Chip and pin machine breaks... and it's MY fault.

[Lace Neil Singer]

You know, cuz I can, like, influence machinery to go buggery and I do this just to annoy the customers. -.-

What happened to the machine I do not know, just that one minute it was working, and next it wasn't. Luckily, I can still take cards; all I have to do is tap in the number so it goes straight to signature. To understand the following SC exchanges, you must know 2 things.

1. The till I was on wasn't closed for the reason that we were experiencing a huge rush, and my till just could not be spared.

2. The chip and pin machine's problem was that nothing on it worked. It just died on me, and there was nothing I could do to bring it back.

On to the suckiness...

Me: Sorry, but you'll have to sign for your card.
SC1: Oh, I don't believe this. Why can't I just tap in my pin as normal?
Me: (cuz the machine is broken and has a sign on it to that effect, dipstick!) Cuz the machine has just died.
SC1: So fix it.
Me: I'm not a technician, and at the moment, it's not possible to get someone to fix it.
SC1: (*Grumbles and grouses under breath while signing EFT slip, then goes.)

SC2: Why is your chip and pin machine not working? This is disgraceful! I can't believe that I have to come in here and sign for my card, when you're supposed to offer chip and pin!
Me: It's just my machine that's down, all the others work fine.
SC2: So why don't you have a sign on the till saying that?
Me: Cuz I'm here, and can tell customers.
SC2: (See *)

SC3: What did you do to the machine? It's broken!
Me: (No duh!) I didn't do anything, it just went.
SC3: Yeah right. You must have done something.
Me: I never touch the machine; the customers do.
SC3: (Has no response to this.)

Everyone else was fine, and after the rush died down, my till was closed. I did random jobs til someone on another till had to go home.

[Calud]

The reason, as I already posted in several other post, is that we all know that computers (and the chip and pin machine is such a thing) NEVER EVER EVEHER break down. Because they ARE COMPUTERS! They CAN'T BREAK! Oh... wait... they are just like cars, vending machines, cell phones (that were thrown in water) and any other electrical device.

[evilhomer]

SC3: What did you do to the machine? It's broken!
Me: (No duh!) I didn't do anything, it just went.
SC3: Yeah right. You must have done something.

Oh yes sir, because assholes like you aren't a big enough pain in my arse, I have to do things to irritate them so they have even more to bitch and whine about.

[Anakah]

ooh that reminds me of when our ATMS go down and automatically becomes the cashier's fault. The ATMS are from a separate company, we have to call someone to come down (if they ever show) and we are not allowed to put signs on them if something is wrong.

If the system goes down we get to tell people: Unfortunately we can't retrieve your money right now. No, I don't know how long it will be. It will drop out of our system in a few hours but may take up to a few days to go back into your account.

I dread saying that. I truly do feel bad for the people and I'd be pissed too but I wouldn't take it out on people who have no control over it. Its the stupidest system ever.

But since the machine was broken at your till, of course YOU broke it. Simply to make their lives harder. People really are stupid.

[Miffed]

SC3: Yeah right. You must have done something.
Me: I never touch the machine; the customers do.

That's classic

[Jacen]

Just so I understand... "chip and pin machine" = Eftpos Machine?

[Lace Neil Singer]

It's the machine you put your card in and tap in your pin. I don't know what a Eftpos Machine is. XD

[sms001]

Just so I understand... "chip and pin machine" = Eftpos Machine?

It's the machine you put your card in and tap in your pin. I don't know what a Eftpos Machine is. XD

When I saw it was LNS and the title was "Chip and Pin Machine" I was trying to imagine what the pin part would be - since this was obviously going to be about some sort of vending machine that dispensed french fries and.... pins?

Then from context we get:

chip and pin machine =

eftpos (Electronic Funds Transfer Point Of Sale)

or Debit Scanner, or "slider" or "scanner" or "card reader" or......etc. etc. gotcha.

So now thanks to Sparkticus and Lace Neil Singer I know that I can go to some high street chain with no cash as long as it has a chip and pin. (Now if I could only learn Yooper as quickly as I'm learning English.)

[edible_hat]

Chip and pin is apparently common in Europe, in Australia it seems that a lot of places have combined chip and magstripe readers, but none of the card companies offer chipped cards.

[Sir Spaniard the 12th]

Oh, so the the 'chip' bit is that little gold thing I've seen embedded in some debit/credit cards? I've always wondered where people can use that, since in Aus, ATMs and eftpos machines are standard...

What do the two parts look like when they are separate?

[Munty]

The little gold part is actually connected to a micro chip. (Similar to a RFID tag I think)

And, if I recall correctly, we now only use Chip and Pin over here in the UK because the banks decided that a signature is no longer good enough. Something about the retailers being charged for any fraudulent purchases made with a card, if they accept a signature. (Can anyone that works in retail over here confirm this?)

A bit OT: Ya know, now some retailers (e.g. Sainsurys) over here are no longer accepting cheques. I find that kinda funny.

[cinema guy]

Chip and Pin equipment connects to the card provider and finds whether there is sufficient funds. If the card provider declines the card and the retailer accepts a signature after this, the retailer can be charged.

The cinema I work at does not have C&P equipment at the box office and customers are frequently suprised that they still have to sign. There are a large number of customers who don't sign their cards because of C&P.

We don't accept cheques either.

More info here: http://www.chipandpin.co.uk/index.html

[Munty]

Thanks for the link!


Looking through some of the FAQs there, it looks like the retailer may be charged for fraudulent purchases "if a retailer does not have a chip and PIN acceptance device, and the use of such a device could have prevented the fraud from occurring".

(This is FAQ I'm refering to if anyone else is curious: http://www.chipandpin.co.uk/business...liability.html )

[Lace Neil Singer]

I'm glad the place I work doesn't accept cheques; they were always a pain in the arse, especially when people went over their limit and didn't have anything to confirm their address; they had to write their address on the back, which we then were supposed to check with a driving licence or letter or something with their address on it. To send the heavies round if the cheque bounced, I presume.

[Sunsetsky]

SC3: What did you do to the machine? It's broken!
Me: (No duh!) I didn't do anything, it just went.
SC3: Yeah right. You must have done something.
Me: I never touch the machine; the customers do.
SC3: (Has no response to this.)

I loved your response on this one. A good way to shut someone up.

When I worked at walmart, our credit card machines acted up all the time. And had to be taken apart to be reset. And it took a while for the computer to come back on properly. Never had anyone complain about it though.