Saturday Night Live - Target Store Skit: ID required!

[Continental]

here's the thing...

 

Visa/MC FORBIDS merchants asking for ID.

 

If you want to show your ID, fine...go for it...

 

if you want to hand your wallet to a stranger on the street, more power to you

 

if you want to stick a fork in an electrical outlet, I won't stop you

 

but the merchant IS NOT allowed to ask for ID, and they can lose their ability to accept credit cards if they do so...

 

NO MINIMUMS

 

NO MAXIMUMS

 

NO SURCHARGES

 

NO ID

..and if any cashier attempts to pull this stunt, immediately call 1-800-VISA-911.

 

http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=265954

[gweedoh]

I have a license to drive a car/truck...it is not a permit to use my signed credit card

 

I can WALK/RIDE A BIKE to a store and not NEED a drivers license to get there

 

My ID is in my wallet...the credit card is not

You didn't answer the question I posed, which was "how often would someone happen to have their CC, but no ID?" And by "someone" I mean the average consumer in America today. You're not the average consumer, GEORGE. You've gone to GREAT lengths to make that PAINFULLY clear to all of us, so you can't use yourself as an example.

 

Yes, of course it's possible. We can sit here and dream up a million scenarios where this could be the case, but really, how often does this happen in contrast to the number of CC transactions that are processed every day?

 

Anything less than 5% is close enough to "never" to go ahead and call it never in this case.

[Continental]

Most consumers have zero liability when paying with a credit card, so the prevent fraud - for your own good BS is meaningless. As a consumer using a credit card I'm more worried about the cashier memorizing my driver's license and perpetuating some sort of fraud than I am about some one stealing my card and using it with out my knowledge. Merchants agree to the terms. If they don't like the terms or are concerned about their own personal liability they shouldn't accept credit cards. Signing the card and refusing to show ID is the best way to protect you from fraud.

One more thing! The more reveling information on a driver's license number is your home address. You are telling thieves where you live.

Obviously it is a major security and identity theft risk, extreme invasion of privacy, and a no-brainer to keep your ID to yourself. No reasonable adult would hand over their ID to some violating cashier at Target or anywhere..

[gweedoh]

Most consumers have zero liability when paying with a credit card, so the prevent fraud - for your own good BS is meaningless. As a consumer using a credit card I'm more worried about the cashier memorizing my driver's license and perpetuating some sort of fraud than I am about some one stealing my card and using it with out my knowledge. Merchants agree to the terms. If they don't like the terms or are concerned about their own personal liability they shouldn't accept credit cards. Signing the card and refusing to show ID is the best way to protect you from fraud.

One more thing! The more reveling information on a driver's license number is your home address. You are telling thieves where you live.

Obviously it is a major security and identity theft risk, extreme invasion of privacy, and a no-brainer to keep your ID to yourself. No reasonable adult would hand over their ID to some violating cashier at Target or anywhere..

Extreme invasion of privacy??? C'mon. Seriously....if you're that paranoid about your identity, shouldn't you get a PO Box and use that for your address on your ID? If your position is that a store clerk is going to memorize your home address and come rob you, $21 for 6 months ($3.50 a month) seems like a very small price to pay to protect your family and possessions.

[Continental]

gweedoh - read aloud...

NO MINIMUMS

 

NO MAXIMUMS

 

NO SURCHARGES

 

NO ID

 

...and repeat as necessary until it finally sinks in.

 

 

 

http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/c...violations.html

[Uncle Leo]

Most consumers have zero liability when paying with a credit card, so the prevent fraud - for your own good BS is meaningless. As a consumer using a credit card I'm more worried about the cashier memorizing my driver's license and perpetuating some sort of fraud than I am about some one stealing my card and using it with out my knowledge. Merchants agree to the terms. If they don't like the terms or are concerned about their own personal liability they shouldn't accept credit cards. Signing the card and refusing to show ID is the best way to protect you from fraud.

One more thing! The more reveling information on a driver's license number is your home address. You are telling thieves where you live.

Obviously it is a major security and identity theft risk, extreme invasion of privacy, and a no-brainer to keep your ID to yourself. No reasonable adult would hand over their ID to some violating cashier at Target or anywhere..

Extreme invasion of privacy??? C'mon. Seriously....if you're that paranoid about your identity, shouldn't you get a PO Box and use that for your address on your ID? If your position is that a store clerk is going to memorize your home address and come rob you, $21 for 6 months ($3.50 a month) seems like a very small price to pay to protect your family and possessions.

 

It's a potential invasion of privacy, but hardly 'extreme'.

 

The state I live in now does not allow anything but your literal physical address on your DL/ID, and you have to provide something like a utility bill or something proving that you actually do live there and that it's not a private mail box address either. PO boxes are not allowed. I still get my mail at a PO box, but I cannot put it on my DL.

 

The state I formerly lived in allowed PO boxes, and I did just that.

[gweedoh]

gweedoh - read aloud...

 

NO MINIMUMS

 

NO MAXIMUMS

 

NO SURCHARGES

 

NO ID

 

 

...and repeat as necessary until it finally sinks in.

 

 

 

http://www.mastercard.com/us/personal/en/c...violations.html

Sorry, but how exactly is this a coherent response to my post?

[gweedoh]

It's a potential invasion of privacy, but hardly 'extreme'.

 

The state I live in now does not allow anything but your literal physical address on your DL/ID, and you have to provide something like a utility bill or something proving that you actually do live there and that it's not a private mail box address either. PO boxes are not allowed. I still get my mail at a PO box, but I cannot put it on my DL.

 

The state I formerly lived in allowed PO boxes, and I did just that.

 

Yes, "extreme" was the operative word I was responding to.

 

 

AZ lets you (or did last time I got a DL) put a PO Box on the license/ID. You also have to give them your physical address on the application, but you can choose to have a different address appear on the ID.

[Uncle Leo]

It's a potential invasion of privacy, but hardly 'extreme'.

 

The state I live in now does not allow anything but your literal physical address on your DL/ID, and you have to provide something like a utility bill or something proving that you actually do live there and that it's not a private mail box address either. PO boxes are not allowed. I still get my mail at a PO box, but I cannot put it on my DL.

 

The state I formerly lived in allowed PO boxes, and I did just that.

Yes, "extreme" was the operative word I was responding to.

 

AZ lets you (or did last time I got a DL) put a PO Box on the license/ID. You also have to give them your physical address on the application, but you can choose to have a different address appear on the ID.

 

California was the state I was referring to. They do the same thing AZ does.

 

Iowa, where I live now, does not allow that. Trust me, I tried when I moved here. Iowa also makes you put your full legal name and everything, whereas in CA I just used my middle initial instead of my whole middle name.

Edited November 13, 2008 by Uncle Leo

[GEORGE]

I have a license to drive a car/truck...it is not a permit to use my signed credit card

 

I can WALK/RIDE A BIKE to a store and not NEED a drivers license to get there

 

My ID is in my wallet...the credit card is not

You didn't answer the question I posed, which was "how often would someone happen to have their CC, but no ID?" And by "someone" I mean the average consumer in America today. You're not the average consumer, GEORGE. You've gone to GREAT lengths to make that PAINFULLY clear to all of us, so you can't use yourself as an example.

 

Yes, of course it's possible. We can sit here and dream up a million scenarios where this could be the case, but really, how often does this happen in contrast to the number of CC transactions that are processed every day?

 

Anything less than 5% is close enough to "never" to go ahead and call it never in this case.

THE DRIVERS LICENSE IS IN MY WALLET

 

(in my pants pocket)

 

My card is in my hand or in my shirt pocket

 

GET IT???

Edited November 13, 2008 by GEORGE

[Uncle Leo]

I have a license to drive a car/truck...it is not a permit to use my signed credit card

 

I can WALK/RIDE A BIKE to a store and not NEED a drivers license to get there

 

My ID is in my wallet...the credit card is not

You didn't answer the question I posed, which was "how often would someone happen to have their CC, but no ID?" And by "someone" I mean the average consumer in America today. You're not the average consumer, GEORGE. You've gone to GREAT lengths to make that PAINFULLY clear to all of us, so you can't use yourself as an example.

 

Yes, of course it's possible. We can sit here and dream up a million scenarios where this could be the case, but really, how often does this happen in contrast to the number of CC transactions that are processed every day?

 

Anything less than 5% is close enough to "never" to go ahead and call it never in this case.

THE DRIVERS LICENSE IS IN MY WALLET

 

(in my pants pocket)

 

My card is in my hand or in my shirt pocket

 

GET IT???

 

No. I don't get it. Your license is with you, and your arm isn't broken, so you could easily reach in your pocket and get it. Your point, as a stand-alone point, has zero relevance.

[gweedoh]

I have a license to drive a car/truck...it is not a permit to use my signed credit card

 

I can WALK/RIDE A BIKE to a store and not NEED a drivers license to get there

 

My ID is in my wallet...the credit card is not

You didn't answer the question I posed, which was "how often would someone happen to have their CC, but no ID?" And by "someone" I mean the average consumer in America today. You're not the average consumer, GEORGE. You've gone to GREAT lengths to make that PAINFULLY clear to all of us, so you can't use yourself as an example.

 

Yes, of course it's possible. We can sit here and dream up a million scenarios where this could be the case, but really, how often does this happen in contrast to the number of CC transactions that are processed every day?

 

Anything less than 5% is close enough to "never" to go ahead and call it never in this case.

THE DRIVERS LICENSE IS IN MY WALLET

 

(in my pants pocket)

 

My card is in my hand or in my shirt pocket

 

GET IT???

You're not the average consumer.

 

Do you GET IT???

[GEORGE]

ARE YOU SAYING I AM A THIEF???

 

ARE YOU THE POLICE??? NO

 

IS IT REQUIRED BY LAW TO SHOW IT TO A CASHIER??? NO

 

IF I WAS GOING ON A JET THAT WOULD BE DIFFERENT...IT IS REQUIRED BY LAW TO SHOW IT (sort of)

 

(didn't show it once since 09/11 and STILL got on the plane)

 

I forgot where I had it...I have no use for it unless I fly on a jet/plane (a secret place in my wallet)

Edited November 14, 2008 by GEORGE

[GEORGE]

I have a license to drive a car/truck...it is not a permit to use my signed credit card

 

I can WALK/RIDE A BIKE to a store and not NEED a drivers license to get there

 

My ID is in my wallet...the credit card is not

You didn't answer the question I posed, which was "how often would someone happen to have their CC, but no ID?" And by "someone" I mean the average consumer in America today. You're not the average consumer, GEORGE. You've gone to GREAT lengths to make that PAINFULLY clear to all of us, so you can't use yourself as an example.

 

Yes, of course it's possible. We can sit here and dream up a million scenarios where this could be the case, but really, how often does this happen in contrast to the number of CC transactions that are processed every day?

 

Anything less than 5% is close enough to "never" to go ahead and call it never in this case.

THE DRIVERS LICENSE IS IN MY WALLET

 

(in my pants pocket)

 

My card is in my hand or in my shirt pocket

 

GET IT???

You're not the average consumer.

 

Do you GET IT???

SO EVERYBODY ELSE "THINKS" THAT IS NO BIG DEAL TO SHOW ID TO A STRANGER???

[gweedoh]

SO EVERYBODY ELSE "THINKS" THAT IS NO BIG DEAL TO SHOW ID TO A STRANGER???

I don't know what everybody else thinks.

Why don't you answer my questions?

[GEORGE]

SO EVERYBODY ELSE "THINKS" THAT IS NO BIG DEAL TO SHOW ID TO A STRANGER???

I don't know what everybody else thinks.

Why don't you answer my questions?

Next time provide the answer you expect in the question so you won't have to COMPLAIN

[GEORGE]

I'M NOT GONNA' SHOW MY ID FOR ANY REASON UNLESS IT IS REQUIRED BY LAW

[GEORGE]

Can somebody tell me what the BENEFIT is for showing ID on my signed credit cards???

 

...ESPECIALLY since my drivers license was signed 15 to 20 years ago

 

The credit card was signed in the past 3 years or less

 

WHAT IS MORE ACCURATE???

Edited November 14, 2008 by GEORGE

[gweedoh]

SO EVERYBODY ELSE "THINKS" THAT IS NO BIG DEAL TO SHOW ID TO A STRANGER???

I don't know what everybody else thinks.

Why don't you answer my questions?

Next time provide the answer you expect in the question so you won't have to COMPLAIN

Any answer at all would be a start.

[Sardo Neumspa]

Point is, if a thief is anything but a total salamander, he'll have already either gotten a fake ID before he goes to use the cards he stole, or he'll have cloned the info off the mag stripe on the card he stole to a new card, WELL BEFORE you ever get to see his smiling face. For a real CC fraudster, checking his ID isn't gonna do squat.

I'm not sure what is required to be considered a "real" CC fraudster, but for the majority of credit card fraud that takes place at brick-n-mortar stores, the person presenting the card got it by stealing it, which means they'll usually have the remaining contents of the victim's wallet/purse, which also means they'll also have a non-MacGyver matching ID. I'm pretty sure the victims of these crimes would describe their experiences as "real". That being said, brick-n-mortar CC fraud is a very small percentage of the total. Most of it takes place online where a matching ID is irrelevant, but so is a signature for that matter.

 

So, the net result of your insistence on IDs is probably very unlikely to stop an actual CC thief and a lot more likely to inconvenience and P.O. your true customers. Especially if they forgot their license or something. Plus, as stated here, it is definitely against the issuer's policies, and eventually someone will probably report you.

On a scale of 1-to-10, I would rate showing my ID to make a CC purchase a 2 and having to deal with post-911 security measures at the airport a 9. We all rolled over on having our privacy rights violated because we were told it makes us safer. Just as an "actual CC thief" is unlikely to be discouraged by a merchant asking for ID, "actual" terrorists aren't going to attack us using our airports anymore. Yet we all wait hours and hours at our airports clinging to the idea that we're safer for it.

 

By the way, how often would someone happen to have their CC, but no ID? This is a ridiculous argument.

 

The multibillion dollar CC companies already fully protect their customers from fraud and unauthorized use, they really don't need a checkout clerk to help them out.

I agree, however, I believe the merchants are doing this for their own protection.

 

To attemp to answer your question... I would say that maybe 10% or less of the individuals with a CC would not have an ID. However, that does not matter anyway. 90% of all merchants refuse to accept credit cards properly and open themselves up to credit card fraud all of the time, including the retailer I work for. Proper acceptance is to compare the signatures on the bottom of the credit card slip to the signature on the back of the card. If they match (or are relatively close) then the transaction is good. If they do not, and if the charge is disputed, it WILL result in a chargeback. The retailer's argument that "Well, we checked the ID of the customer" would be irrelavent. I would rate airport post security measures a 9, and showing identification an 8. The reason is there are also dishonest employees. You pay with your credit card so you give the clerk your number. Now you show the clerk your identification, now they have your birthdate, DL number, full address, zip code, etc... Pretty much what they need to use your card fraudelently online. Also they potentially could attempt to open accounts with that information. Despite popular belief, a SS number is not necessarily needed to run a credit report. There are people out there with photographic memories - my best friend has one.

[GEORGE]

SO EVERYBODY ELSE "THINKS" THAT IS NO BIG DEAL TO SHOW ID TO A STRANGER???

I don't know what everybody else thinks.

Why don't you answer my questions?

Next time provide the answer you expect in the question so you won't have to COMPLAIN

Any answer at all would be a start.

ASK FOR DOUBLE YOUR MONEY BACK that you paid to get the answer

[Uncle Leo]

SO EVERYBODY ELSE "THINKS" THAT IS NO BIG DEAL TO SHOW ID TO A STRANGER???

I don't know what everybody else thinks.

Why don't you answer my questions?

Next time provide the answer you expect in the question so you won't have to COMPLAIN

Any answer at all would be a start.

ASK FOR DOUBLE YOUR MONEY BACK that you paid to get the answer

 

Translation: You painted me into a corner and I don't have an answer.

[Continental]

I try to avoid unnecessary problems by advocating procedures that are in place to protect consumers and most importantly my family. Arguing with a clerk is not necessary. If they want the ID I tell them I'm not showing it and they can either complete the transaction or I'll take my business somewhere else.

No one should be inconvenienced by having to shop elsewhere. The most important thing is making sure it never happens again and if any violating merchant pops-up in your community, make sure they are eliminated/brought back into line immediately - 1-800-VISA-911.

[Continental]

if I choose not to show my ID, I'll walk away....end of problem

No, not "end of problem", most importantly REPORT the violating merchant immediately so that no one else ever has to be put through such nonsense again - 1-800-VISA-911.

[GEORGE]

Just walk away and do nothing else...THEY WILL CONTINUE TO DO THE WRONG THING