I spent several days in DC recently and appreciate the advice I received from several on this board. I will submit a review, but I thought a few pieces of info would be worthwhile to share.
I made an appointment with Olivia from iluvhot and submitted a reference and TER white list ID. I was approved and made the appointment for the next day, and was told to call in the morning for address info. An email arrived that night with several rules, most of which were fine (be over 18, do not mention anything illegal) but had a problem with the last one - I was not going to show an ID to the girl. I don’t want to get into a debate with anybody about that - I just won’t show my ID.
So in the morning I went to the website to find the number and found Olivia listed as “gone.” So I called and asked what happened to her. She insisted I would see Olivia, but the website had been changed because she had no more available times. OK. She gave me the address information, then I said very specifically that I had read the rules and would not show an ID. The PO said no problem, and even said “you don’t look like you’re under 18, do you?” I laughed and said not a chance. So I assumed the ID requirement was just an age confirmation and it would be no problem.
When I arrived I called and the PO (I’m not entirely sure if it was the same woman) directed me about where to park and said she would call the girl. Then she said “You’ll just have to show the girl your ID.” I said, “no, remember, we talked about it, I won’t show an ID.” She very quickly said “then you can’t see her” and hung up. So I pulled out of the parking lot and drove away.
Honestly, I wasn’t 100% surprised. Even though I had asked specifically, I had a sense something like this might happen. I read several reviews with IDs being required from DC orgs. I don’t know if it was poor language communication on the phone in the morning, or if she was betting that once I had driven over I would acquiesce on the ID thing. I suspect the latter, because I very quickly got a text (as if pre-written) saying I would simply need to show an ID and then I could go in. I ignored it. Then she called (I’m now driving past the mall) to say “If you won’t show an ID then you can’t see her, but if you will you could go in right away.” I said sorry, I won’t, and she hung up again. By the time I got a text saying “please leave now” I was long gone and almost to the beltway entrance. Maybe she thought I was in another car in the parking lot?
Anyway, I made an appointment with a different org, no problem, and ultimately I found myself in the exact same complex, right across the damn parking lot. There were slight phone problems but this PO was awesome and acted as if it was all her fault (I don’t know - I’m the visitor and it’s entirely possible my phone was the problem.) No ID required. Review to come, but, surprise, ChoCo is as awesome as the other reviews state and the org is very good.
Long story short, if you hear you will have to show an ID, they’re likely going to stick to that, regardless of what they tell you on the phone. I’m not a guy who can afford to have my real name in any agency’s database, so it’s not going to happen with me. Stay safe out there.