Reader Refuses To Give Driver's License With Credit Card Purchase
Reader Brandon is obviously familiar with number 3 in the 10 Things You Might Not Know About Your Credit Card post, holding firm in the face of a retailer who wanted Brandon to give his driver's license when he bought something with a credit card:
Just wanted to let you know, armed with the Consumerist and a signed credit card, I thwarted the Best Buy minions who wanted to enter my driver's license information into their "fraud prevention database" in Virginia. When asked for ID, I pointed out the card was signed and that as a condition of their arrangement with Visa they could not demand identification. I demanded a manager who sided with me and processed the transaction without identification. Interestingly, I was not asked to sign at all (even the final receipt) which makes me less secure in Best Buy's transaction policy.
That's right. If your credit card is signed, retailers are not allowed to require any additional ID with your purchase. To do so is a violation of their contract with the credit card company. Violators can be reported by consumers to their credit card companies, and possibly have their accounts taken away.
With the high number of retail database breaches this year, do we really need to be giving these chumps any more of our personal information than we have to? I'd like to keep my digits out of the hands of the Russian hackers as long as possible, thanks.
(Photo: Getty)
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Comments:
Good for Brandon. Now, before all of those commenters start telling him to just stop being obstinate and show his ID already, let's remember the excellent point Ben makes about database breaches. To me, this is the best reason I've heard so far to refuse showing further ID with a CC purchase.
i used to work for best buy. starting in 2006 we were NOT allowed to id people because we were aware of this agreement. i guess it didn't get around. also, for purchases under 25 there is no signature required...
Glad to see another consumer refuse to be bullied by the tactics of big business.
KUDOS !
maybe its just me but i put "See ID" on my card and get to wondering if a merchant DOESN'T check my ID. Granted in this day in age, more than likely a thief is going to have create his/her own card based on my number but just incase they happen to get my actual card i want them to check it. Seems more safe if you ask me. What time do you save by not checking ID?
I will say that this doesnt specifically apply to this story as they wanted to harvest the users information, i can totally see that.
See, when I show ID at Best Buy, they don't type anything off of my ID in. And the only thing I've ever been asked is for my zip code. *shrug*
I personally feel more secure with them checking my driver's license but hey, to each his own.
BUT,
The REAL question is did he have to provide his recipt to the goons @ the front door as he left with his purchse ?
@bleigh: Couple of notes: I'm the OP, and when I paid the purchase price was $28 and change. The "you must present ID with a credit card" was printed right across the credit card terminal. I was polite, but firm, and reminded them of their obligations under the contract and told them I'd be happy to sign the receipt and allow them to compare the signatures and display ID if they felt they didn't match...but the manager just processed the transaction.
I don't want Best Buy entering ANYTHING into a "Fraud Protection Database". I wouldn't trust them with a ball of yarn.
So hang on, we don't even know if they were going to enter this into their fraud protection database? It's entirely possible it was just the guy at the POS wanted to look at it?
@simplegreen: If you read some of the prior posts from Consumerist that link to the cards' merchant agreements, "See ID" is not a valid method of endorsing your card.
@AMetamorphosis: Great question!
Question to Mr. Ben Popken: At Wal-Mart if you refuse to show additional identification they are instructed to hold your credit card until you do and not give it back. They will also alert security and possibly the police about it. What do you do then?
@Youthier: I'm with you on that. Although I want them to check my ID, I do NOT want them to record detailed information on it.
@Youthier: I agree. I've never had anyone who's asked for my ID enter anything. They just compare names and hand it back. Personally, I don't know why they bother with even that, it seems to me that even if they are given a fraudulent card they will always get the payment they're due. No?
@kylo4: How about cancelling the transaction and if they still refuse to give you your card back, call the police and report the theft.
PS The thing that gets on my nerves is when they ask for my phone number. Why do they do that exactly?
As other commenters frequently post, it is OK to sign the card AND write "Check ID", if you're concerned. I signed mine in red ballpoint, and wrote "Please check ID" over it in Sharpie marker, which satisfies everyone.
Sorry about not closing the bold tag.
Borders Books in Ann Arbor consistently asks for a drivers license when making purchases by credit card, which I always use. They do not offer the option of using the debit function that would effectively eliminate the problem!
I will say I haven't worked up the nerve to remind them they shouldn't be asking for ID.
Perhaps we could post about Border's practices?
In order to sell your phone # to other companies so they can call you @ dinner time with an offer you just can't afford to miss out on !
I can see Visa taking away Kim's Liquor Store, down on the corner's account but not Best Buy's. Even if Best Buy's CEO pooped on a Visa card from an overpass, they make tons of money from the Big Box stores.
@mgy: Poo poo to you. I was gonna say number three, me and Bladefist will just have to move along now.
I'll show them my ID if they ask, but I won't hand it over. I just want to get out of the store.
The Home Depots in New Jersey have signs at the register that say something to the affect of, "Home Depot requires photo ID for all credit card transactions" I've been refused once when I didn't have my license with me (luckily I wasn't driving) and had to use cash. I reported the incident to Mastercard as instructed here.
"Glad to see another consumer refuse to be bullied by the tactics of big business.
KUDOS !"
Ah ha! But did he show his receipt at the door?
Interesting, I shop at several different Best Buys in VA and none of them have ever even looked at my card, I swipe it myself at the little machine. I'm lucky if they even acknowledge that I'm standing there.
@kylo4: Well that depends on how much time you have on your hands. If you've got nothing to do, wait it out, make them call visa, mc, amex or discover and then look like a fool.
If you're in a rush start with the threats and then call the police.
Either way there's nothing like righteous (sp) furry!
@speedwell: I only give you're comment a 9/10 because you bolded but didnt use and exclamation point. Got me all hot and bothered then just went out with a period.
/shakes head
@Meiran: True enough. I can't say I've had many of these credit card/ID wars and I think it's mostly because I rarely get a cashier anywhere that acknowledges my existence.
When I said "Hi" to the cashier at the grocery store yesterday, she said, "Rrgeher." She didn't even tell me the total, I read it off the screen myself.
@prag:
The Home Depots that I go to in NJ have the machines that allow customer to swipe their own cards and sign on a electronic pad. I haven't had to hand my card over to anyone for several years.
As for Lowe's, I credit (pun intended) them for actually asking to look at my credit card (and flipping it over to the signature side) every time I have checked out even though they also have the consumer-side card swiping terminals.
In both instances, however, the mark that I use to sign the receipt looks NOTHING like the signature on the back of my card - but I've never been stopped or questioned about that.
So if a store requires a photo ID with a credit card, they should be able to use my library card, right? Or my workplace ID, which has no sensitive personal info on it? Both have clear, recent photos of yours truly. I *hate* showing my license number to anyone.
Sometimes I like to ask cashiers if they have their ID on them ...
They usually sputter and look @ me funny but I just tell them I want to be 100% sure that they are indeed an employee of that establishment.
I actually had a nimwit @ Circut City shuffle off to find his manager once while his coworker and I exchanged grins as he processed my sale.
I've worked at Best Buy for over 7 years and there is no such thing as a fraud data base, so I question this part of the story. If a card is signed, we are not to check I.D., period, end of story. If its not signed, we are to obtain a signature and verify that signature against the signature on their picture I.D. These rules came straight from Visa and MasterCard.
I solved this problem a while back, I only go into stores with my Visa debit card and I leave the rest of my purse in the car (unless I'm buying beer). Then when asked for my i.d. I say no thank you (I say no thank you to a lot of questions, my phone number, do I have my frequent buyer card, do I want a frequent buyer card, do I want to donate a $1 to MS, to my zip code - I say it nicely and smile). If pressured to show i.d., I say its in the car and that generally gets the cashier to move to the next step (if the magic no thank you didn't work). I've only had to abandon my cart full of purchases a couple of times (of course I don't shop at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc.)
I got "carded" at a Banana Republic outlet (Woodbridge, VA) last weekend. I am firmly in the "you have no business seeing my ID camp" but my impatience often outweighs my principles.
I kind of held my ID still in my wallet so she could see the name, but there's no way I'm letting them take it and copy down information. My driver's license is required for driving, not for buying stuff.
I get enough junk mail from retailers as it is. Plus, they can still track your purchase history based on CC number so it's not like they even need other info for that.
I think I might get a CC with a picture on it just to avoid having to ever show my ID.
Sheesh.
I will never understand this controversy, or why anyone WANTS to show their ID to random people unless they have to. You're just inconveniencing yourself for no reason: the world is not going to change so that all businesses require ID, even if you think it should. And more importantly, it's not your liability if your credit card is stolen and used fraudulently. It's the credit card company's problem, so why should you care as a cardholder? They have concluded that their current losses to fraud are outweighed by whatever their losses to decreased card use caused by onerous ID check requirements would be.
While I agree that drivers liscense numbers should NOT be allowed to be entered into databases, sometimes it's ok to show your id to a retailer. I work for a small neighborhood boutique in New York City, where there are only three of us and we pride ourselves on knowing our customers. That is-- until we discovered that one of our beloved customers was using a stolen credit card the entire time. (Many people don't even sign the back of their cards!) We had to pay back the credit card company for all the items she "bought", totaling around $1500. Now we ask for ID, not to enter it into a database, but to make sure no one is ripping us off.
But, like Elizabeth D mentions, we generally accept any photo id card.
@kylo4: Good question. What if you forgot you ID and genuinely don't have one to show?
That policy would not go over well, I think.
How ironic that with these credit card rules, when I made a big purchase at Best Buy, Amex requested the cashier had to call them and have Best Buy check my ID....
I don't mind, because regardless of being part of a merchant agreement, I understand why stores like to check and I don't want to be difficult it. Guess you could say I don't agree with the merchant agreement and I think stores should be allowed to check ID on major purchases.
I'm confused as to why showing ID is such a bad idea. I am happy when merchants ask to see my ID, as it shows they care enough to make sure I'm not using a stolen credit card. But if they were to enter my information into the computer I would promptly say no thanks! and get into an argument over it. I'll give out my zip code but not my phone number.
If somebody gets your driver's license info, they can make a fake one for $100 with their picture on it and pretty much ruin your life. [www.ocregister.com] (scroll down to the bottom).
Show your driver's license to no one except an officer who demands when he pulls you over.
Oh, and one other thing: An LAPD detective told me your medical care provider must now delete your social security number from their records. See they do it.
It's almost as bad as the blunderbuss approach at a TSA checkpoint; all for show and for pretty much no benefit at all to us honest folks. Well, fine, it could save you the maximum 50 bucks in total fraud liability (see the awesome earlier post), but that's absolutely the end of it.
That said, I've got no problem with them using my zip code or house number (not my full street address) as a means by which they can do an instant electronic fraud check - which is what happens when you shop online. (Granted, the seller is supposed to decline transactions where this info doesn't match - but many don't because they don't want to risk any false declines, and hence online sellers permit the credit card fraud problem, but that's a different story) If they ask me for anything beyond my zip code, I have found that a polite, "I'd rather not if I don't have to" actually works pretty much all the time.
I'm not versed well in the ways of Consumerist, so: why is it so bad to show your ID to someone when presenting a credit card? Unless there is some sort of fraud vector, I don't think it's worth arguing over just simply slipping your ID out of your wallet, presenting it, and putting it back.
The cashiers at Fry's Electronics here in Houston ask for my ID every time. I show it because it's not worth making a fuss about, and actually makes me feel better that they want to check that the credit card belongs to the person who owns it.
Frankly, not checking ID is an easy way to make purchasing items with a stolen credit card easier. I don't necessarily think checking ID should be a mandatory part of the merchant agreement, but it should be a suggestion, and certainly not prohibited.
Merchant agreement or not, if a store is experiencing high instances of stolen credit card use or charge backs, they have to do something to stop it. This is why ID checks are implemented per store and are not consistent across an organization. And if the store is an independent store, they have no means of eating loss due to crime. We rant all the time about unfair TOS agreements, I would argue the credit card companies are forcing an unfair one on stores just to accept a necessary form of payment. Ask yourself this, "Would you rather a store not accept credit cards, or accept them and check ID?" What is more convenient for you?
These will be the comments, for those who routinely feel the "tldr" fever.
"Who shops at Best Buy anyways these days?"
"If you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about. Quit being an elitist and show your ID. It isn't that big of a deal"
"First they take our ID, then our FREEDOM!"