I was accused of being a racist!!!!
By BethTN81
@BethTN81 (564)
United States
May 6, 2010 9:23pm CST
First off, I work in a department store where our policy is if you use a credit card, debit card or a check then we have to see your drivers liscense or another form of ID. Even the employees have to show ID when they are purchasing something jsut to cover all bases. So in saying that....about 3 weeks ago a man came to me wanted to purchase clothing. I was kind to him and treated him as I would any other customer. I gave him the total and he gave me his credit card. I politely asked for his ID when he asked me why I did that. I said it was our policy to check everyone. If I do not follow this policy then I could lose my job. He said that I did not check the "whote womans" ID in front of him and I kindly told him that I did so and he must have been distracted. After this gentleman left the customers behind him backed me up saying they saw my check the "white womans' ID that he must have just wanted to start trouble.
The next day my boss tells me that this man emails corporate saying the only reason why I wanted to check his ID was because he was African AMerican and I should be fired for being a racist. Now, correct me if I am wrong but how was I racist for following policy, and it sounds to me that he was the one being a little racist. I mean I could sit here and say he only complained on my because I am white! I did not get repremanded for this incident but this gentleman did get an apology from my store saying this incident was fixed and he was given a gift card. He made a bogus complaint, could have caused me to get fired and I was innocent. What are your views on this?
3 people like this
14 responses
@tonyllenium (6252)
• Italy
7 May 10
you know in a multiracial society in soem cases you can be accused to eb racist even if you are not!!So your story is really particular and i think in reality this is big misunderstood for all protagonists in this situation..so it is true that for you is really abd because youw as fired..in my opinion you was a bit unlucky!
3 people like this
@elmiko (6630)
• United States
7 May 10
you were just following what you were told to do as an employee. i really don't think you were in danger of being fired. if you did happened to get fired over such as thing than your employer would be acting incompetent. Firings like that need to be reported to the labor board.
2 people like this
@BethTN81 (564)
• United States
7 May 10
If she did fire me then lawyers would have been involved. If I had ated as a racist then she would have had a great reason to fire me, but I did not. What gets me is how people complain and want to be a victim when all they are doing is showing hate and proving their own incompetence. I will say that many people make a habit of complaining about stores just to get coupons, gift certificates and so on. MAybe this was what he wanted was a gift card. I don't know. Believe me, I could tell you stories where people complain over stupid crap just so they get freebies. Luckily this is the ONLY complaint I have ever had. I will make sure to cover my butt so I do not get another one. I am a firm believer in do unto others.
2 people like this
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
8 May 10
The owners of the store where you work are hypocrites and I would not trust them ever. If they put in place a policy to check ID with whatever card you use then they should have replied to the gentleman that this was their policy and not rewarded his complaint with a gift card. So what is the score? Is this a policy that only your store one of their many stores put in place or is it a corporate policy that applies to all their stores.
What I don't understand is that stores would ask for ID if you pay with a debit card. Either you have funds in your account then the purchase goes through or there are not sufficient funds in your bank account and then the card is declined.
At least that is how it works in Canada.
As far as credit cards are concerned most large stores process the payment directly on line. The card number is dialed through and if there is a problem the message comes back either to confiscate the card or that the credit card company wants to speak to the customer. I can see though that with large purchases a company might want to see ID. Also small companies who process the payment off line might request ID.
Definitely if you would pay be cheque, ID plus full address and phone number would be required. However, I don't think here anybody still pays by cheque or will accept a cheque in payment unless the owner of the shop knows you personally and knows your address and all your details.
Posting the store policy at the cash will eliminate further accusations and problems.
1 person likes this
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
10 May 10
That makes sense. You are covering all bases. However, I still think your corporate headquarters stabbed you in the back. Instead of telling the guy about the policy they rewarded him for his unreasonable behaviour. So the lesson learned for his is that complaining pays off.
1 person likes this
@BethTN81 (564)
• United States
9 May 10
The type of store I work at is a department store and has several chains throughout the country. We ID people mainly because customers actually COMPLAIN if we don't. They complained so much that we do it to EVERYONE. They even ID me when I use my card, just to cover all bases.
There is so much identity theft in this world and it isnt hard for little Suzy Sunshine to take daddy's debit card and go on a shopping spree without him knowing. Our policy is, if it is NOT your card then we cannot accept it. It doesn't matter if it belongs to your spouse, mom, dad or lover. It has to be YOUR card and YOUR ID. IT is kinda strict and some people don't like it, but how hard is it to show your freakin drivers liscense to someone? IT is for their protection.
1 person likes this
@redhotpogo (4401)
• United States
7 May 10
Ya this has happened to me a few times, and I'm sure many other people. If you take away all the whack jobs that cry racist for no reason, there would be alot less racism in america, and anywhere. Its amazing what people will call you a racist for. examples I've witnessed. (happened to me), A gentleman (haha) wants to buy something at a store I work in. I say sorry we're not open yet. He says "Its cause I'm black, and goes around telling everyone I won't let him buy something because he's black. wtf. Then once I'm smoking a cig (sorry kids), a guy asks for a cig. Its my last one. I say "I'm sorry I don't have anymore." He then says "You don't have to lie, you can just tell me you don't want to give me one because I'm black." like huh?
1 person likes this
@redhotpogo (4401)
• United States
10 May 10
Of course he wouldn't say it to someone of the same race. And if it were the other way around, you wouldn't even bother to call him racist, because black people can't be racist ;)
@kedralynn (980)
• United States
7 May 10
We get this a lot at my store. Although the one woman who is currently trying to sue our store for "harassing" her to show us our ID is white. And the cashier who asked to see her ID is also white. And yet the claims are that's we're racist. I don't know, maybe the customer isn't white, but she looked it. And we don't harass people for their IDs. It's just policy. We merely ask. Some times people just want something for free. We have a guy come into our store and steal stuff a lot and then try to return it for money. We've tried to call him out on it a few times. That's when he calls corporate and says we're being racist and he's African American. Corporate gets mad at us and we have to give him money back for his stolen goods. We have proof that he's stolen these items too.
Not everyone is this way tho and it's not good to dwell on the bad. I have plenty of multi raced customers who are very friendly and don't try to get something for free. They don't play the race card. I appreciate it. Besides I'm honestly usually too busy at work to even notice a person's race. I'm lucky if I had the time to notice their age or gender ;p
1 person likes this
@kedralynn (980)
• United States
9 May 10
Yep. Especially if they think they can get something out of it.
@CynicalStephen (283)
• New Zealand
8 May 10
That's the problem with people these days... We want to accept all races and be kind to them , etc, etc. But this can lead to extremes and the end result is discrimination against the Caucasians. Some how people get the idea that all white people are racist . You are innocent :)
"Innocent"-Johnny Blaze
1 person likes this
@deebomb (15304)
• United States
7 May 10
Hello Beth This raciest card gets real annoying after a while. I'm sure that it happens more than we would like. Some people like o take advantage of it. The thing is people of color can be just as raciest as white people but they are not called on it. Not every thing is about race. some times it is about right and wrong. I'm glad that your employer understood what was going on.
1 person likes this
@BethTN81 (564)
• United States
9 May 10
I was actually talking to a friend of mine on the phone yesterday who happens o not be caucasian. We were talking about my little race issue and he even made the comment that many people that are not of the "white race" are labeled automatically as racists because of the color of their skin. I agreed with him. He also said that many people of his race is terribly racist against whites, yet people don't seem to recognize that white people do get treated badly too because of their color. People automatically dislike us bc our great great great great great grandfather owned a slave. I mean good grief. WAKE UP!!!! I have actually been told before that white people OWE certain races because of what happened to their ancestors. THEIR ANCESTORS?? Why do we carry the sins of our fathers and why do they want pity for their fathers?
I was raised by wonderful parents who are actually totally blind. My childhood wasn't too different except for a few things and one thing was they would NEVER treat someone like a 2nd class citizen because of the color of their skin. For crying out loud they couldn't see what they looked like!!! lol. My paretns were at times treated differently because they had a handicap, but one thing they never did was treat someone different because they were "not white". I honeslt have never heard of a racist blind person. Kinda sounds like an oxymoron to hate someone of a color you cannot "See". Anyway, in saying all that. I was not at all raised to be a racist or treat anyone differently because of their skin color, and I find it really upsetting that people stereotype some white people as racist just because of their skin color. To me that sounds rather racist. I hope all this made sense.
1 person likes this
@YoungInLove (1254)
• Canada
7 May 10
lol, its customer service. No matter how good you are, you can be ripped apart.
I work at a call center and the things I go through on a daily basis is unbelivable. People assume since we dont give them everythign they ask for its because were not good at our job, were racist, were trying to steal their money, trying to rip them off..
Its rediculous.
To be honest, even if I liked the job, I wouldnt care enough to take time out of my day to get that involved with my job to be able to go that far to affect someone like that. Im not that invested in my job.
People are just rediculous sometimes.
1 person likes this
@shaggin (72021)
• United States
7 Feb 11
That is horrible that some guy came through your line and he himself was obviously the racist one and accused you of commiting a racial act. I am glad that you didnt lose your job about it but think it is terrible that he even wrote in a letter of complaint and by lying got a free gift card. He will probably go around doing that to ever store he possibly can to see how much free stuff he can gift.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
7 May 10
Bethtn81 I think that is most unfair and I feel that your employers
should not have rewarded that guy for being a jerk a s that was'what he was doing.I know in a lot of places they have the same policy as you have to work under and I have never been upset if asked for Id. I never blame the clerk as I realize they have rules they must abide by. You were not a racist for following the rules you are asked to abide by. surely that man must have encountered this in several places. I know here in the US they do not all do that, but in some stores they really do ask for ID and now I have a senior citizen Id from the DMv I am prepared if anyone wants my id evenif the picture makes me look like one of the ten most wanted criminals by the FBI he he he
1 person likes this
@bestylish (922)
• Philippines
7 May 10
Those type of people are really annoying. It's a good thing you didn't get fired. That man sure knows how to create a scene.
@trillium (14)
• United States
7 May 10
Well, BethTN81, despite the unfairness of the situation, it is often the folks who are on the front lines dealing with customers who run into a**holes just wanting to cause trouble. The thing I try to keep in mind is the law of karma - what goes around comes around and someday this butt will get his due. One thing we can all do to help our fellow customer service workers is to take some time to send complimentary emails to the corporate office when we encounter a good employee. As it is, most of the correspondence that corporate gets is from angry customers.
1 person likes this
@TheSparrow (11)
• United Arab Emirates
7 May 10
I don't understand why people became like this. In this world, the only people who are racists, are white. I have seen so many horrible crimes done to whites, just because they are white. I feel happy that your boss understood too. That guy was just exploiting his right to say "RACIST" because his black.
1 person likes this
@Veganforpeace (13)
• United States
8 May 10
I work in a pharmacy with a storefront and basically am a cashier with other duties. I deal with this all the time. The best thing that I can say to do in a situation dealing with these types of people is to not let them get under your skin and have someone who is higher up deal with them if possible. I suppose it is better for me because I have management who will back me up almost every time (unless it is my fault :D) and refuses to allow the people to take advantage of situations where they feel being threatening or loud will get them what they want. Also, explain that seeng their ID is simply for their own security, because if someone had stolen their credit card, it would be YOUR fault (in their eyes) that you allowed the transaction to go through.
Hope this helped. :)
-Tim
