Anti-counterfeiting for practice coupons?

[jjane45]

I've always wondered how practice ice coupons looked across different rinks, especially in terms of anti-counterfeiting?

I bought a sheet of 10 coupons yesterday and it was black and white printing on standard color cover with stock clipart, has no numbering, no stamps, no nothing. It's a honor system, because faking extremely similar coupons that would pass any monitor takes less than 10 minutes!

Since each coupon has monetary value, IMHO enough is at stake to at least pre-number them, it acts as a form of deterrence as skater puts name and date on the coupon when it's used, making it easy to track.

So how do coupons look at your rink?

[Clarice]

We use punch cards.  It would not be particularly easy to counterfeit them, because they're printed in color and are on card stock.  Under the previous management, the cards were also numbered and they kept a record of what number you had.

[sarahspins]

At my rink the "punchcards" are all in the computer... whether it's public, adult, or freestyle (or even stick/puck) and I think that the class punch cards may be as well (these have your name and basic skills ID, two free public skate passes, and one bring a friend pass, plus a list of the discounts you get being in LTS) because they can be replaced for a small fee, but I think for the most part people are honest and don't try to copy them.  Really I think the main advantage of the class cards is to make check-in simpler, since each skater gets a sticker identifying which class they are in.

I remember one of the last summers I worked at our local rink, they had "unlimited" skate pass cards that you could buy for June, July, and August, and they looked SUPER simple to duplicate (just laminated cardstock), but there was a list of who they were sold to, plus the card had the skaters name on it, and it had to be signed by the employee who sold it, so it's not like you could have just printed out a dozen for all of your friends and passed them around.

[fsk8r]

My rink uses a credit card style card. All our records are on it (what we've paid for ice time wise). We also collect points on it to use for free public sessions or to use the other facilities (pool, gym, classes). Unfortunately freestyle can't be paid with the points. But we're on monthly ice fees.
The cards can't be transferred as there's a photo of the card owner on the computer records.
Cards must be swiped in for every session skated. The receptionists tend to know us all, so if you forget your card one day, they will tend to just hunt your name on the computer system and register you in.
It's a very nice system. I just wish we didn't accrue points for free skating sessions, which we don't need because we've paid for them all.
Lessons are bought through reception and they print vouchers which we give to the coaches. These tiny scraps of paper are worth a fortune and look just like any other receipt (and therefore trash).

[hopskipjump]

Ours are all electronic - you give your name (or number) at the desk and they print out a sticker (all skaters use stickers).

Our other rink has a punch but it is dated and signed and each month is a different color.  As a double check you still have to sign in and are issued a number on a wristband.  then they check the sign in list and compare to each user's number of punches. 

[AgnesNitt]

We have tickets that come for practice ice. These are on card stock and stamped with an end date.
We also have a 10 session card that is printed in two colors on card stock. I could duplicate this in about 10 minutes, EXCEPT it's not a standard size card.
Then we also have photo id's for the people who sign up for the annual 'skate all the publics' you want fee. I've never seen anyone show this card (although I know people who have it). I think they just walk on the ice and if challenged they just show the card.
I never wear the colored bands they hand out at the front desk. I've never been challenged (a. I'm a regular, b. I'm an adult). I did skate at a rink that would have spot checks because kids were just stepping on the ice.  Eventually they got banned for repeated cheating.