Hotel Tales: "No ID, No Idea" Edition

[BroSCFischer]

Had a lady come in at ~12AM. She had called earlier and spoken with Jeri, who is a fairly recent hire. She had told Jeri that the fact that this lady had no ID would be OK, that we would need other documentation to establish identity.

The lady comes in, and tells me this upfront. Lucky for me, my manager worked the 2nd shift tonight and was still here. She had some sort of car club membership card, with a blurry, long distance photo, and no name, and a car registration in someone else's name, as well as a couple of credit/debit cards and a AAA card.

My manager told her that we need something with a photo to establish identity, but she was insistent that because she had called earlier this had all been straightened out ahead of time. My manager refused to sell the room without ID, and the woman was literally in tears (she ostensibly needed the room because her son was going to undergo a procedure at the local hospital the next day).

She tried to plead her own disability (seeking sympathy), when he told her that she could try some of the other hotels in the area, claiming she was too disabled to do all that running around. Then she (literally in tears) talked about how she would have to sleep in her car.

She eventually left, when it became clear he wasn't going to budge.

SC

[figgyx]

NO ID!!!!!

I personally refuse to check someone in without valid ID. I would feel bad that this woman had no Id but really - how did she get to the hotel without a drivers license?

[bhskittykatt]

No ID, no dice.

The few, rare exceptions: I remember one instance where a woman came in with a binder of utility bills, had her Social Sec card and birth certificate, and a bunch of other non-photo IDs, as well as a copy of the police report where her wallet was stolen. I gave her a room, because if you're going through that much trouble to prove you are who you say you are, then I believe you. I've also seen people lose their wallets/passports in Canada and had a special paper with their ID info on it from Customs to let them back into the country, and I figured if those are good enough to get you into the country then I'll take them. One other instance was a man who only had ID from South Korea. I couldn't read it, but he was being escorted by an exasperated police officer with an English/Korean dictionary (the guest didn't speak a lick of English) who was helping him make sure he had a room for the night and got on the right bus in the morning. I figured "police officer escort" worked as a valid form of ID, too.

I had a woman once who only had her checkbook and wanted to use that. Um...no. The checks only had her name and didn't even have her address. Definitely no. She yelled at me saying if she'd been told she needed ID at check-in she would have brought some. I asked if she had anything, anything else that I could use in conjunction with her checkbook. She didn't have a thing on her (she was paying cash so not even a credit card). Lady, that should be a no-brainer in this day and age and in this country. She actually went all the way back home and came back (about an hour round-trip) with her ID, and she continued to bitch all the way through the check-in process.

[dakhur]

I'm seriously missing a point here.

It's a hotel. I'm not trying to take out a loan, I just want a bed for the night. I have money, you have a room and a bed. We exchange the two and all is well. Why the hell do I need to prove anything else?

Really, this seems designed to make it difficult for a person to get the service.

[BroSCFischer]

Some reasons for requiring ID are:

#1.) To confirm that the person with the CC is the cardholder.

#2.) Because of the numerous people who feel that, since this is not their home, they can do whatever they want, so we have a way of identifying precisely who did the damage.

SC

[Mr Hero]

#3 If you lock yourself out, you would damn well want us to check the person trying to get in your room is legit and not an imposter wanting to clean you out.

[mhkohne]

I'm seriously missing a point here.

It's a hotel. I'm not trying to take out a loan, I just want a bed for the night. I have money, you have a room and a bed. We exchange the two and all is well. Why the hell do I need to prove anything else?

Really, this seems designed to make it difficult for a person to get the service.

People trash rooms, steal towels, and generally make a nuisance of themselves often enough that the Hotel wants some way to recup losses, so they require ID, to be able to find and bill the loosers.

This ends up making things more annoying for the rest of us.

[siskaren]

She actually went all the way back home and came back (about an hour round-trip) with her ID, and she continued to bitch all the way through the check-in process.

Which would mean that she was driving without her drivers license.

[XCashier]

She yelled at me saying if she'd been told she needed ID at check-in she would have brought some.

You ALWAYS need ID, wherever you go! Even if you don't get carded every day, you should always have it on you. And it's a little lightweight plastic card that fits easily into a pocket or wallet; how is it such a burden to carry on you?!

I just do not comprehend that mindset at all. Does not make even an iota of sense.

[Ophbalance]

I just do not comprehend that mindset at all. Does not make even an iota of sense.

Some feel that if they aren't doing anything criminal or otherwise malicious that we should not have to feel like we live in a police state. The woman in question likely just couldn't be bothered to bring the ID, however, those that are paranoid of being tracked for any reason would not want to always be easily identified by their government issued IDs. I'm not saying that I condone it, agree with it, or merely have any opinion at all of this... just putting it out there.

[RealUnimportant]

She actually went all the way back home and came back (about an hour round-trip) with her ID, and she continued to bitch all the way through the check-in process.

I'm not trying to screw you out of business, but if it's only a half-hour drive to get home why would you even bother booking a hotel?

[AccountingDrone]

I take my ID everywhere I go just in case something happens because you never know where your day will bring you. It took me ages to drill that into my son's head and what finally did it was me giving him a guilt trip - if something happened to him and he didn't have his ID on him how would they know where to start looking for next of kin? Besides, you need your ID for so many things these days so not having it is just silly.

Me? I have a meat tag tattooed on my side, with the additional info that I have diabetes and a heart condition. The military info will lead to my husband for any other notifications. I also wear a usb medicalert tag with my medical records.

I'm not trying to screw you out of business, but if it's only a half-hour drive to get home why would you even bother booking a hotel?

Insect bombing the house? Drastic plumbing fail? Need to be near a medical facility for an ungodly early tee off time for an operation? [we do this last one, Yale-New Haven Hospital is 75 miles away and I detest dealing with rush hour traffic so it benefits us to just get a hotel room to avoid the whole mess.]

[figgyx]

Why ID

There is any number of reasons why you need to present ID to a hotel. Some have already been said but here they all are in one fell swoop.

1. We are not allowed to take a credit card unless that person is right there in front of us. Checking Id ensures this is so.

2. God forbid there is a tragedy and you die. We need to know who you are.

3. If you are running from the law and the cops come looking for you. We need to know who you are. This has happened before.

4. If you decide to party and damage the room or smoke in it we need to know who you are.

5. If you lock yourself out and come to the desk for a new key you must prove you have rented the room or we can't let you in.

6. If a family member is trying to get ahold of you for an emergency we need to know who you are.

Checking someone into a hotel without Id is just bad business.

[Pagan]

5. If you lock yourself out and come to the desk for a new key you must prove you have rented the room or we can't let you in.

What if you lock your ID in the room? Or do you take a photocopy of the ID at check-in?

[bhskittykatt]

What if you lock your ID in the room? Or do you take a photocopy of the ID at check-in?

Hopefully we have enough stuff written in the system (that we got off their ID in the first place) that they can verify it for us. Otherwise, an employee gets to go with them back to the room and check their ID that they left in there.