I'm still scratching my head.

[ralerin]

At my Freshbasket, as with most places, the pinpad attached to the register has to be set up slightly differently for credit,mdebit and EBT transactions. Debit and EBT transactions are handled directly by the customers; credit cards are given to the cashiers to check for ID and then slid.

I had just finished ringing out someone (call him Al, don't know his real name but he looked like an Al) and he was waiting for a pack of cigarettes that my bagger (Billy) had gone to fetch. Behind him was a confused looking older gentleman (Gerry) with an EBT card. Al let Gerry go on before him, since Gerry only had one item. Gerry put in his EBT card and slid it while Billy came back. Since Al had previously told me he wanted to pay by card for the cigs, I asked him how he wanted to pay, credit or debit. He told me debit, which is fair enough.

Gerry throws his EBT card down onto the belt just before he entered his pin number. "This ain't no Debit card!"

"Yes, sorry sir, she was talking to me."

"But this ain't no debit card, she won't let me pay for my drink!"

" Erm, yes I am? You only need to put in your pin number."

"But this ain't no debit card!"

"Yes, sir, I know. You're all set, you need to just put in your pin."

Gerry grabs the drink. "I need to go somewhere where they'll let me pay! This ain't no debit card!"

Billy, Al and I say in unision "But you're all set, just need to put in your pin number and you'll be done!"

Gerry walks off with the drink, to the other side of the store, in order to pay for the drink. I stood there and scratched my head for a good 5 minutes, because I couldn't process it. Still can't.

[Deserted]

[Deserted looks at the name of this site.] Sounds about right.

[notalwaysright]

Behind him was a confused looking older gentleman (Gerry) with an EBT card.

It was an older guy, they can just get something in their mind and won't let it go. It's a little sad, because you can tell they're confused and not "all there." We get this a lot at my work. An ancient lady just won't understand that I can't take her money at the cutting counter. Or another common one, an elderly person doesn't go the right direction in the queuing line. There's a sign that says something like "enter on other side," plus all the other customers waiting in a different place, plus an employee trying to direct the person the other way, but they just don't get it. They see an employee and go up to them, end of story.

We've had whole lines of customers give the cashier the okay let one of these clearly confused elderly ladies jump the line. There's no point in getting in a huge issue of it, I just hope they have family or friends who will notice them slipping, and get them assistance.

[Food Lady]

^ This is what I'm thinking. I have a few of those, too. This newfangled technology is too much for them. Just think if they start issuing the foodshare cards with chips in them. Good grief, I'm going to have a time with the ones who have trouble with the current cards....

[Trixie]

I get that in photo all the time. A customer starts to give me money even before their order shows up to be processed. Bonus points if it's a sendout order.

[earl colby pottinger]

Or

They forgot their pin number and can not admit their mental stumble.

Worse, they stole (borrowed) a family/friend's card and never knew the pin.

[The Braindead Live]

It's sad and frightening, sometimes. I was in line behind a sweet elderly lady that was paying with her new ATM card. The cashier was very polite and patiently guided her through the payment process. When it came time to enter her PIN, the lady said "Is this where I put in 1 2 3 4?" I guess it's good that I'm a generally good person, and would in no way try to exploit such a vulnerability, but I just hope that she got a better PIN or doesn't shop around nefarious characters.

[Food Lady]

Every time I've jokingly tried to pick 1234 it wasn't allowed. Neither has 4 of the same digit. Maybe the old lady just meant digits and used the series as a term for that. If she did have that exact sequence then I am scared for her. There's a reason it's often not allowed!

I have a few customers who just don't seem to know how to operate a card reader in general. These people are in their 50s at the oldest. I don't get that. Customer-use terminals have been around for 20 years?