Green Dot, (wherein Repsac confuses a cashier)

[repsac]

I've been away for some time. yeah, WoW takes up much of that, but I also had some family problems and a personal issue in the form of a nasty muscle spasm. I'll leave it at that :P

While I was away, I got one of these really neat little cards called a "Green Dot". Basically it's an unsecured credit card that I put money on. Think of it as a gift card accepted any place Visa is taken. that's the basic principle.

Now these cards can also work like debit cards, working in most ATM machines. (This is all key later).

I've used the card for some time now, it's rather usefull for things like Gas and lets me keep a sizable ammount of money on me without having to actually carry the cash. Most cashiers or tellers recognize it right away, but I have had several small hiccups with it. One when I first got it; and more recently at my local Wal-Mart store.

1.) First incident: Now, here's the thing, Green dots are limited in how much you can put on them, but like any credit card they don't print out a receipt telling you how much is left on it before you need to reload. Walking into a restraunt that accepts Visa, I decided to pay with what little cash I had on me and then use my card to make up the bulk. The idea was that by doing it that way, I wouldn't have to break a twenty. So, the transaction is done, and I pull out the card and put it on the counter while I got to get the money out. The cashier reaches across the counter and grabs my card making ready to run it. This is not cool. So very not cool. Reaching out, I take the card back (I rather admit I think I snatched it back) and told her in a firm tone that when I was ready to give her the card, she'd know it and I didn't appreciate her grabbing it like that. She turns a bit snotty on me and says that quote "She gots to takes it all off tha card if a customers wants to use one." Blinking at that I hmm'd and then shrugged putting the card back. Whipping out the twenty I handed it over. "How did you know I even wanted to pay with the card? I could have just been putting it down to get it out of the way...sparky." (Note: I had not said to her that I was planning on paying part witht he card.) The food came cold and they got my order wrong. I called corporate and got about a hundred dollars in gift certs which I've made sure to use.

2.) Wherein the confusion sets in:

The funny thing about Green Dots is that when you use them at Wal-Mart, it automatically pops up as a debit card. Asking for a PIN. However, Green Dot actually recommends you use the card as a "Credit" card. No PIN. The reason? You don't have to always set up a PIN when you get the card, so it's entirely possible to have no correct PIN. Really confusing, but most Cashiers listen when you say "Credit." This one did not. I forget the whole transaction, but I think it went something like:

C: Your total is XXX.xx.
R: (Holding up card) Credit Please.
C: (Punches a few buttons.)
R: (Swipes card and groans as the debit PIN screen comes up.) Uh, miss? It popped up the PIN Screen. It's a credit card...
C: Oh just punch in your number.
R: But...I don't have a number. It's a Credit card.
C: Sir, you have to enter your PIN.
R: No PIN. Credit.
C: (sounding a bit testy) YOU have to enter your PIN sir.
R: (equally as testy) Do you speak english? What part of NOT A DEBIT CARD can't you understand?
C: (giving me a blank stare) Sir you have to...
R: (By this point I was getting tired of hearing her repeat the PIN thing so I gave up and said those horrible words, I also noticed something that may have caused her confusion. (More on that later)) Oh just call a manager over here.

So, she calls a CSM who comes over and asks what's up. The cashier says to her:

"He's refusing to enter a PIN."

Quickly I respond that it's a credit card not a Debit card. The CSM turns to the cashier gives her an odd look (the cashier had rolled her eyes as I said that.) After a moment she backs the sale out and hits credit. I swipe, and it goes through fine. The CSM smiles when it works, and appologizes. As I turn to leave she walks with me a bit, and not being one to let things lie when I probably should I turned to the CSM and said:

"You know, if she'd take the I Pod earphones out of her ears, she'd probably have heard what I said the first time."

[Sliceanddice]

you got to be kidding me?? she was listening to her I-Pod while serving you???
You where alittle sucky but not much.

[JustADude]

You where alittle sucky but not much.

Eh... I wouldn't say 'Sucky'. Justly annoyed and testy, yes, but I don't think he reached the saturation point and overflowed into Suckitude. It's all on a sliding scale, where the more you've been provoked the less Suck a particular response.

I'd say that, in Repsac's case, the fact that she was listening to an I-Pod instead of paying attention, and didn't even bother trying to listen to him to see why he wasn't punching in his PIN when he didn't do it immediately, was plenty of provocation for asking for a manager and being slightly snarky.

Suck would've been demanding his purchase be comped because of what she did.

[rerant]

Did this cashier think that repeating herself would magically change your method of payment from credit to debit without her having to alter the transaction?

Also, I think you were definitely being testy and rude in both cases.

[powerboy]

Yeah you were being rude on the first one. You could have said it nicely, to the woman. But you jerked the card out of her hand, that is not cool, my buddy.

[Ree]

My vote is rude on both counts, even if you were irritated that the cashiers didn't behave in a manner that you approved of.

In the first case, how many times have we read a complaint on here that the customer just takes out the card and sets it down without handing it over, assuming the cashier can read minds and knows they want to pay with that card?
I can see exactly why the cashier might have picked up the card like that.
All you had to do was tell her nicely that you weren't putting the whole amount on the card.

In the second case, she should not have been wearing an I-Pod at work.
That is very unprofessional.
She should also have been paying attention to what she was doing.
You still could have been a little less testy about it, though.

Calling the manager over was the right thing to do since the cashier obviously was not familiar with the card that you were using.
That was not sucky at all. In some cases, you just have to call a manager. After all, that's why stores have them.

[Broomjockey]

I call at least minor suckage on both counts, on both sides. Most places ARE capable of running half and half transactions, though granted, my first theatre couldn't until our register upgrade. I loved that upgrade... *dreams about useful features...* AAAAAnnnd I'm back. So, if that was the case in the first situation, then she's not really sucky, but should have waited an extra few seconds before going for the card.

Second situation: Wearing an iPod during shift? USING iPod during shift? Instant write up at any job I've had, whether customers complained or not. That said, returning suck that's been fired at you is rarely the best course.Though I do applaud the parting comment...

[Kiwi]

If someone tried to help me, who had an ipod attached to their ears, I would have asked them to remove it. I think both of you could have acted in a more mature way.... but

the employee is PAID to be polite and grin and bare it if they get someone in a bad mood so she should have sucked it up and gotten on with it.

[Sofar]

Why is it that whenever someone posts a story like this every poster feels the need to deliver his edict as to whether the poster was being "sucky" or not? He's just telling us a story, people. He's not asking for criticism of his actions. If he were, he would have used the line "was I being sucky?" as many do.

[Pagan]

Why is it that whenever someone posts a story like this every poster feels the need to deliver his edict as to whether the poster was being "sucky" or not? He's just telling us a story, people. He's not asking for criticism of his actions. If he were, he would have used the line "was I being sucky?" as many do.

What I was thinking. (Even though I don't think either of these was any suck on Repsac's part to begin with! )

[Rapscallion]

I suspect it's mostly because the entire site is based around someone's behaviour. I do expect people to speak up if the tale as told reveals that the person telling it was in the wrong - not all customers suck, and not all of us are perfect all the time. We make mistakes, and I expect us to be called on them (politely, of course) when it happens. That's why I set up the 'oops' and 'praising customers' sections - an attempt at a cultural shift. We're here for justified ranting.

Rapscallion

[Ree]

None of us are perfect.

I think, if a person is going to post a vent about receiving sucky service, then there is nothing wrong with pointing out to them that their own behaviour wasn't the best, either.

I assume people want feedback on their posts, and that's exactly what they're getting when people "deliver an edict" on their behaviour.

I would think it would be a pretty boring place if we only ever kissed up to each other and patted each other on the back for every story told, even if the person is in the wrong.

[repsac]

Oh, I know I was. With everything going on around then I guess I was entitled (oh gods...I said it. shoot me now!) to be just a bit sucky. Still, I think in the first case what bothered me was the fact that I'd just put the card down. I think time wise there wasn't a few seconds between it hitting the counter just in front of me, and my looking through the cash to her reaching across and taking it.

What bothered me with that one was two fold. One it felt like a bit of an invasion of my personal space. I'd not told her she could get the card, she just assumed that. And two, the impatience of just grabbing the thing right away got to me.

In my personal experiences, when a customer placed a card on the counter and then went back into their wallet, I'd not say anything or touch the card right away. I never knew if they were moving it or wanted to pay with it. Typically, I'd give a good thirty second to minute pause before asking the customer if that was their chosen method of payment.