Honda shop wants SS# with purchase?????

[MD500E]

What is the deal with honda powersports dealers wanting SS# when you buy a new honda product. They asked for it last year when I bought a generator, and now I am going to pick up a new dirtbike at a different dealer tomorrow and they want my # again??? I am not financing so why do they need/want it?

 

[BigPapa]

Your new dirt bike has to be titled. The state, at least here in Tennessee, requires the social security number, I guess for ID purposes. It doesn't matter if you finance, pay cash, or trade ducks for it.



Scott

 

[AMink]

I haven't heard of that before. My SS card still says for Social Security purposes only! It really stinks that it's really used for everything. I'd ask why and not let them have it. Let us know what they say.

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

I would ask them what they need it for. It's not supposed to be a form of ID. That's why, in PA, the DL number is different than the SSN. They aren't going to not sell you a high dollar item because you refuse to give them a number they don't need, anyway. And if they do, well, I would take my business elsewhere. Just my . 02.



Jim

 

[MD500E]

I will ask them today when I pick it up. It is a NJ dealer and I will title it later in pa. I bought the bike on ebay so I cant really walk away that easy if they give me trouble. Maybe I will get confused and ACCIDENTLY give them the wrong number! :-laf

 

[RustyJC]

Hypothetically speaking, perhaps they have to report the sale to those states that tax personal property. I dunno.



I would certainly make them justify it, though, based on identity theft concerns. I wouldn't mind telling them that, unless they can convince me why they need it, they aren't getting it!



Rusty

 

[AMink]

I didn't know that some states require the registration or titling of an off highway vehicle. Does that include snow mobiles and quads too?

 

[Sled Puller]

Last I checked, it was a felony for ANYONE to ask for a SS, that wasn't SS!!



Those numbers have been terribly abused.



Take a stand, tell them to kiss off, and you are going to call the feds!!

 

[GIT-R-DONE]

Isnt it funny that even on the SS card it states not to be used for ID ?

 

[AMink]

Isnt it funny that even on the SS card it states not to be used for ID ?

The new ones don't even say that anymore. I don't know when they stopped doing it, but my kids' cards don't say that.

 

[rrausch]

I NEVER give out my correct S. S. number when asked. I always start with the correct first 3 numbers and then just make up the rest. Screw 'em!

 

[BigPapa]

Upon further investigation... ... ... .



AMink - Not all states require titles on off road vehicles. Tennessee, where I sell motorcycles and ATV's, does require titles, even on trailers.



MD500E - The state, Tennessee in my case, requires a drivers license number for ID purposes but they will accept a SS#. If you are financing then the lender requires the SS#. If you are paying cash and your purchase is over $10K then the IRS requires a SS#.



As far as your situation goes, this is my opinion. Most of the software programs used by powersports dealers were adapted from auto dealers where most deals are either financed or over $10K, so there is a SS# field in the software and we are ALWAYS instructed to fill in EVERY field. So, in other words, if you were buying from me and refused to give me the SS# on your deal, no big deal.



That said, the dealership I work for has been in business for @ 30 years. I have been here over 20 years and in that time we have NEVER had a problem with ID theft. If we did have a problem then I'm sure the owner would be held responsible, which means we will not employ people we don't trust implicitly. Anyone in our dealership that has access to personal financial information could easily steal more from the company than they could get from an ID theft. There are also VERY stiff penalties for not securing any customers financial information. If an inspector finds a credit application IN a drawer of my desk, IN my office, which is off limits to customers, I will be fined $10K on the spot per instance. That means if I had 5 credit apps in that drawer I'd have to pay $50K. At our dealership, if the financial info isn't in your hand, IT BETTER BE UNDER LOCK AND KEY.



Scott

 

[MD500E]

The kid at the dealer claimed they needed it for something or other, he didn't really know. I gave in but, I felt a little dyslexic today!! I think BigPapa is right about the software asking for it. I paid cash but I would bet most of their business is with financing and thats why they ask for it. Also, the bill of sale has my name, address, drivers licence # and and my dyslexic SS# printed right on it. You think they would have it print out **** ** 1234. Oh well, the new CRF 450X runs awesome so I am happy! Thanks.

 

[phloop]

I think part of it might be the age we are now living in. We are being tracked by our SS#. Every time I call any of the places I have to pay for service's like power, water, phone, cell pone, and on and on, they always ask for the last four of my SS#.



One of the reasons i now know is to be adle to track you for finacial responsibility. For example, if you sign up to get 20 CD's for a penny and never join, you do not have too join or pay the $$ they say you owe or have too deal with the collection agency they say they will have coming after you. They have no way of knowing who actually ordered that stuff. It is your word against their's, and without your SS# it will be your word not their's.



If you trust the place asking for your SS#, go ahead and give it. If you do not trust the place, do not give it. You do not have to give your SS# by law.



There have been many times I have not given my SS# for just this reason. How many other people on this board remember when we were not supposed to remember or know our SS#'s?



And now a side step, I am sure that my SS# is being used by I have no idea of how many illegal aliens that are protesting to become legal. Will they give me back my SS# or will all those that have it end up with my #?

 

[Carlsummers]

Just my $0. 02... I work for a VA Medical Center in FL. (Been there since 1977). If you refuse to give SSN, you don't get treated... plain and simple. SSN (for many, many years) has been used as ID. I don't make the rules, I just call it the way I see it at work.

 

[J Shocik]

I simply refuse to give it to them. I went to a bank to cash a check ( not my bank) and they asked for it. When I saw the teller was going to write it down, I emphatically told her to stop. After a short arguement with her and the "head teller", I said I wanted their names and SS#'s in the event of my ID theft, I would know whom to sue. They stopped asking for it since.

As as I'm concerned, the business has absolutely no need for your SS# if you're buying something without financing, within reasonable pricing.

 

[jkalchik]

Last I checked, it was a felony for ANYONE to ask for a SS, that wasn't SS!!

Actually, that's not quite true. Anyone who is reporting income to the Feds is allowed to ask for it. Blood banks very specifically may require it from their donors. States are allowed to use it for driver's license numbers.



The secret is that anyone who is asking me for it absolutely, positively must be able to tell me why they're asking for it, and what they'll be doing with it.