So yesterday I was out and about doing some business and I have to send a FAX. Rather than drive all the way back home I stopped at a Kinkos. I only had a twenty to put into the machine for the payment card you use on self serve devices. The FAX was $2.49. So afterwards I go up to the register to get my remaining balance back.
The woman pulls a huge binder from underneath the counter, fills something out, and then spins it around. They wanted my name, address, phone number, and signature to get my change back because it was more than $10 change.
WTF is this BS?
She was rather incredulous when I firmly told her I wasn’t giving her any of that information. I could see maybe if I had paid in a credit/debit card. But I hadn’t. I got my change without IDing myself and left.
Today I stopped at the UPS (not the Kinkos UPS, the regular UPS depot) to send a package. I rarely use UPS but the receiver specifically requested I use UPS.
The shmo at the counter says I have to show identification in order to ship a package.
Says who? I never have to show ID to ship a package from the post office.
What kind of weird Orwellian bureaucratic nonsense is going on here?
The package thing I could kinda see, in case it turns out you’re shipping something dangerous and/or illegal. As for change at Kinkos, since the reason was that your change was greater than $X, I assume it has something to do with deterring scammers. But, that’s just a guess, I mostly don’t know.
The Kinko’s thing I could see in case someone is feeding the machine real good counterfeit $20s. That’s how I’d do it, provided they weren’t asking for ID.
The UPS store asking for ID is new to me, and I use them every week.
I’d never try to counterfeit money. To easy to be caught, especially if you’re doing anything over $10, and anything smaller isn’t worth it due to cost issues.
I have seen counterfeit $20s come out of machines when they’ve been emptied for the night. Scanners are good at catching them, but they’re still not 100% fool proof.
Kinko’s seems to have been treating the transaction as a refund. Stores get customer info on refunds so the clerks can’t scam them just as much as they get it so customers don’t. The refund logs then get audited to make sure they’re not.
I worked in accounting at hotels and anything over $10.00 given back to the customer had to be verified with ID. This was to prevent the desk clerk from claiming refund and keeping the money himself.
I never really saw the point in this as most people’s signatures are just scribbles and we NEVER verified the license. So the clerk could just make up any numbers (as long as he knew how a basic driver’s license in IL worked and the few test functions of it) and scribble a sig.
I wonder if the card knew that the reader put a twenty on it, instead of four fives or whatever?
My bank made me show ID and answer an identifying question before allowing me to deposit cash into my account.
I told them that, as the account holder, I officially release them from such nonsense and empower them to let anyone at all deposit cash into my account, without verifying their identity. Bring on the cash!
Really? I’ve deposited $$ on Mr. Horseshoe’s behalf - and vice-versa - and never had a problem, and we’re not married and don’t share a name or anything like that. As I understood it, you can go around putting money into any account you like; it’s the removing of money that requires ID.
Yeah, I’ve deposited cash into a buddy’s account when he got in a tight spot and I had to cover a chunk of his rent a few times (he has since paid me back). I had no trouble at all just walking up to the bank teller with his account number and saying “I’ve gotta deposit this cash onto that account.” No ID check or anything. ETA: And it wasn’t even my bank or anything, so I had nothing to do with his financial institution of choice.
My husband needs my ID if he wants to cash a check made out to both of us, or to deposit that same check. However, he doesn’t even need to know my account number if he wants to deposit money into my account.
This. Sometimes my dad will deposit money into my account to cover things I do for him (getting his car into the shop, things like that)-- the first time, I reminded him of my mother’s maiden name in case he needed it, but he didn’t.
Come to think of it, my parents kept me from starving in my university days by depositing checks and cash in my account.
I have no idea why the hell UPS wants to see ID if they aren’t even going to write anything down. If a package has my company name and address, I could be anybody!
