whine if they have to spend one lousy extra minute in a store. Bet it took more time than that to make the complaint in the first place. Geez.
@m0unds: You’re protecting your DL number from people who can memorize numbers quickly.
The real solution to this is to just put people’s photo on the card. I know some credit cards already offer this but they should all do it for both credit and debit cards as a matter of security. After all, if I steal someone’s credit card what’s to stop me from making a fake ID to show when I use it?
I commended Apple for helping fight credit card fraud. They should not have caved because one customer declined to show his ID. That was his choice, and it should’ve been Apple’s choice to decline his purchase.
My credit card was stolen from the mail and used to charge thousands to Bloomingdales (which had just opened in my town) in store and online. To this day I have never shopped at Bloomingdale’s over this. I felt they should’ve asked for ID (which they didn’t). I boycott Bloomingdale’s and have told others not to shop there.
Apple, you should’ve taken a stand against Visa/MC and said you have the right to ask for ID from a customer when using a CC.
Message to all merchants: Please ask for ID when accepting plastic as a form of payment. I promise to not whine and cry about your efforts to prevent fraud/ID theft.
@shadow735: Have you been to that dollar store in Rehoboth? It is seriously amazing.
Particularly in the middle of this recession, I am surprised that anyone would knock a dollar store.
Maybe you shop at Sur La Table?
I also really appreciate it when people ask for my ID. They’re trying to help me protect my identity.
What I don’t appreciate is when I go to a fast food place and they ask for my receipt when I pick up my food at the counter. Do I look so grubby that I’m hanging out trying to steal someone’s disgusting gut rot burgers?
Ok…so you can’t have it both way. Especially for the ones on here crying foul for a retailer checking for ID. When your identiy gets stolen or you lose your wallet – please do not call the retailer and start complaining…..and yes, thats what happens. Whats the big deal to show an ID with a credit card purchase?? Especially for higher dollar items – I wish all retailers would. To post an article about this is ridiculous.
Credit is faster then cash. I should know since I`m a cashier. It is only faster then cash when you actually SIGN THE DAMN CARD! If people actually signed their cards and not put “See I.D.” I will not hassle you about seeing your license/id/etc/ for a signature, and then ask you to sign your name on the card to make sure its really you.
/end rant
Visa needs to fix the conflicting rules. I have read that merchant still ask for cards that had a photo on them. Myself, I had the opposite happen, they thought the photo id credit card was fake and refused to take it. So, I had to request another one without it. I wish we would go to chip & pin then you would not have to worry about not or showing id. Other countries do allow merchants to ask for ID.