‘I need some answers’: Man tries to buy a Bic lighter at Dollar General. Then a worker steps in

A Dollar General customer was shocked to learn that he needed to present an ID card just to buy a lighter.

Chandler (@jcchandler3) posted a viral TikTok discussing the age ruling with a worker at the budget retail chain. While Chandler didn't think the restriction was legitimate, plenty of other users on the app begged to differ.

How old do you need to be to buy a Bic lighter at Dollar General?

The video begins with a recording of a Dollar General employee named Rusty speaking to the camera. He smiles as the customer asks him to repeat what he just said to him "one more time."

Rusty says, "If you buy an ID," but then quickly realizes his mistake. One that Chandler immediately picks up on. "If I buy an ID, okay, start again, 'cause you know you're lying."

Laughing, the Dollar General worker then delineates what he originally meant to say. "If you buy, if you buy a lighter, at a Dollar General. You have to have an ID," Rusty says.

Chandler then fires off a follow-up question. "How old you gotta be?" he asks.

Rusty says simply to the camera, "21."

The TikToker replies, "Yeah [expletive] right."

Is the rule legit?

It seems that this could very well be the case. This rule is written into the URL of Dollar General's lighter search page. Furthermore, a Google search for this very same page reads, "Lighters - Dollar General Enter your ID at the register."

Additionally, other folks online expressed that they weren't happy with Dollar General's lighter selling policies.

One Reddit user couldn't believe that the budget retailer required customers to be a certain age to purchase one. They shared a shopping experience they had in 2024.

"Does Dollar General have a minimum age to buy a lighter? The cashier carded me for a lighter and when she saw I was 22, made me leave and said I had to be 25 years old," they questioned.

One user who replied to their post stated that this didn't seem like the age minimum for a lighter. They speculated the employee, for some reason, just didn't want to sell the Redditor the lighter. "25? I feel like she had to be lying, the maximum age for stuff like this is 21," they suggested.

Moreover, other Reddit commenters stated that while working at Dollar General, they followed a sight rule. "I believe the old system used to ask if the customer looks older than 30. the newer system makes us put in a birthday," they claimed.

This was echoed by another commenter: "Yeah my store still has the old one and if you press no on the over 30 prompt it asks for the DOB."

@jcchandler3 I need some answers ????????#bic #dollargeneral ♬ original sound - semaj111088

What are Dollar General's lighter rules?

According to DG Customer First, many Dollar General stores stipulate age restrictions on lighter purchases. The website states these aren't arbitrary edicts implemented by Dollar General. Rather, these rulings are per local laws and can vary from region to region.

However, it appears that the number of the age itself doesn't vary. States either require that folks be 18 years old to purchase a lighter or they don't. So the 21-year-old age requirement at Chandler's Dollar Tree may not be legally enforced.

Commenters who replied to Chandler's post weren't surprised by the ID request. According to one user, they're used to these kinds of requests. "It’s been that way for years," they penned.

Another said, "He’s not lying."

Someone else on the application remarked they found it strange Chandler was causing a commotion over showing their ID. "You could just give him an ID. Causing a scene over a lighter," they said.

For the most part, it seemed like commenters were pretty very well acquainted with lighter laws. "Tt's true..they carded my daughter a few years ago and I had to go in and pay for it.. I'm dead serious," one said.

The Daily Dot has reached out to Dollar General via email and Chandler via TikTok comment for further information.

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The post ‘I need some answers’: Man tries to buy a Bic lighter at Dollar General. Then a worker steps in appeared first on The Daily Dot.