Why should I present my credit card and ID when picking up?

When we made online ordering available in 2019, we were ecstatic to see sales go up. But after a couple of months, we started getting “chargebacks” from our credit card company — a process when customers report unauthorized charges on their card. We lost $1,500 in sales that first week because crooks were using stolen cards to pay for their orders.

When we looked into these transactions, we found that the same group of people were defrauding us repeatedly using similar emails and names.

One day, we saw an order come in using an email that was very similar to a past fraudulent transaction. When this woman came in, I asked her for her card and I.D. She told me she was just there to “pick up her friend’s food.” I told her, “Sorry but we now require a credit card and I.D. when picking up.”

She said, “I don’t have that but can i just pay in cash? And do you have an ATM?” Note that the transaction has already been paid online. We told her yes that’s fine and pointed to the ATM.

After standing in front of the ATM for 5 minutes, she started to leave. I said, “Hey! You don’t want your food?” The she started to walk briskly towards her Mini Cooper parked outside. She got into her car and drove away.

Since then, we’ve required everyone to present their credit card and I.D. when picking up.

Although the incidents initially brought us financial loss, we are happy to report that we’ve never had a problem since and sometimes our customers even thank us for ensuring transactions are legitimate.

Thank you for doing your part to decrease fraud in our neighborhood. It means a lot to us that your small effort to show your I.D. has contributed in making this world a safer place to transact in.