Asked to show ID/proof of age at local B&M shop

[pappymac]

Walked into a B&M in Metairie (just outside of New Orleans) last year and they guys who know me said some new state regs were being interpreted as they needed to right down the name and drivers license number of everyone making a tobacco purchase. He said the owner had asked for a clarification on that regulation but hadn't heard back from his lawyer yet.
So it may have been either a new guy or a new regulation being enforced.
At the B&M I went into, they just stopped collecting the information. I never asked why and I go in there once a month.
Some businesses do the card everyone thing because they have gotten burned in the past by people who look older than they are, and by law enforcement sting operations where they send 18 to 20 year olds in to buy alcohol and tobacco. It's a hefty fine for both the business and the clerk who sell without checking ID. Some places are even doing it for lottery tickets now.

 

[ashdigger]

I'm 54 and I buy alcohol and tobacco in four different states on a regular basis and I get carded on a regular basis. It doesn't bother me at all. I hand over my ID and it's over. In many places the clerk and shop can get fined heavily or have their license revoked.
Why is this a concern?
I'll give you another scenario. Since I travel quite a bit my credit card gets hacked quite a bit, even with the chip card, so when a clerk asks for ID I gladly show them.
Besides, what were you going to do with those extra 5 seconds??

 

[woodsroad]

I don't mind ID checks at all. Like Tim, I've had my cards hacked multiple times, and I'm always happy when the rare clerk actually looks for a signature on the card and sees "ask for ID". What I do NOT like are businesses that scan or swipe my driver's license. Look at it, ok. Scan or swipe, not ok.

 

[papipeguy]

Showing my ID doesn't bother me and I'm 65. I do remember having to send a fax of my driver's license to SP when I opened an account. I must have sounded younger on the phone. :D

 

[kanse]

The guy was just doing his job. He does not get any bonuses for using his 'common sense', there is absolutely no reason for him to jeopardize his life.

 

[fitzy]

Local B&M is required by law to get ID from EVERYONE. Maybe that's now the case where you are.

 

[jguss]

The bane of retail is customers who are unhappy but don't complain; they just vote with their feet. It's tough to retain customers who leave, never come back, and don't tell you why. But that's exactly what the vast majority do. I usually do it myself. The exception I make is for businesses with whom I've had a long and generally satisfactory relationship. In those cases I speak to the owner or manager and give them a chance to fix it. If they can't, or won't, and there are better alternatives, I go somewhere else.
As for the specific issue kirkland raises, I'd find it irritating too for several reasons: I expect to be recognized and treated well at places I regularly patronize; I find the carding of someone patently over 50 insulting and absurd; in most jurisdictions it's not the law (often there's language similar to the "under 25" example cited above).
This is purely a personal response. I strongly believe that everyone is responsible for their own reactions, not someone else's. This is mine.

 

[kirkland]

Thank you JGUSS !
I'd like to set the records straight as I am reading a lot of guessing, speculations and opinions that are incorrect (in regards to "the law." If I missed something or am incorrect please correct me. I just looked up the CO law and here it is.( I highlighted the 35 year old age or older waiver/clause)
COLORADO LAWS RELATED TO TOBACCO SALES TO MINORS

SECTION 18-13-121, C.R.S.

PART 5, ARTICLE 35, TITLE 24, C.R.S.
18-13-121. Furnishing cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to minors

(1)(a) A person shall not give, sell, distribute, dispense, or offer for sale a cigarette, tobacco product, or

nicotine product to any person who is under eighteen years of age.

(b) Before giving, selling, distributing, dispensing, or offering to sell to an individual any cigarette,

tobacco product, or nicotine product, a person shall request from the individual and examine a government issued

photographic identification that establishes that the individual is eighteen years of age or older;

except that, in face-to-face transactions, this requirement is waived if the individual appears older than

thirty years of age.

 

[aquadoc]

Snow in the summer is so strange. WTF? There are so many other "big" things to worry about.

 

[bluegrasspipe]

Kirkland, I understand your frustration, they probably had a crack down and are trying to follow a new protocol. It is a bit annoying since in the late 80's when I was 13, 14 I had no problem buying cigarettes and suddenly now in my 40's they are asking for ID. Of course that is what they are trying to avoid now in this somewhat anti-tobacco world we now live.

However, I live in the city just north of you, and I will say my B&M has never carded me, (could be the bald head and grey whiskers :wink but I do appreciate the fact that they all know my name and treat me as if my business is very appreciated. Until that changes I will continue to do my part to support them.

 

[kirkland]

The fine for selling tobacco to minors in CO is 200 bucks. A slap on the wrist IMO and no real hard reason to nazi the hell out of people in their senior years.
(c) A person who violates paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection (1) commits a class 2 petty offense and,

upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of two hundred dollars.

 

[pappymac]

woodsroad - if your drivers license has a magnetic strip on the back and the swipe it, it's probably to verify that the information on the front of your DL matches the information on the back. This aids in identifying counterfeit identification.
I'm retired military. In the pre-9/11 days as long as I had a valid window sticker, I would just get waved onto just about any military facility I wanted to enter. (There were restricted areas/units where that didn't apply.) Now you have to show your ID and the look at the front and scan the back. The handheld instruments shows your information - name, rank, etc. and id expiration date - again, this is so the ID cards are harder to counterfeit. At least, that's what I was told by an MP who recently retired.

 

[warren]

200 here and 200 there, pretty soon the company are being more closely examined when applying for a business license, paying taxes and etc. A couple of violations paid and a raise for an employee is out of the question. A couple of violations and perhaps your company becomes a "police problem" which the neighborhood wants removed from the area. And, with the current anti-smoking attitude of the general population you are now thinking seriously about closing the shop, the hassle simply isn't worth it.
We have to face the fact that the concerns of we smokers are not to be considered in the great scheme of things. So we either "suck it up" or quit smoking. Pissing off the person(s) attempting to satisfy your wee vice and cater to your needs/wants is not the way to go about it.
Curbing or eradicating tobacco use is the cause de jur for many, perhaps on a par with child porn. You can bet the sale of tobacco and related products will be banned on the internet in the near future. All of which might be good for drug stores and local tobacco shops. Of course tobacco vendors are probably going to be required to purchase a special license, similar to many package stores and other liquor vendors.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Way too personally taken. I wouldn't let one douchebag employee deprive me of patronizing a store. I'd call and speak to the owner. If he's a douche, then, f*** 'em.
Similarly, TSA is a sad reality, but not a reason to never fly anywhere "on principle". Diif strokes, though.
Hope the chafing doesn't last much longer.

 

[pappymac]

Similarly, TSA is a sad reality, but not a reason to never fly anywhere "on principle".

I have a slim hope that TSA will get better. The man Trump recently named to be the new head man at TSA is a retire Coast Guard Admiral. From my experience, an officer in the Coast Guard doesn't get promoted to Admiral if he's incompetent.

 

[fitzy]

Pappy there's very slim hope for the TSA. They have very low standards for hiring people and that's partly because they don't pay on the regular GS scale so the people that do apply are the very bottom of the barrel. If you had a job where you get paid less than any other government employee and never ever have any form of increase in pay then you'd be unhappy working there too and could care less about your job.
As far as the OP goes he's being way too sensitive and if he's not happy then he should just call the owner/manager.

 

[raevans]

That 200 dollars does not come out of the companies pocket, (at least not for a first offense), it come out of the pocket of the person that sold the product.
And yes it may not be the "law" to card everyone, but it may be company policy. (Which to an employee of the company is the same as the law)
For all this guy knew, you could have been a friend of the owner sent in to see if he was following policy, (happens all the time).
Seems to me that it would have been easier to show him my ID, introduce myself, find out his name and try to establish a rapport. That way when I came back, he would know who I was and maybe not be so heavy handed on the carding.
One question, was it the way that he asked for ID or just the fact that carded you that set you off?

 

[brian64]

A lot of comments on this thread are addressing ID at point of sale (which is ridiculous enough for a 60 year old) but the OP was merely going into the tobacco area of the store when required to show ID.
If anyone who is not blind cannot tell that a 60 year old is "of legal age" I can't imagine how they are capable of functioning at all in any capacity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKtN7Y51ySo

 

[warren]

The law here makes no reference to the customer's appearance of age nor, the retail clerk's personal knowledge of the customer's age. In my location both the owner and the clerk are to be cited. I know different jurisdictions around the State and down in America have different rules. Here you must be of age to enter a store selling either liquor or tobacco products.
Lots of laws are ridiculous on their face. Lot's of people think speed limits, seat belt laws and drinking age requirements are. But, if it's the law, you gotta live with it or violate it. Your choice. But to ask a third party, such as a clerk, to jeopardize their job or moneys is simple too much and way to self-centered. Life is simply not all about you and your desires.

 

[aldecaker]

Warren, not that I doubt for a moment that those people are out there, but anyone who puts tobacco use on par with sexual exploitation of a child has gotta be one sick son of a bitch. Then again, that crusading do-gooder bug does some messed up shit to the already mentally unbalanced types who are susceptible to it.