Slave to the Machine? Know your own check acceptance policy, Albertsons.

i worked at a customer service center in an albertsons. it was company
policy that we could not accept checks that were not approved by
Certegy check cashing services. Certegy is used to identify fake
checks, as well as stolen identities. as we enter your information on
the "machine," it asks specifically for the state in which your ID was
issued, followed by your driver's license number. United states
passport cards/books are not attached to one state. even we enter your
home state, Certegy will not recognize your passport or military ID
number, as they only have access to state ID databanks. do not blame
the customer service employees for following albertsons policy - or
the managers for that matter, as they have no way of verifying your ID
and are merely acting upon corporate policy. in-store employees have
no say in corporate decisions - that includes the decision to use
Certegy to verify checks. talking to a manager won't help. there is
literally nothing they could have done. You have to phone corporate.

I have had the same problem in Albertson's. Frankly, I find the
Albertson's in Auburn, WA is totally trashy, adn very dirt. THe
employees have Zero customer Service Skills, and the store is always
dirty, and the managers will not help the customers when problems like
this arise, and the customer is in the right. We still go to
Alberson's every now and then, but try to avoid it. Very trashy and
yucky store and the employees all look very dirty have the time. But I
agree with the statement above, again customer serivce skills is also
lacking from the Albertson's skills! I have had numerous run in's with
the employees for such rude treatment and ID carding, when the
statement does read about the other form of ID.

Whoever manages Albertsons needs to step up and clean the store up ,
and send their employees to a customer serivce class, and make sure
they enforce the hygiene policy!

If their sign said that a military ID was acceptable then you have a
criminal complaint and you can contact the state AG office of consumer
affairs. My work history is in law enforcement and business
management and in many states, a manager that REFUSES to honor POSTED
policies can be fined OR arrested.

Now as to using a passport for ID, well, it is supposedly acceptable
ANYWHERE but I would bet that most employees in these stores today
couldn't even tell you what a passport is supposed to look like. I
have to admit that I have used mine at times...just to be an ass.

For everyones info she is correct. Straight from an Albertsons source
their machines can take both military and passport ids.

Wow, you're upset over this? Sometimes snags happen in life. That's
called ... life.

My advice: get a debit card and stop slowing down the checkout lanes.

Easy fix - use a debit card! I don't understand why people write
checks at stores, it is too much of a pain and holds up the line.

I wonder what would happen if you did not have a drivers license.
Would they not accept your check? It seems to me it would be illegal
to not allow a person to pay for an item like everyone else because
they don't drive?! What do you all think?
There is a Pizza company here that requires you put your drivers
license number on the check. I always refuse to do that. This
information is not required by them to sell me Pizza. If I want that
information on the check I would put it on there. If check
verification is needed, I will gladly show them a picture ID that
identifys me as the check writer. Sometimes I use my Military ID. I
will not let them write down info off that either. It has my ssn on
it.
My wife hates when I act like that, but people need to know what the
hell they are doin when it comes to identity theft etc. If you don't
really need that info....your not gonna get it period. Don't be
bullied. It's your right to protect it!

When I worked in retail, there were a few military depots, housing,
and training facilities in the area. We used a veri sign check
verification system, the registers were programmed to accept only
driver's licenses, and all it took was a call to the veri sign
hotline, two minutes tops, and they had a means of verifying the I.D.
and accepting the check. We were given instructions and an acceptance
number to enter.

We also had to handle tax exempt transactions in the same way, before
overriding the "machines".

I'm sorry, but if they have a sign that lists this as an acceptable
form of ID, they should have a way to process it. Barbara isn't asking
for special treatment, just what the business states on their sign.
The supermarkets in the area also had cards that could be scanned and
checked against pre-filed information.

Why are you getting your panties in a wad about something so trivial
like this? Does it really warrant wasting your energy on it, versus
just accepting it for what it is and moving on. I don't think taking
your grocery business across the street is really going to bother
Albertsons either. Or you, unless you prefer it over the others and
it's now going to be a hardship just to shop there.

I vote it's not worth the effort to be pissed off just about this.
Move on!

Yes those ids proved who you are but every place I've ever worked were
no set up to take any number other than the drivers license. It isn't
Albertsons fault it is the check verification companys fault.

This has happened to me as well. A Passport is a government form of
identification, as is a military ID.

There shouldn't be a problem with that, but its happened to me quite a
few times. (Sometimes I leave my ID card in my jeans pocket, if I went
out the night before) And my passport is all i would have. Fortunatly,
I know my ID numbers by heart, but you are right in saying that it
undermines the entire ID process...

I think that you are right in suggesting that the machines are set up
to take passports and military ID's.

1) Albertsons needs to update their signage as the policy has changed
when they started using Cetergy.

2) The manager truly could not accept the chech )through the machine)
as it would negate the security functionality if she/he could override
checks.

3) I was a manager for 20 years (not Albertsons but another MAJOR
super market) and the manager could have taken the check as cash (as a
good gesture) and taken the risk of having it returned.

4) Good letter...go to Tom Thumb until my former employer from FL
comes to town, they go there!!!

This is... odd. I've never heard of someone turning away a passport ID
before. On the rare occasion my place of work takes checks for
ore-ordered stuff, we're told to inspect the driver's permits most
thoroughly because apparently they're the easiest things to fake.

They should have stood by their policy, period.

Certegy flagged me after I had a measly 8 dollar check bounce. Maybe
it flagged your check because it had a low number? Maybe it flagged it
because you already wrote a few other checks that day at places that
use Certegy....who knows?

But the fact of the matter is that the employees should have taken
your military ID. I could understand maybe if they didn't know what it
was...maybe...at my place of work, we have a menu to select the form
of ID from, in case we get something other than a driver's licenses.

Sometimes we are bound to what the "system" tells us. It's sad, but
true, and I hate that. I hate not being able to do something because
the "system" says no and I can't go around it without violating
policy.

It's really weird that those employees didn't know how to handle your
situation. Kind of sad too.

Paying by cheques, in this day in age, is not the best option for
retailers. If you can afford to make a purchase pay by debit.(It must
be in your account or there would not be the need to write a cheque).

Every POS system I have worked with takes a driver's license number
(or those non-driver cards that look like licenses) But one system had
a drop-down list that had driver's license, military ID, passport, and
one other thing I cannot remember. The system I use now only accepts
driver licenses. There is no way around it.

Military ID that I have seen uses the social security number as the
number. Because I have to write the number on the check, I asked
customers for their license over any other type of ID.

I find it odd they didn't ID you every time. I've never known a system
where you can bypass the information entry, and as I would not have
memorized anyone's license number, I would still have to ask you for
ID to get the number to enter.

It is too bad this happened to you. The other forms should have been
accepted. Those are both government issued. I hope they improve
their system/training.

Great letter, Barbara. I can't BELIEVE the manager's only option was
to turn you away and not make a sale! That's just ridiculous. What
if your mom hadn't been with you?

I'm glad you wrote the letter--that manager and the other employees
are in serious need of some additional training.

This is quite bizarre. I've never heard of a system that requires an
input of a driver's license number for the purpose of using a check.
Your military ID is even a better form of ID than a drivers license.


Good letter.