Bouncer snapped my sons ID

I would just pay for the ID to be replaced and move on. There are a lot worse things that can happen on a night out, so I'd just be glad my DS was alive and well. The other people on the door apologised, so it does sound like a genuine mistake. I suspect if you contacted the club to ask them to cover the cost of the replacement you'd just be ignored. I think the time and place to request this was when it happened.

Did your DS actually get into the club?

I used to work as a barristers clerk some of the clerks were committed football hooligans.

Get your son to find out what company/ agency the bouncer works for as they are the ones that should cover the replacement cost if agreed, not the club.
Unless the club hire direct staff but highly unlikely.

Agree with pp, support your son to follow this up.
It will be useful for him.
It may have been a genuine mistake but I also know many door staff can be overly aggressive and grandiose.
They do have a very difficult job though.

Just get a new ID. Sometimes you have to swallow small losses.

If they’re in a hotel it’s presumably not a club they frequent that often. Let it go.

Bouncers are special people who are too stupid and unfit to get into the police, without the benefit of the IOPC to stop them. They do as they please, unfettered by laws and are dangerous to cross.

If you complain, you will not get a refund. They will say your son was abusive and and your he will be banned from the club and possibly all the sister clubs across the UK (yes, this is a thing).

I would put it down to experience.

I imagine the bouncer thought it was a fake ID or he'd borrowed it from someone else. I remember a friend of my son's who was using his passport as ID, bouncer ripped the pages out and binned it as he didn't believe the friend was 18. Although MN seems to have a thing about people looking younger than their age this young man did look a lot younger than 18 and he was shorter than average.

That wasn't cheap to replace for an 18 year old school kid.

I used to work in a nightclub and some of the bouncers were absolute thugs.

Going by many replies in this thread, it was up to your parents to do the complaining anyway.

My point was that it is a big bad world out there and no one will give a shit about OP’s son’s ID being snapped. It is so minor compared to what they have to deal with. It is a night club, not an after school club.

Reminds me of the time my friend had a bouncer in London try and pick apart her very real Italian passport. She is Australian but a duel citizen. She was 25 at the time and short but otherwise very much looked her age.

She snatched it off him before he could do real damage and we went elsewhere. Later in the night we met a bunch of 17 year olds on fake IDs who had been in that same club earlier.

It was weird. Never occurred to us to complain though.

The OP implies she is the one who will be doing something not offering guidance.

“Reckless criminal damage” is a huge overreaction. I’m guessing the bouncer was flexing the card to check if it was fake and it accidentally snapped.

I’d imagine there would be a lot of eye rolling by the police if you actually call this in, on behalf of your adult son..🙄

I would 100% report it firstly to the club (and whichever company actually owns it), I would find out which company provided the security and complain to them, then I would report the bouncer.

It’s not about the ID, it’s the entitled attitude that needs pulling into line. You can’t behave how you want because you are “security”, not should bad behaviour be tolerated, and allowed to escalated. I can tell you multiple stories, from my younger days, of assaults by bouncers..and you still get them now. People in that job are expected to show certain behaviour (hence the badge), if they are not exhibiting those behaviours they need a bit of retraining.

MN is a strange place, can we not offer our DC guidance and support.
My DD had her ID confiscated by a bouncer because he 'thought' it looked fake. Called the pub the next day and they denied all knowledge.
Some bouncers are arseholes and like to bully.

How is this 'teaching' or 'guiding' him???

Do I report as reckless criminal damage or contact the club to cover the cost of replacing?

To be fair, the OP did say "Do I report as reckless criminal damage or contact the club to cover the cost of replacing?" It does read as if she is planning on doing the complaining and reporting. Whereas I do think, an 18 year old should be capable of doing it himself under guidance.
I think if your mum has to complain to the club for you, you're not mature enough to be at the club.

What does him 'not behaving impeccably' have to do with snapping his I. D. though? If he is acting the fool in the line you just deny him entry, don't even need to ask for ID, never mind snap it.
OP what is the context of it getting snapped. Was he flexing to check holograms and being his first night over did it and accidentally snapped it? Or was he being mouthy to the people in the line and acting' the big man' when he snapped it

@Edingril can I ask what you think happens overnight when someone turns 18? Do they suddenly learn all life skills in their sleep, and wake up a fully functional adult, capable of doing everything independently? Or do you think maybe young adults learn by experience and guidance?

The irony is profound.

So many people talking about him still being very young, "still a child really", etc., etc. on a thread about ID to prove you're an actual adult and therefore old enough to be in a nightclub.

He's clearly nowhere near mature enough to be going to clubs if he needs his mum to sort out a minor issue like this.

OP didn't ask "should he..." or even "should we..." with regard to contacting the club management, it was "should I..."

No way is it safe for this man to be going to clubs - or at least not without his mum.

Agree.

MN is so weird. If my son at 18 asks for advice and help with an issue he's not dealt with before, of any kind, of course I'm going to help and guide him as best I can! So he can, you know, learn what to do .....

MNers moan about "teach your sons better to be decent adults/partners" but then "leave him to deal with everything himself because he's 18". Yeah right, can't have it both ways.

Nobody's forcing them to do the job. They could easily choose to do it properly, or resign.

This. As someone who worked in the nightlife industry for a long time (plus a DH who has been a doorman for over 25 years.)

Op, your son probably met a shirt filler who was flexing their authority/is very new to the job and went too hard on the ID.

If the other doormen were saying it was an accident and that was backed up by club management at the time then chances are you're going to get nowhere. They've already closed ranks. You're never going to see the CCTV and the police won't be interested unless there was an assault.

Yeah, this, OP. From the very stroke of midnight on your 18th birthday you must henceforth deal with everything life throws at you completely alone. No help or support from friends or family allowed, ever. Did you not know?

Because he turned 18 and magically knows how to deal with everything.

I used to work at a club and the bouncers have to deal with so much crap from drunk and aggressive people. There were knives, theft, drugs, vomiting, a lot of fights and sexual assaults including rape. The bouncers are also not always the most wholesome people themselves and were not always nice to people who annoyed them. Your son should put this down to a small bit of bad luck and move on.