I went to a local best buy store over the weekend. I bought a $149 dollar Blue tooth, called Jawbone.. it soppose to be the best on the market.. i havent used it yet, so i dont know.. But anyways....
They asked me for ID when I used my bank of america american express. This is what happened:

Cashier: "Can I see a form of ID or your Driver's License sir" ( This is key, he asked for a ''FORM'' of ID, its important, stay tuned)

VPofCredit: With a smile on my face, I kindly reply, '' You know, I dont mind showing you my DL, but you know your probably in violation of your merchant agreement. It says, you not allowed to ask for a DL to verify a sale"

Cashier: "With all due respect SIR,(with a stern tone) I am the Sales Manager of this store and I know what the policy says"

Vpofcredit: " Who says anything about policy? Im referring to your company's corporate wide MERCHANT AGREEMENT and with all due respect Mr Sales Manager, I happen to be a Chief Credit Officer & Executive Vice President for a national credit union, so I know first hand what merchant agreements say and dont say in addition to the agreements with visa and mastercard"

Cashier: ''Oh yea!, which credit union?"

Vpofcredit: I kindly show him my work ID with my photo, making sure he can see my title

Cashier: " Oh wow, theres one down the street, are you guys hiring? I want to get out this place"

Vpofcredit: " actually we are, but I wouldnt hire you with the poor customer experience I just recieved"

Cashier: " Oh no sir, I was just asking for your ID, because the computer prompted me to, See Look" And he turns the screen for me to see, and the computer does say '' VERIFY CUSTOMERS IDENTIFICATION"

Vpofcredit: '' Does it ever occur to you that "VERIFY CUSTOMERS IDENTIFICATION", means verifying the signature on the card, against the signature on the receipt? Signing the back of the card is a form of ID. You check the two signatures and if they match, you've done your job. ID IS VERIFIED"

Cashier: '' Oh wow I never even looked at it like that. You know what, your RIGHT, I'm going to email my District Manager about this and maybe we can change the way we do things around here! So ummm.. yeah.., what about the job......"

I finished my transaction and handed him my business card and told him, to apply online, he in turn gave me his business card. I know how his first and last name. ( Im going to make sure, I blacklist him from our CU's employments data base) HA! I know I cant, but I wish I could, dang laws EEO... hahah

Long story short, I wasnt rude or mean, I just proved my point and offered him a different form of ID, my SIGNATURE!!.

tt

He learned the lesson, you should actually higher this person. However, with the type of attitude you have, I would not want to work for you myself.

Just a note, I have seen some terminals that say "Please have Cardholder show ID".

Would that be the same as giving him a rise?

clever

But I think the confusion is when the screen prompts the cashier to VERIFY CUSTOMERS IDENTIFICATION. Identification to me is "a picture" and that appears to be the interpretation by many! It seems that this is becoming more common than ever requiring ID's! It is really draining me!

What a funny story. Too bad most retail employees are not the business of satisfying the customer.

What an uptick recently in ID request. Just today I spotted two more merchants both with signs about the ID requirement.

Something must be going on. I never used to be asked for ID this much.

Of course their excuse is - we have lots of fraudulent charges -- well thats not my fault! Your'e the one who chose to take on that risk by taking credit cards.

It is ambiguous and could easily be taken either way. It was also just a bit overly anal to be so preachy about it.

When was this prompt on the screen at Best Buy when you used AmEx? Was this before or after you signed the signature pad?

Best Buy on AmEx, after you swipe the card and verify the amount on the customer pinpad, requires the cashier to take the card and key certain card digits off of the card into the register. After they do this, it will allow you to sign.

Did the screen say anything else besides what you saw? Was it possible that it had something like "Unsigned cards: Verify Customer's Identification?"

There is a lot of misprogrammed register software out there. Good thing reprogramming is so easy.

I swiped my card, then the keypad asked me to verify the dollar amount, I click yes,. they the key pad asks me to enter my Billing Zipcode associated with this account, which I comply. Then it says APPROVED and I sign, at this point he asks me for a form of ID or DL and you know the rest of the story.

And to your question, I only say the words '' VERIFY CUSTOMERS IDENTIFICATION'' and if I recall correctly, the associate hit another key, telling the register that my ID as verified.