JadeTiger

I went to Wal*Mart and picked up two DVD's. The two DVD's were rated PG, and PG 13. The cashier asked to see my ID.

I said: Excuse me?

She said: "I have to check your ID before I can sell you the DVD".

I said :I think we are both fairly certain that I am not <16.

She said: "This is my JOB" (with major attitude, as if this is the reason she was placed on the planet)

So I showed her my ID (by the way I am in my mid 30's).

I told her that I had never been carded for a DVD before.

She said: (in a snotty voice) Well I guess this will give you something to talk about all day.

Paid in cash, then I decided to let the manager know about his cashier with an attitude.

I should have just left the movies with Miss Attitude.

Has this happened to anyone else? This just reminds me why I don't normally shop at Wal*Mart.

the narrator

I've never been carded at Walmart. Most of the times the cashiers will just smile and joke around about it. A lot of the time they won't even say anything and just ignore the prompt that comes up on their machine. I guess some people are just more pleasant than others

Goat3001

Never been carded not even with rated R movies (I'm 17 but don't look it). Not even at wal-mart. But I like the way she carded you for a PG-13 movie not even rated R

renaldow

She seems to be right about that part How odd, I've never seen/heard of someone being carded for a DVD before. Unless they were at some fantastical once in a lifetime price, or were movies that are OOP, I think I would've admitted to her that I was indeed under 13, and she busted me. Then I'd have walked out of there leaving the movies behind.

namlook

How old do you have to be to buy a PG-13 movie? 13 or 16? Doesn't PG-13 mean parental guidance under age 13?

Aaron Amos

I've brought lots of R rated and PG-13 movies there and I've never been carded. I go there once in a while with my family but not all the time. I look like a teenager(because I'm clean shaven for work), yet I'm almost 30! What's next there ? Card people who buy music there? Thank Goodness the Internet does not card you!

CaptDS9E

If i was carded for just buying a dvd i would just laugh and leave. But i have been carded at the movies. Im 23 but look 16. It sucks sometimes :-)

capt

POWERBOMB

Now she has memorized your name and address and will be stalking you soon.

I would think it would be a compliment to be "told" you appear younger than you are. I guess that only applies to women.

namlook

Once you hit 35 it is a compliment. I have never liked it that people have said I look younger than my age but now that I am 36 I like being told I look 28.

JadeTiger

Why do you think I paid in cash.

silentbob007

I've been carded for R rated DVDs before at a walmart in a small town, but in a college town .... no way.

costanza187

I got carded buying an R rated DVD at Wal-Mart...when youre my age...it makes you feel good.

POWERBOMB

I dunno, but you showed her your ID. That's where she'll get your name and address!

Heat

I would never show my ID to buy a DVD, and I am roughly the same age as you. Tell her "no, you may not see my ID", and if she persists just tell her your birthdate since that is what she wants to enter in the computer. If she refuses, just ask to talk to a manager and let the manager make the call whether or not to "allow" you to buy the DVD.

Mthrboard

What's the big deal about showing your ID? Instead of wasting your time arguing with them, why not just take the 5 seconds to pull it out of your wallet and show it to the cashier? Would you throw the same fit at a liquor store or the casino if they carded you? They're just doing their job.

JadeTiger

1.) Well, for starters it was the attitude.
2.) If I was buying alcohol, I would expect to be carded.
3.) This was a PG 13 movie, not alcohol.

It is possible to do a job without being nasty. This woman was nasty about it. I am expected to be nice to people when I am at work; I expect the same when I am the customer.

BTW: I am just explaining my view (not being nasty).

Abob Teff

Wow -- when did Wally World start this? I've never heard of any place doing it for a PG-13, but every video store I've worked (sales and rental) we could card for R-rated.

I am not justifying her attitude towards you, but did you ever think that maybe SHE thought the policy was ignorant also? It is possible that she agrees with you but seriously misdirected her frustration.

JadeTiger

You make a good point that I had not considered.

MyWordIsLaw

I dunno, to make it tough for the store to find your receipt when you lose it and bring back a defective DVD?

As to her attitude, let's be honest but you sorta had one too...rather than just smiling and showing your ID, you had to make comments about it. I've said stuff like that to customers before, and most of this kind of thing could be avoided...

POWERBOMB

I wonder if people in the Chicago Wal-Marts get carded when they are buying the R. Kelly home videos DVD?

Heat

I still will never show my ID to buy a movie, heck, I usually refuse to show my ID when carded for alcohol (I just buy it somewhere else). The more people who refuse to show a wal-mart cashier their ID to prove that they are over 13 or create a fuss when carded, the sooner they will stop carding people obviously over 13 (or 18, or 21, etc).

Abob Teff, would you card everybody who wanted to rent an R rated movie, even sombody in their 30s+, or just kids who you honestly thought were under age?

new2theplace

Aren't #2 and #3 basically the same argument?

Anyway, one could ASSume that (for whatever reason) the DVD had been programed into their system to show one of those "Enter customer's date of birth for item purchase" prompts on the cash register and she was just responding to that prompt. Admittedly, she could have entered some bogus date like most cashiers will do when the customer appears to be "of age", but instead she chose to actually do what a cashier is supposed to do (which is to actually check the customer's ID) and you were refusing to let her do that.

Sounds to me like she was just trying to do her job (which is, in fact, exactly what she said) and you were making that difficult.

Abob Teff

Oh HELL NO! Notice I said "could" not "would." We would only card people who looked like that they were underage. I totally disagree with the "carding everybody" policy. I understand why some places revert to it (in the cases of alcohol and tobacco), incompetent or careless cashiers could legitimately shut down a business with a single (or blatant) mistake. But this leads to one of my "pet peeve" topics:

It is ILLEGAL to sell tobacco or alcohol to someone who is underage. So I have no problem with carding certain or all (I said I disagree with doing it, not that I thought it shouldn't be done) customers who wish to purchase these products. But when the local news, or OPRAH (big offender here) sends in kids to see an R-Rated movie at a theater, or to rent an R-rated movie in a video store, there is one key difference: IT IS NOT ILLEGAL! (Disclaimer: there may be some communities that have city ordinances outlawing this practice, but it is not illegal by any state laws.) I agree with theaters and video stores (sales and rental) that enforce the SUGGESTION to parents by the MPAA. But I HATE when they are painted in the same light as tobacco and alcohol.

So should Walmart have carded you? I don't know what you look like, but probably not. Should they be able to do so? Yes. They are trying a noble practice. They just need to practice it a little more and get it down better!

Rypro 525

it might be the movie (i didnt get carded but got a funny look when getting the american pie unrated dvd) oh and what were the dvds you were getting.

namlook

What's the big deal about showing proof of age? It takes 5 seconds. People should just chill out and show their ID. Big deal! I have seen 12 year olds who looked 18 or 20 so it is not always obvious. A cashier is just doing what they are told. Don't make their job harder. It's the people that throw fits about showing ID that help turn the cashiers into rude and unpleasant people. Maybe the cashier had been letting it slide before and their manager ripped into them for it before you showed up? What do you expect from a minimum wage cashier when they are getting it from both ends? Be nice and help them out. No I'm not a cashier, Im just seeing it from their perspective because I am terrible at judging someone's age and I can understand why they have this policy. If they don't do it and make a mistake they have ultra-protective parents throwing a fit calling corporate because they sold their kid a movie they were not supposed to.