Stop Swiping Your Card!

[GoldFinch]

This is something that happened yesterday. This guy came through the line and his credit card kept being denied. We came to the conclusion it was because his bank's system was down since others were having this problem. Well, apparently this wasn't a good enough reason and he started going on about how unbelievable it was (as if it was our fault) and how he had just gone to the bank. He proceeded to continue to try and swipe his card for about ten minutes still whining and moaning about it. We were busy enough as it is and the line was getting held up because he refused to listen. Eventually we convinced him to go over to the customer service desk to get sorted out.

[Jade Panurple]

Have you ever noticed that no matter WHY a credit or debit card is denied, immediately the SC starts yelling about how "I just went to the bank!" or " I just deposited $xxxx in there this morning!" or the ever classic, " I just checked my balance, and I have $xxxxx.xx in there! I'm not poor or anything, I'm not trying to scam you, just write down the number and let me leave, and you can run it through later!" They other thing I hate, people who use debit cards to buy something that comes to $1.00, and yell at me when it is denied, then scream about never coming back because I just wasted their time. All I have to say to them is , and I'm only being that polite because I want to keep my job.

[GoldFinch]

Ugh, I know. Don't whine to me about it how you did such and such because I honestly don't care. What I do care about is your're holding up the line because you're so busy throwing a fit.

Amusingly enough though, the cards for that particular bank starting working again right after the SC left. My co-worker and I had a good laugh over it.

[AFpheonix]

Although to be fair, I had my card declined once, even though it had a lot of balance left, and the cashier tried it a second time and it went....

But yeah, it's not a system issue most of the time.

[GoldFinch]

Although to be fair, I had my card declined once, even though it had a lot of balance left, and the cashier tried it a second time and it went....

But yeah, it's not a system issue most of the time.

The cashier tried and tried and tried to get the card to go through and it wouldn't. Maybe it would have eventually, but we didn't exactly have the time for that.

[air914]

Have you ever noticed that no matter WHY a credit or debit card is denied, immediately the SC starts yelling about how "I just went to the bank!" or " I just deposited $xxxx in there this morning!" or the ever classic, " I just checked my balance, and I have $xxxxx.xx in there! I'm not poor or anything, I'm not trying to scam you, just write down the number and let me leave, and you can run it through later!" They other thing I hate, people who use debit cards to buy something that comes to $1.00, and yell at me when it is denied, then scream about never coming back because I just wasted their time. All I have to say to them is , and I'm only being that polite because I want to keep my job.

WRite it down to run it through later? yeah that's safe - let me run it through a few online sites while I'm at it.... and can I write down your home address too while I'm at it?

And yeah - I just deposited money - well okay, it took me a time or two to understand this - but just b/c it's deposited doesn't mean it's AVAILABLE. It takes some time to process. I learned this of course the hard way - but I did learn.

[AFpheonix]

The cashier tried and tried and tried to get the card to go through and it wouldn't. Maybe it would have eventually, but we didn't exactly have the time for that.

I don't blame you. 2 tries, and if it doesn't go, well, then bummer. Try another method of payment or go away.

[MadMike]

WRite it down to run it through later? yeah that's safe - let me run it through a few online sites while I'm at it.... and can I write down your home address too while I'm at it?

Agreed, but isn't that pretty much what they do with the old machines that make an imprint of the card? Granted, you don't really see stores using them these days, but some companies that come to your house to perform certain services* still do that so they can run it when they go back to the office.

*Yes, I'm fully away of what that sounded like, and get your minds out of the gutter, people! It's getting crowded in here as it is.

But seriously, I'm talking about things like carpet cleaning, where they have to come to your house. Most of us aren't going to try to pull up the carpet and bring it in for cleaning... well, except that moronic customer in that one story.

[Dreamstalker]

The cashier tried and tried and tried to get the card to go through and it wouldn't. Maybe it would have eventually, but we didn't exactly have the time for that.

That would happen at the bookstore at times, especially during uberbusy periods (one line for 4 card terminals). Usually, trying a given card 2 or 3 times would force it through.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Whenever I had a card decline I would automatically run it through a second time before I even told the customer since sometimes it did work the second time. It didn't happen very often but enough that I would just run it again. Then I'd say "I'm sorry, I tried it twice but your card's been declined."

One day we couldn't take any Discover cards...that was fun.

[Andara Bledin]

I don't get that.

I see people at crosswalks stabbing the button over and over again. I've made snarky comments to a couple of them to the effect of, "if it works, you only need to push it once, if it doesn't work, not only does pushing it not do anything, but pushing it over and over again makes you look impatient and stupid."

It's obvious that a large percentage of SCs are insane. After all, one of the hallmarks of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting to receive a different result.

^-.-^

[Jade Panurple]

Whenever I had a card decline I would automatically run it through a second time before I even told the customer since sometimes it did work the second time. It didn't happen very often but enough that I would just run it again. Then I'd say "I'm sorry, I tried it twice but your card's been declined."

One day we couldn't take any Discover cards...that was fun.

I tried doing that a few times myself, but, I stopped. The reason being, I had a customer who called the cops after she left saying that I had charged her twice and was pocketing the money. Of course, she tried to prove it by saying that two reciepts printed out. Yep, sure did, a merchant copy and a customer copy. Well, no crap lady! After a few moments of staying calm on my part, the cops laughed at her and left.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Although to be fair, I had my card declined once, even though it had a lot of balance left, and the cashier tried it a second time and it went....

But yeah, it's not a system issue most of the time.

You must have shopped in my store - our pinpad machines are horrible for that. They're old, beat up/abused/neglected and just need to be replaced.

With some bankcards (for some reason, we have occasional issues w/the state employee's credit union debit cards) the machine doesn't decline - it simply cancels out, so that on the regsiter display, it simply reverts back to the total due. Run it through a second time, and it's okay.

Strange

[Arcade Man D]

One day we couldn't take any Discover cards...that was fun.

Eh, Discover cardholders should be used to it by now. :P

"Unless.... Do you take Visa?"

"I'm sorry, Visa hasn't existed for 5000 years."

"Mastercard?"

"Six thousand."

"Discover?"

"I'm sorry, we don't take Discover."

But all these stories make me so glad my arcade doesn't take cards.

[slick]

I had a women cry once because her card didn't go through. She was with friends who all had there own rooms. One of the ladies got pissy with me over it. Told me that I should call the bank over it. When the lady quit crying, she looked at the card she gave me again, and realized that it was the wrong card, she says "That card is maxed out, try this one". Tried the second one, and it worked.
We can clearly see that she knows how to manage her credit.

BTW, the "friend" that got upset with me still gave me silly looks, like I maxed the card out.