Went to tour gym - why did they ask to copy my driver license?

[Anonymous]

Went to tour a local gym today and they required to copy my drivers license. Did not end up joining as I was turned off by their sales practices. They tried to get me to leave my license at the front desk and I refused.
What are they intending to do? Run a credit check? Why would they want to hold it at the desk?

[Anonymous]

They probably wanted an electronic record of everyone who entered the gym in case anyone shady did anything with a member. I am not a member of any gym so I'm not sure if this is normal but I too would be turned off by this.

[Anonymous]

I have been surprised when I haven't had to produce I.D. to tour a gym.

I agree with PP that it's probably partly to protect current members. For all they know, I'm actually there hoping to install hidden cameras in the locker room.

There is also simply a pretty strong liability concern. It's really easy to hurt yourself in a gym, and it's a good idea on their part to have tight records of who was in there and when.

I would not hold that particular aspect of the visit against the gym in question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have been surprised when I haven't had to produce I.D. to tour a gym.

I agree with PP that it's probably partly to protect current members. For all they know, I'm actually there hoping to install hidden cameras in the locker room.

There is also simply a pretty strong liability concern. It's really easy to hurt yourself in a gym, and it's a good idea on their part to have tight records of who was in there and when.

I would not hold that particular aspect of the visit against the gym in question.

Why would they want to hold my license physically at the desk though?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been surprised when I haven't had to produce I.D. to tour a gym.

I agree with PP that it's probably partly to protect current members. For all they know, I'm actually there hoping to install hidden cameras in the locker room.

There is also simply a pretty strong liability concern. It's really easy to hurt yourself in a gym, and it's a good idea on their part to have tight records of who was in there and when.

I would not hold that particular aspect of the visit against the gym in question.

Why would they want to hold my license physically at the desk though?

Keeping a copy of your license is a common practice at gyms, apartments, and other services that you tour. It’s mainly to keep a record of who has visited and when. Holding your license is more a matter of collateral to ensure you exit through the desk area and they can visually make sure you didn’t leave with more than you entered.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been surprised when I haven't had to produce I.D. to tour a gym.

I agree with PP that it's probably partly to protect current members. For all they know, I'm actually there hoping to install hidden cameras in the locker room.

There is also simply a pretty strong liability concern. It's really easy to hurt yourself in a gym, and it's a good idea on their part to have tight records of who was in there and when.

I would not hold that particular aspect of the visit against the gym in question.

Why would they want to hold my license physically at the desk though?

Keeping a copy of your license is a common practice at gyms, apartments, and other services that you tour. It’s mainly to keep a record of who has visited and when. Holding your license is more a matter of collateral to ensure you exit through the desk area and they can visually make sure you didn’t leave with more than you entered.

Then you can SHOW your ID, like for alcohol purchase.
What's the copy for??

[Anonymous]

I’m a member of Golds Gym and they do this for visitors as well. It didn’t bother me when I went to tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have been surprised when I haven't had to produce I.D. to tour a gym.

I agree with PP that it's probably partly to protect current members. For all they know, I'm actually there hoping to install hidden cameras in the locker room.

There is also simply a pretty strong liability concern. It's really easy to hurt yourself in a gym, and it's a good idea on their part to have tight records of who was in there and when.

I would not hold that particular aspect of the visit against the gym in question.

Why would they want to hold my license physically at the desk though?

Keeping a copy of your license is a common practice at gyms, apartments, and other services that you tour. It’s mainly to keep a record of who has visited and when. Holding your license is more a matter of collateral to ensure you exit through the desk area and they can visually make sure you didn’t leave with more than you entered.

Then you can SHOW your ID, like for alcohol purchase.
What's the copy for??

For future reference if something is stolen from a locker room, is assaulted in the locker room, etc., while you’re there.

[Anonymous]

I’ve done it for every gym or apartment tour for a decade. When my SS has a job interview in college, the receptionist did the same thing. I expect that it is for security reasons.

[Anonymous]

Had, not had. He’s now in law school.

[Anonymous]

OP here the copy didn’t bother me so much as them not wanting to give me my ID back. I refused this and was still given a tour so I would assume it’s just a way to hold me hostage in their gym?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here the copy didn’t bother me so much as them not wanting to give me my ID back. I refused this and was still given a tour so I would assume it’s just a way to hold me hostage in their gym?

Possibly. That happened when I went to buy a car once. They took my keys to assess the value of my current car and wouldn’t give them back while doing a hard sell, trying to get me to buy a new one that day. That’s illegal. But I didn’t know it then.

I guess it depends on how much pressure they put on you. Glad they gave it back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here the copy didn’t bother me so much as them not wanting to give me my ID back. I refused this and was still given a tour so I would assume it’s just a way to hold me hostage in their gym?

I've seen it done as a way to make sure the visitor come back to the front desk and sort of "check out". I'm guessing that gym is just much more anal about keeping tabs on who enters and exits the building.

[Anonymous]

I had the same thing happen at an outlet mall. The customer service station has wheelchairs available for loan. There is no cost. I was fully prepared to give them a credit card deposit on the wheelchair thinking they would want that to ensure I returned the wheelchair. Instead they wanted to keep my driver's license!! Not going to happen. First of I'm not giving some teenager my license and then leaving for 2 hours and hoping it is still there when I get back. Second, how am I going to buy anything since store clerks are supposed to check your id! I debated with the customer service clerk and finally convinced them to take my teen dd's student id. It came down to the fact that they wanted to hold on to something of mine that would guarantee we would come back. I think many times companies are trying to come up with policies that they think are making things safe but they are often misguided.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, had that happen to me and they lost my driver's license. Turned out front desk guy gave my ID away to another person without looking and verifying that was actually that person's document. And apparently the person didn't look either. Took over a week for them to locate it and return it to me. I was pretty annoyed.