Did you know that you don't need to show your ID when using a Visa card?

Parent Cafe
61

I am currently in Vegas for a seminar workshop that I have attended in the same hotel for a 2-week period for the last five years. Habitually, I put my credit card and my room key in a pocket along with a single dollar or two and some change. I don’t like to carry my purse every time I leave the workshop for a coffe break. And for my book keeping records, I prefer not to put my food charges on my room tab; I prefer to have separate receipts.

So after 3 days of buying coffee using my credit card at the same little coffee shop, on the fourth day the clerk asked for my ID. I didn’t have it on me and she said she’d have to have it to finish the transaction. She offered to call her manager. I said ‘fine’. Ten minutes later, there were four people waiting behind me and she was still on the phone. She finally hung up and said the manager would be coming down. She asked to wait on the customer behind me, and I said fine. My toasted bagel was getting cold, my coffee break time was ticking away, my friends were wondering what the heck was taking me so long.

It hadn’t occurred to me to charge the $6 to my room until the guy behind me did. I waited another 5 min for the manager, and got so irritated I finally just charged it to my room. No ID, room key or anything needed to verify I was using the correct room # or actually had a room tab! The shop manager never arrived.

Another shop where I got a snack in the evening—as I had for the previous three evenings, even the same clerk—for the first time ever insisted I show my ID. This time I did have my purse, so had it. He said it was the “casino’s policy to always show ID with a credit card.”

I used the same credit card every morning in a different little food shop for breakfast/coffee and sometimes for lunch—not a single request for ID.

I ordered coffee from the same coffee shop again today on my break, used my credit card, and was not asked for an ID, which I had put in my pocket just in case. Clerk never blinked an eye or hesitated to take my card.

I stopped by the snack place for my nightly snack, used my credit card and no request for ID.

No biggie—IF I have ID on me, but irritating as hell when I choose not to carry everything with me when I shouldn’t really need to have ID to buy coffee.

62

Ar. Bi. Trary.

63

Last week I was at a clothing store using my father’s credit card (same rare last name) that he lets me use to buy professional attire and pay for college expenses. The clerk refused to sell to me, even after I cited the Visa agreement, showed my ID that has the same rare last name, and talked to the manager, citing the proper clauses. Ended up calling their customer service line to complain and got $50 worth of clothes for free.