Why does this bother me?

[Jester]

It was a valid ID. The dude just didn't want to give it to him because he didnt understand what other ID's looked like.

Yes, but....

In the case of selling restricted products, it's better to err on the side of caution.

'Nuff said.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I know. I do the same myself honestly. However alot of times I do look the other way, such as the times when we weren't allowed to take out of state ID. It wasn't state law, it was a corporate rule. So if some poor 30 year old had a Washington ID, which is like, ten minutes from me

That's kinda stupid, to not allow out of state ID when you have another state that close. You're pretty much guaranteed to get customers from out of state, then. Employees should at least know that state's ID. Then again, an important point is that it's not state law, so you're not going to end up with huge fines for it.

[kibbles]

N


If the employee is trying to follow the alcohol laws, there is nothing to complain about. As alcohol providers, we are allowed to refuse service to anyone for any reason. If we are uncomfortable with someone's ID, we are told it is better to err on the side of not serving them than on the side of possibly serving someone who is not of age or does not have a valid ID.

There is nothing in the OP that says the employee was doing anything sucky. Yes, it sucked that the poster could not get served despite being of legal age, but if the employee is uncomfortable with the poster's ID, he has every right, and some would even say the responsibility, to refuse service.

Yeah, it sucks. But that is sometimes part of life.

Just curious, what is the most common reason to refuse an ID (besides the obviously fake ones )? Is it usually because it's an out of state ID and unfamiliar??

[Jester]

Just curious, what is the most common reason to refuse an ID (besides the obviously fake ones )? Is it usually because it's an out of state ID and unfamiliar??

Well, my most common reason for refusing purchase to someone is because they don't have their ID at all.

When they do have it, some of the reasons I have refused it were because it was valid, but they were still underaged (ballsy Americans or clueless Euros), it was not valid for alcohol purchases (bus pass, student ID, cruise ship employee ID, etc.), it showed signs of being tampered with, or it was in some way obviously fake. (Those are always entertaining!)

Out of state is never really an issue. Unfamiliar only is if it is a foreign country ID and there is something odd about it, or if it is in a language that we cannot read, understand, or interpret. ("Here is where they show you the birth date." "Sorry, since I can't read Hungarian, and that is just a string of numbers, I have no idea if that is or is not the birth date.)

[smileyeagle1021]

That's kinda stupid, to not allow out of state ID when you have another state that close.

Or even tourist areas... when I lived in Reno it was mandated that we recognize EVERY state's ID's because there was a good possibility we could get IDs from any of them. In Salt Lake it is similar, most places train people to recognize all IDs because we get so many out of state IDs.

[RetailWorkhorse]

Wanna know something really sad?

I haven't been in my homestate for more than 3 hours in well over two years. So it's not like I can just walk into the Sam's Club in Chattanooga or Johnson City and get a sample.

[AdminAssistant]

I've noticed that one of the liquor stores here (college town) has a binder that contains all state ID's. I don't get carded much, but I have seen them look at my out of state ID and compare it to the picture in the binder. That's less practical for a busy bar, but...yeah.