Rogers locks store doors, asks customers for ID to enter

Next time you go to a Rogers store, you might find the door locked. At least, it will be until you show your government-issued ID, then Rogers will let you in.

According to a CBC News report, Rogers is locking the doors at stores in an effort to reduce robberies and fraud. The Toronto-based national carrier claims it’s a national policy implemented over a year ago, but Rogers also said it only applies to some stores. The company didn’t say which stores had the policy or where they were located.

“The safety of our team members and customers is of the utmost importance to us. Several measures have been put in place over the last few years to improve safety in the stores, including robust training, upgraded cameras, and enhanced door screening policy,” Rogers spokesperson Chloe Luciani-Girouard told CBC Toronto in a statement.

However, CBC News spoke with a few Rogers store patrons who described the process as a hassle. Others noted that they weren’t asked for ID but saw other people being asked for ID at the same location.

The publication shared a picture of a sign from a Fido store (Rogers owns Fido) that warned people they were on camera and said they would need to provide the reason for their visit, look at the camera and identify themselves, briefly remove their mask for facial visibility, and present their ID through the glass window/door before they could enter.

The whole scenario seems extreme and bizarre. As someone who worked at a cellphone store for years before joining the MobileSyrup team, it’s unclear how this could help reduce fraud. To get a phone and plan from most Canadian carriers, you need a government-issued ID — asking for it at the door won’t change much. It’s also unlikely you’ll catch fraudsters before they come into the store. Locking the doors could help deter potential robberies, but if locks were all you needed to stop robberies, there’d be a lot fewer robberies.

Moreover, there are better ways to prevent theft in stores. CBC News spoke to analysts who suggested things like securing inventory in the back of the store (which most phone stores do), and other options for reducing crime. Locking the doors, on the other hand, will probably just frustrate customers (and if they’re going into a Rogers store, chances are they’re already pissed off).

Source: CBC News