Recently I went to a Big Box home improvement store in Peachtree City that gives veterans a 10 percent discount.
I was advised by the store that a Georgia driver’s license with the word veteran on the bottom of the license was not proper identification and would no longer be a valid means of veteran identification.
On further conversation with the Big Box store’s customer service department I was advised that the 10 percent discount is for active duty, reservist, retired or disabled veterans and families only. That is admirable.
To get the Georgia veteran’s driver’s license you must go to the Veterans Administration with the proper paper work. You must have served within specific conflict dates to qualify for a Georgia veteran’s driver’s license.
The Big Box store has given all veterans a 10 percent discount for quite some time. I myself have received it numerous times. For some reason they have decided to narrow the criteria so very few are now eligible.
I suspect this is directly related to the bottom line. This gives the store much less exposure to veteran discounts. The store has decided to pick and choose what segment of the veteran community they will support.
The store has the absolute right to do anything they want regarding discounts of any kind, but the issue that I have is the very small window of veteran exposure.
Give all veterans the discount or none. Don’t pick and choose your rules. The U.S. government considers people with a Georgia veteran driver’s license a veteran even if the Big Box store does not.
In all reality, you could very well have flown missions over Germany in WWII and still not be eligible for the discount. You could have been a Pearl Harbor survivor and not meet criteria for a discount.
The store likes to enjoy the good PR within the community by saying they give a military discount, and in all reality they have narrowed the eligibility so few can qualify.
I have sent two emails to the Big Box store’s customer service department. They did respond to the first email with the narrow guide lines of eligibility. The second email was not answered.
Michael Olsen
Peachtree City, Ga.
