LaCie Online Purchase requires Photo ID

[ddonaghy]

A few days ago I placed an order with LaCie's online store to purchase a 16TB Big 4 RAID HD system. The next day I received an email from them requesting that I send them a copy of my drivers license as photo ID.

Since I'm very concerned about identity theft and the security of my personal information I refused to send the photo ID. The next day I receive another email telling me that my order had been canceled.

Nothing on there web site specifies that Photo ID is required to complete an order. After contacting them they told me this is a recent world wide policy from their head office in France.

As far as I know, this is completely unprecedented and unacceptable.

Has anyone else had this experience with LaCie or any other company?

What do you think about this practice?

 

[Gav2k]

Did you use a cc with a photo on it like the new Amex cards???

 

[Giuly]

Get it here with free shipping even to Canada and save $20 while doing it - no ID required. Just pick a guy who ships internationally from the list.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

I can understand it. Credit card fraud is rampant, and if you end up not being you (ie stolen card or chargeback) the merchant is just out of luck. They lose the sale & the merchandise.

Most merchants verify the billing address & only ship to that address, that cuts down on fraud a lot but not 100%. I doubt Lacie requires photo ID from every new buyer, that would be an administrative nightmare. Maybe they only do it for purchases over a certain dollar amount, or maybe you live in a zip code that is a known area for international remailers. Or could be your credit card didn't come back with a good AVS code for your shipping address, happens sometimes even if it's correct at your bank. Could even be the issuer of your card (first 6 digits of the card #) is one that they have had past issues with.

In any event, Lacie apparently has been burned before and they've decided to implement measures to protect themselves. As a former merchant who's had to deal with credit card losses, I don't blame them at all.

 

[Alrescha]

What do you think about this practice?

I had buy.com do this to me once, I told them no. The really strange thing was that I was a return customer, i.e.: they knew who I was, had gotten paid, etc.

Some credit card companies do not allow merchants to ask for anything other than the credit card. This has become less common in recent years but it is still true for some. I use those companies whenever possible.

A.

 

[ddonaghy]

re: LaCie Photo ID

HI guys,

When I asks the LaCie rep if there was something about my order that sent up a red flag, I got this response. [amalgamated from two emails]

"Hello David,
I understand you are reluctant to provide us your personal information and also protect yourself from fraud. However I cancelled your order.

This is a standard practice we implemented recently due to several fraud, nothing in your order triggered particular suspicion.
These are worldwide policies from our headquarters in France; however you can still reach us at the number below in the signature.

Best Regards,"

Like Alrescha with buy.com, I've been a customer of LaCie for several years. I've purchased several smaller drives and even have a 12TB Big 4 RAID registered with them now, so they already have my name and address on their records.

I'm not sure what added security they can get from seeing someones Photo ID. The photo is of course useless unless they plan to call you via Skype or something. The only other info would be the address and they can confirm that with the credit card company. If they have a policy, as they should, to ship only to the billing address of the card holder. That should be enough to combat most fraud attempts.

I understand the need for companies to protect themselves from fraud, but doing so in a way that exposes their customers to identity theft isn't the way to do it. If they had a secure web site to upload your ID to I might be less concerned, but they don't, you must send it via insecure email. I don't know what level of fraud LaCie has experienced, but they're likely to loose as much in lost sales and lost customers as they save from reducing fraudulent sales.

Admittedly I've been fuming a bit since they cancelled my order, I've had to put several projects on hold. To be fair though, I like LaCie drives, they're reliable, look good and I've never had an issue with any of the ones I've owned. And while I will never deal with them directly again, I will probably still buy the drive from Amazon or elsewhere.

 

[Rudolf12]

As far as I understand, the online retailer pays the bill most of the time when there is fraud.

Asking for a photo id is a measure for an extra security. By doing this, the hopefully reduce the number of fraud case which at the end would lead to increase costumer prices if they want to retain the same botom line figures. Other companies are doing it also, like car rental, they make also a copy of your id.

Just a thought from another prospectus.
Cheers

 

[Macsonic]

Hi ddonaghy. It's good practice to be extra careful. My friend's email login and Facebook was hacked as someone stole his login details. He suspected he got a fake email though he is not sure from which company. Web-Phishing is also another practice being done by hackers. If Lacie is your preferred brand, can you not just try Amazon or MacMall? Or other third party online retailers? Or suggest Paypal?

 

[Arelunde]

You can get LaCie external drives from the Apple Store where you credit information is already stored. It may cost a bit more that way (I don't know for sure), but at least you know it's a legit company and the product you receive will not be a knock-off.

I have one myself and had no problems at all getting it. PS - It works very well.