I went to see Toronto Football Club play yesterday with my friend Mike. It was his 36th birthday, and he's been a season ticket holder since day one. In fact, he was one of the first 40 people to sign up. He goes to every home game, travels a lot to the away games in the U.S., and buys a lot of TFC products, such as jerseys.
In other words, Mike has pumped thousands of dollars into TFC over the last three years. He is truly a dedicated fan. Yesterday Mike was forcibly ejected from the game for "trespassing."
Here's how it went down.
He went to buy a beer and was asked for I.D. to prove his age. Mike certainly does not look under 19, but because he doesn't drive, he doesn't have a driver's licence, therefore couldn't prove his age.
So, he offered up his health card -- a government-issued document -- and they refused to accept that instead. In effect, that means you can have brain surgery with that card, but at BMO Field you cannot buy a beer as an adult. Stupid.
Mike started to protest this fact in a calm, but frustrated way, and after around 10 minutes was told he was now "trespassing" and then escorted outside by two security people.
Come on guys! Use some common sense and discretion. We know you have A Boss to answer to, but please, allow the customer service people on the front lines to make their own decisions when it comes to situations like these.
It's fans like Mike that have put TFC where it is today, and I think they certainly scored an own goal yesterday with their customer relations.
It's a terrible thing that he was thrown out but health cards cannot be used as identification for buying alcohol. It's the law. It may be dumb considering it has your picture on it, etc but that's the law.
ReplyDeleteI hear you, but I still say staff should have used some discretion with asking I.D. of a 36-year-old man.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by.
John.
I had that happen to me as well. I'm in my 30s and my 21 year old buddy had to buy my beer!!
ReplyDeleteThis sucks and security is bogus at BMO - BUT i know for a fact 'fake buyers' are all over testing venues to see if they are following the law. If I'm not mistaken the Dome got in major shit for this recently. They can't sell you if you are carded and don't have ID.
Your friend is well over 21 and is not responsible enough to at some point found himself some form of ID? BMO field does not make the rules, talk to your MPP and in the meantime, you can get government identification that is not a drivers license. Grow up and stop expecting someone else to pay the price for your own foolishness.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Anonymous, BMO Field does not make the rules, but it's still down to the staff who work there to make the initial call on whether to ask for I.D. or not.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm very grown up, but thanks for asking.
Thanks for stopping by.