A Washington soldier was denied service at a local 7-Eleven after showing his military ID.
Collin Brown, who is a reservist in the U.S. Army, visited a local 7-Eleven to purchase cigarettes for his fiancee, who is also a retired Army veteran, KIRO reported. But when the convenience store clerk asked him for proof of age, Brown got into an unexpected spat.
“She said, ‘You’re in the military?’ I said, ‘Yes,’” Brown told KIRO. “She said, ‘I can’t serve you.’ Honestly, I was in shock. I asked, ‘Are you serious?’ She looked at me like she was offended.”
Brown asked the clerk what the problem with his military ID was as he pulled out his driver’s license.
“I asked for her manager’s information and at that point I was able to make the purchase,” Brown recalled.
Friends shared Brown’s story on social media, which prompted outrage from several people.
“I think it’s understandable that people would be upset about it,” Brown said. “I think anyone in this position would be upset.”
The company responded to Brown’s friends on social media.
“A customer presented a military ID as a form of identification and the store associate could not clearly read the birth date,” stated 7-Eleven at the time. “In this instance, the store associate, by law, asked to see a second form of ID.”
But brown said that’s not what happened, and called for the company to further investigate the incident by looking at surveillance footage. He also suggested that they retrain their employees.
“From moment one, the only thing I was hoping to do by coming forward with this is to get the issue addressed with the employee,” Brown said. “If you don’t know something is wrong, you can’t fix it.”
The company has since issued a statement from its corporate office in Dallas:
It’s clear that a misunderstanding occurred at a franchised 7-Eleven store. We understand that a customer presented a military ID as a form of identification when buying age-restricted products, and the Franchisee’s store associate could not clearly read the birth date. In this instance, the store associate, by law, was required to ask to see a second form of ID with a birthdate. After the customer’s age was verified, the transaction was completed. Serving members of the military, being named a top military-friendly company and employing military veterans are great honors for 7-Eleven.
The owner of the local 7-Eleven also responded, and apologized for what he called a “misunderstanding.”
“We sincerely apologize for a misunderstanding that occurred at one of our stores,” the owner said in a statement to the news station. “A customer presented a military ID as a form of identification and the store associate could not clearly read the birth date.
Still, several social media users called for the clerk to be terminated.
“That 7-11 employee must be fired and forbidden to work as a clerk serving the public,” wrote one Facebook user.
“First of all if he’s in the military he would be 18 and legally allowed to purchase cigarettes,” added another. “Case closed. No need for another form of ID.”