No, I didn’t steal this credit card so I could come here and get a $15 lunch.
When I hand my card to the waiter or cashier and they demand to see my ID, this is my response. That’s because what they’re really saying, fundamentally, is “prove to me you didn’t steal this card.” There is no other way I can interpret this — and it’s deeply insulting.
When one objects, the first excuse you’ll probably hear is some version of “its our policy, I have to ask everybody.” In other words, they treat ALL their customers as criminals, until proven otherwise. What ever happened to the principle of “innocent until proven guilty”? Or how about an even more basic one: don’t treat your customers like scum if you want their business?
Or they may give you some version of “I’m just doing my job”. Translation: “I’m more concerned about losing my minimum wage job than standing up for what’s right.” I often wonder how far this type of person would go and what wrongs they’d be willing to commit, just because their boss told them to.
Another common excuse you might hear is “we’re asking for YOUR protection”. This makes me even angrier because it’s a blatant lie. When credit card fraud occurs, it’s the business — not the consumer — who loses out.
Every card in existence (as far as I’ve seen) comes with fraud protection. If somebody steals your information and goes to town running up charges, you simply call up your bank and everything is reversed. It’s happened to me, and aside from the minor annoyance of having to call the bank and wait for a new card — I didn’t lose a cent. Who did lose? Each of those businesses the fraudster ran up charges with. I know because, as a business owner, I’ve seen it from the other side of the coin. Somebody buys some stuff from you, pays with their card, and leaves. Nothing seems amiss until a few days or weeks later when you get a fraud notification from your credit card processor and the money is automatically taken back out of your account. Now you’re out whatever products you sold, plus the money for them. It really sucks. So don’t tell me, Mr. Cashier, you’re making me jump through hoops for my own protection. You’re doing it for YOUR protection.
As a business owner I understand the emotional sting every time you get stuck with a fraudulent chargeback, but let’s keep things in perspective. If you run 1000’s of charges every month, you’re bound to get a fraud charge once here or there. It’s just an unfortunate cost of doing business. Is avoiding that one fraud charge so important to you that you’re willing to piss off 999 legitimate, everyday customers?
If a business wants to stay in business, the management need to look at the bigger picture and make decisions rationally, not emotionally. And don’t treat your customers like scum.
Now, while my main objection to showing ID is the moral principle I’ve just laid out (i.e. I’m not a criminal and I don’t appreciate it being implied that I am), there are other good reasons why one might think twice before handing over ID. The most obvious reason is: do you really want that cashier or waiter knowing where you live? Are they an honest upstanding citizen, or a fraudster themselves? Or, especially for the attractive women out there, how do you know the waiter isn’t a creepy stalker? Or, considering a lot of credit card fraud originates in restaurants with waiters skimming card numbers, why would you also give that person your address and date of birth? You’re practically begging to have your identity stolen.
That’s why it absolutely amazes me how sheep-like people are in reflexively handing over their IDs just because they were asked to. I bet I could walk down the street and randomly ask people to let me see their IDs, and at least one or two would do it. That’s how much people are afraid to say “no” these days!
Credit card companies have obviously been aware of the issue for a long time, because they actually prohibit merchants from not accepting your card even if you refuse to show identification. Visa and MasterCard both have rules about this in the merchant agreements that all businesses must agree to if they want to accept those cards. Sadly this is not enforced often enough, probably because most people (and even most businesses) aren’t aware of this.
It’s time to stand up for principle. Don’t let some restaurant (or anyone for that matter) force you into something they have no legal right to. Don’t let some restaurant insult you or treat you like a criminal — there are plenty of other restaurants out there, ones with better management who treat their customers with respect.