IHOP Changes Policy of Asking for IDs
Posted on: Tuesday, 28 November 2006, 12:00 CST
QUINCY, Mass. - John Russo has been a victim of identity theft. So when he was asked to fork over a photo ID just to be seated at an IHOP pancake restaurant, he flipped. "'You want my license? I'm going for pancakes, I'm not buying the Hope diamond,' and they refused to seat us," Russo said, recounting his experience this week at the Quincy IHOP.
The restaurant now has agreed to reverse the policy of requiring customers to turn over their driver's licenses before they can order - a rule that was enacted to discourage "dine and dash" thefts.
WCVB-TV in Boston reported the Quincy restaurant's policy had been enacted without corporate approval.
IHOP Corp., based in Glendale, Calif., released a statement Monday night to WCVB that said an employee felt the policy could eliminate the problem of people leaving without paying.
"This was done without the knowledge or approval of management. ... We apologize to any guest who was inconvenienced," the statement said.
Russo said a security guard at the restaurant had "at least 40" licenses in hand when he arrived to eat.
"Identity theft is rampant. I wouldn't want to give my license, with my address or Social Security number to anyone that I'm not familiar with," Russo said. "I'm going just for breakfast."
Source: Associated Press/AP Online
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User Comments (45)
| 45. |
Posted by Luthe on 06/20/2008, 00:33 This is really stupid. I would never hand over my driver's licence just to eat in a restuarant. Why do they need it? To prevent me from running away without paying. Ok, well then just make people pay before the food comes. That's what they do at fast food restuarants, and some steakhouses and people don't have a problem with that. And the reason that they make copies of your ID at bars is partly because (depending on where you go) they check them for authenticity. And probably also because if they have a fake one and the police come and ask you about why you let a minor in you've got a copy of the ID they used to back you up. |
| 44. |
Posted by Lazycat on 12/15/2006, 10:20 Unbelievable. What happens when the driver's license gets lost/stolen? If anyone pulls that crap on me I will walk out the door. |
| 43. |
Posted by Tom Welsh on 12/07/2006, 10:20 "I didn't know I had a God-given constitutional right to eat pancakes! *goes to exercise her right!* " I think it comes under "pursuit of happiness..." Oh no, that was somewhere else, wasn't it? The "God-given" part is easier. If you believe in God, you believe that *everything* (including ourselves) is God-given. |
| 42. |
Posted by magic on 12/01/2006, 11:18 escape_quotes($_POST['comments']); Just in case you needed the code to get rid of the nice \' |
| 41. |
Posted by peter on 11/30/2006, 17:58 1. Who cares who has what ads, comment on the article, if you can't read it oh well. 2. Why not use the guard who collected 40 licenses to say... block the door until someone has paid. Seems like a better use of his time and effort. 3. As for not going to IHOP because of this - Unless you live near THIS particular IHOP (it was only one, read the article) then you're not really protesting anything... But by all means keep your dumb ass out of public in general.... thanks |
| 40. |
Posted by iburl on 11/30/2006, 17:15 You alllow bars to scan your ID? Do you ever feel like a sheep being led to the slaughter? Baaa. Baaa! |
| 39. |
Posted by Justin on 11/30/2006, 13:41 How is this any different from going to a bar and having them scan/photograph/photocopy your license? Pretty standard practice in a lot of the bars I've been to. Not that it's right, but its not as threatening as folks think. I also think its pretty asinine to mention identity theft when most folks will hand over their credit card to pay without any complaint. Inconvenient? Yes. Ineffective? Sure. Will I boycot it just because they want my ID for pancakes? Well... I havent boycotted any bars for wanting my ID to get in and grab a brewski. (on a side note, I realize that proof of age is required to get in to bars... but does that mean they have to photocopy/scan it into a database?) Just my $.02 |
| 38. |
Posted by Heywood Jablome on 11/30/2006, 13:24 Just siddown and EAT fer Chrissake, quit yer bellyachin' |
| 37. |
Posted by Austin on 11/30/2006, 12:34 I will put ihop on my "do not go to" list! |
| 36. |
Posted by Restaurant personal on 11/30/2006, 12:14 This is most certainly not an acceptable procedure for an eating establishment. It's a risk every restaurant has to take...and by golly, if people can't pay for the food they've eaten, they should not be going! But we all know what wacko's are out there. And, perhaps the security guard should actually perform security acts and pay attention to customers walking out without paying...instead of collecting licenses--you, think? |
| 35. |
Posted by Alpha on 11/30/2006, 10:34 I am ashamed to say that this occurred in my home state. Massachusetts has only recently stopped putting SSNs on driver's licenses, and most people can have a license for 10 years before having to renew it. In the past, the Registry would issue a non-SSN license number if asked, but few people knew about this option. If someone asks to hold your license, ask them whether they agree to be responsible for all consequences of the license being lost, or the information being compromised (e.g. identity theft, home break-in, etc). Enjoy their stunned look of incomprehension, then go eat elsewhere. Do not eat at IHOP. |
| 34. |
Posted by danconnortown on 11/30/2006, 10:16 well. i had the same problem with firefox 1.5.0.7, and firefox 2.0. it did suck. works fine in safari though. Browser conflicts aside, the guy, who had to give up the license to get some pancakes? Man. I think it would have been okay to just PUNCH the guy. "you need my license so i can order a $2.99 grand slam?!" (pretending to reach for wallet) "Sure. let me just get that for you." (hand coming from apparent location of wallet storage) POW!!!! right in the kisser. "there's your I.D. pal. and you can take your $2 breakfast and shove it up your ****." and so on. |
| 33. |
Posted by DJSpanky on 11/30/2006, 10:00 I had the same problem with the stupid "The Librarian" pop up in firefox 2.0 and the adblock plus fixed it. https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1865/ The show looks stupid anyways. What is next? The Janitor or... The Security Guard: IHOP Unit |
| 32. |
Posted by joe on 11/30/2006, 08:59 Maam, we simply must have more pancakes. License and registration please sir. uhhh riiiigghht. |
| 31. |
Posted by lol on 11/30/2006, 08:03 LOL step away from the pancakes....that was funny |
| 30. |
Posted by Hates_Flash on 11/30/2006, 08:01 Well I don't see any ads covering up the text, but I do see flash video on the top right of the screen...and i can't stop it, even pushing on the 'play/pause' button. This sucks. |
| 29. |
Posted by graphicartist2k5 on 11/30/2006, 07:59 What in the hell is this crap? Why do they need to see a person's driver's license just so they can get some pancakes? I can see it now: "Sir, show me your driver's license" "But I don't have a driver's license" "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the pancakes" Tell me this isn't the dumbest crap you've read in a good long while. |
| 28. |
Posted by Mike on 11/30/2006, 06:05 "you needto learn INTERNET" [sic] What, are you 12 or something? The ads are random so you just didn't happen to get one that covers the text. I see the add for "The Librarian" and it blocks the text as well, in IE 6. |
| 27. |
Posted by Doug McGill on 11/30/2006, 05:21 If they want to prevent dine n dash just ID the crackers. |
| 26. |
Posted by Jeremy on 11/30/2006, 05:15 It's a shame that because of the state of things today, 40 people gave up their license without a fight. Just sad... And, yes, the ads were blocking the article and couldn't be gotten rid of. I reloaded the page and thankfully different ads came up |
| 25. |
Posted by Andrew on 11/29/2006, 22:43 >> Posted by Fnarf on 11/29/2006, 17:57 >> One more step towards the future, when every aspect of life will be controlled by minimum-wage, HS-dropout security guards. If people were willing to pay for good security, this wouldn't be an issue. You'd have competent people where you need them, and the minimum-wage slaves and their evil supervisors could do their own harassing, at their own risk. A competent guard would refuse to take liability for people's drivers licenses in such an environment. Corporate data center, with key safe -- maybe. IHOP? I think not! |
| 24. |
Posted by Cal on 11/29/2006, 21:41 Ohio will omit your SSN on your drivers' license by request -- default is still to include it. |
| 23. |
Posted by Tim on 11/29/2006, 18:13 Perhaps they should be asking why everyone walks out without paying. Could it be because thet service is **** - as they've just proved? |
| 22. |
Posted by Fnarf on 11/29/2006, 17:57 One more step towards the future, when every aspect of life will be controlled by minimum-wage, HS-dropout security guards. |
| 21. |
Posted by Mr. Not REturning on 11/29/2006, 17:43 Stupid ads are blocking the article. I'm not comin' back here that's for sure! |
| 20. |
Posted by anonymous3 on 11/29/2006, 17:38 To the poster complaining of animated ads, you should get the adblock extension to firefox. |
| 19. |
Posted by AJS on 11/29/2006, 17:13 Some states previously had SSN on your DL, but have phased that out (Indiana comes to mind). However, there are still a lot of people who still have the old license. |
| 18. |
Posted by Andy on 11/29/2006, 16:54 I thought the US constitution was written by humans, not handed down from god. |
| 17. |
Posted by Ted on 11/29/2006, 16:10 I get the video popups too, with Firefox 2.0 |
| 16. |
Posted by Daemon on 11/29/2006, 16:04 I didn't know I had a God-given constitutional right to eat pancakes! *goes to exercise her right!* |
| 15. |
Posted by dthree on 11/29/2006, 15:57 Driver's licenses cannot have social security numbers on them by law. |
| 14. |
Posted by Bob on 11/29/2006, 15:52 Or just stop going to IHOP. |
| 13. |
Posted by Tom on 11/29/2006, 15:52 Or... don't eat there. A day or so of people not standing still for this sort of stupidity would damage their bottom line a lot more than any dine-and-dash. The real shame and surprise of this is that some people were too lazy or sheeplike (or hungry, I guess) to not laugh at the policy and go elsewhere. |
| 12. |
Posted by Dirk Dingle on 11/29/2006, 15:44 Get a real browser like IE 7.0. It has tabs now! All big websites code for IE, not for Firefox fanboys. Follow the $$$ |
| 11. |
Posted by observer on 11/29/2006, 15:43 \"This article is unreadable. \" It looks fine to me with Firefox 2.0 and adblock disabled. |
| 10. |
Posted by Concerned Citizen on 11/29/2006, 15:42 The best choice of all: just don't eat at IHOP. Take your money to a restaurant that serves you with respect. |
| 9. |
Posted by Hawke on 11/29/2006, 15:40 Ooh, nice escaped quotes. ''''' |
| 8. |
Posted by Hawke on 11/29/2006, 15:38 for those of you with the horrible animated advert problem, adblock plus will block it. https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1865/ |
| 7. |
Posted by Liberty Now on 11/29/2006, 15:37 What's amazing is that only 1 in 40 people refused to provide their ID... TO EAT PANCAKES. When will people wake up, and start demanding answers as to WHY we need to identify ourselves in order to do the things that we have a God-given and Constitutionally protected right to do without interference from any artificial entity? |
| 6. |
Posted by chris on 11/29/2006, 15:35 Grant I am also using firefox 1.5 and have no popup Adverts. you needto learn INTERNET! |
| 5. |
Posted by anonymous2 on 11/29/2006, 15:23 That\'s life\'s way of telling you to upgrade to 2.0. |
| 4. |
Posted by grant on 11/29/2006, 14:55 This article is unreadable. There are several animated advertisements that block a large portion of the article text. I use Firefox 1.5 |
| 3. |
Posted by anonymous on 11/29/2006, 14:38 Well, I don\'t think that will fly if you voluntarily give up your license. It\'s quite another story if the guard forcibly seized your license. Still, the lack of common sense here is just astounding. |
| 2. |
Posted by Michael on 11/29/2006, 14:32 Or just have customers pay in advance, like fast food outlets. |
| 1. |
Posted by Roy on 11/29/2006, 13:17 Simple solution: Make a citizen's arrest of the guard for possession of a driver's license not his own. Take him before a magistrate of your choice, and along the way arrange a press conference. |
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