Apple Thoughts: Apple Stores Demand ID In Violation of Merchant Agreement

"Is Apple up to its old tricks again? More scandalous than your run-of-the-mill violation, it seems that Apple stores are now displaying a high-quality sign advertising their blatant ignorance of the Merchant Agreement. This is somewhat concerning - the sign appears to be the kind issued by corporate headquarters, not some two-bit hackjob scratched on the back of a memo by an ill-informed middle manager."

I don't get it. On one hand, I can understand the motivation behind it. On the other hand, it's a blatant and clear violation of the merchant agreement for Amex, Discover, VISA, and Mastercard. Seeing as the sign in the accompanying Consumerist article is obviously one produced in the corporate office, you have to wonder; do their lawyers even look at this stuff before it goes out?

Obviously, I won't tell you to make a big stink in a store and get yourself kicked out and look stupid, but you do not have to show ID ever for a credit card purchase. If you're asked for it and you show it just to get done, that's fine, but I recommend you going to your card issuer with a formal complaint. Being on the operations end of a retail-related business, I can tell you the card issuers don't take those complaints lightly.