Debit Debauchery

[mymaskofsanity]

I hate these confounded contraptions....

Wait let me rephrase that.

I hate the people who rely on these confounded contraptions.

Why is it that the people I notice who use the thing for every transaction have the most trouble with it?

Get a clue

I have a woman who without fail pays debit at least twice a week. EVERY SINGLE TIME all she does is type her pin number and hit the "ok" button, then proceeds to stand there and stare into space until I say something.

( I actually let 1 full minute go by of her standing there once to test her brain capacity )

Learn to read aka Wear your Glasses

Similar gentleman, although friendly I want to break his fingers. This guy is a daily though. Uses the machine every day , and every day he asks me " which one is for chequing?"
I reply "Read the screen" in my monotonous robotic tone.

If you can't read the screen you should not pay debit anyway, I could have charged you 419.95 instead of 41.95 and you'd never know.

mah idenimefications

Although I appreciate the fact that you are trying to "protect your pin" number when you press the pad to your chest and blindly mash the numbers resulting in epic password fail, I will think you're a jackass.

Extra points if you and I are the only ones in the store and I make it a point to direct my eyes away from the pin pad yet you still feel I am capable to "jack your cash" with your pin number after I've handed you back your card.
I mean salaried employees at respectable companies do after all try to steal as much as possible right? Are jobs aren't important or anything that we'd care if we lost them.

( yes I realize I might be over reacting on this one but I might just be easily annoyed , I've worked here too long )

Comparing Apples and Apples

When you make a mistake and refuse to use that little yellow "CORRECTION" button and hit cancel you fail.

You fail more when you proclaim " all of these thing are different everywhere I go !"

No, No they are not.

They all have numbers 0-9.
They all have a GREEN "ok" button
They all have a RED "cancel" button
They all have a YELLOW "correction" button
They all have a "savings" button
They all have a "checquing" button

But then again the inventors, had they done any research, would have known that simple directions/instructions entangle the minds of the masses of consumers.

( You may have different debit machines where you live, but in this city, they are all pretty much as I described)

Card Nostalgia

What is with these people who keep the first bank card they ever got?
It's got a crack in it? The laminate is peeling off? The magnetic strip is now a black dot?

Don't ask me to do repairs on your card, I don't care that much to make a sale to force a piece of paper around your card through the slot that only fits the width of a debit/credit card.

I do not have tape to put on your card, tape it at home if you know the solution to your malfuctioning piece of crap.

Better yet, go to the bank and get a new card in 30 seconds on the spot.


Thats enough ranting for today

Thanks for reading

[qaxons]

I use my debit card for nigh-everything, simply because I buy so many little things regularly that paying cash would result in my pants descended due to coinage (I've mentioned my love of coins in another thread...) and I don't really want to stop by the ATM every day.

I don't have problems with it, but I've seen the people that do, especially working in a grocery store...

Ever meet the old guy who still has his first card, even though he has the new working one in front of it, and still tries the old, expired, broken card first? Insists you try to make it work, it won't, and then gives up and hands you the new card?

I hated that guy...

[wagegoth]

You fail more when you proclaim " all of these thing are different everywhere I go !"

No, No they are not.

In the U.S. they are, unfortunately. I went to Walgreen's the other morning, for the first time in a couple of months. I ran my card the wrong way.

More of the machines are becoming similar, but a lot of companies are not going to go to the cost of upgrading their equipment for "look and feel." They're going to stick with what they've got, until something comes along that gets sold to top execs or that their bank requires.

[mymaskofsanity]

Yea I have been to places where they are different.

Card swiping doesn't really bug me as Its a quick and painless mistake that doesn't require any thing other than a re swipe normally.

I think I was somewhere once where all the buttons were backwards to what I was accustomed too. ( "ok" on the left rather than the right ) kinda threw me off.

[angelicafire]

My favorite are the machines that only let you put in a 4 digit pin, like the one at my mechanic. My pin is 6 digits. In fact, I know you're going to try to make me put in my pin, believe me when I say it's not going to work, please? I'm not pulling your leg, I was here 4 times in as many months.

But I'm noticed what you mean about people who can't function with buttons for some reason. At the gas station I go to regularly, it seems I'm always behind the person who can't follow instructions, like "ENTER PIN." That's all it says. Put it in and press the green OK button. That's all! Why is that so hard for you people?

[Aggravated Associate]

Because the world would probably stop spinning without the morons.

"DO I PUSH CLEAR OR CREDIT FOR CANCEL?!?!"

Just push one. If it doesn't work, try the other one. I have a debit card, too, and that is seriously the only difference I've ever seen between the readers. And yet somehow, I answer this question about 10 times a day. It's not as if the thing is going to explode if you push the wrong button. Just try.

My pet peeve is when people decide to bypass the self-swipe because it's just "too complicated," hand me their card to run, and then say, "This is a debit."

WTF?! If this is a debit, do you expect me to do when it's time to enter your PIN? I don't know it! I'm not a mindreader. I CAN'T finish the transaction for you, you're going to have to enter the PIN on the self-swipe anyway and do everything exactly as you would have, so just swipe the damn thing yourself.

[Shengirl]

When people complain about all the area credit card machines being different, I respond with a quip about capitalism and the evil of monopolies. It's good that they're different!

[sarahj]

I find that the customers who are unsure of how to use the pinpad are the ones who hand me their cards rather than swiping them themselves. I don't mind. I just ask "is that on credit?" then swipe the card, select the account, and let the customer sign or enter their PIN. Much easier and faster than the customer trying to figure it out themselves.

[Slow-Jo]

mah idenimefications

Although I appreciate the fact that you are trying to "protect your pin" number when you press the pad to your chest and blindly mash the numbers resulting in epic password fail, I will think you're a jackass.

Extra points if you and I are the only ones in the store and I make it a point to direct my eyes away from the pin pad yet you still feel I am capable to "jack your cash" with your pin number after I've handed you back your card.
I mean salaried employees at respectable companies do after all try to steal as much as possible right? Are jobs aren't important or anything that we'd care if we lost them.

( yes I realize I might be over reacting on this one but I might just be easily annoyed , I've worked here too long )

dear hell fire and brim stone! i HATE people like that. where I work, we have to swipe the card and then press in the amount. and every now and then we get a person who insists on reefing on the cord so the whole bloody machine is almost launched over the counter just so they are sure we wont steal their precious identity. of course im not even paying attention to them because im busy packing their meal.

or you get those at the other side of the spectrum who smash in their pin and wing the pin pad back at you. especially annoying in drive thru, when our counter is smooth slippery metal with a good 2 foot drop. why thank-you ass hat for just cracking our screen! no one has tried that trick with our new pads yet. and i pity the fool that does.

[ShinyGreenApple]

Also, if the screen asks if the amount is correct and you push "Cancel", you fail. -_-

[Listerfiend]

I find that the customers who are unsure of how to use the pinpad are the ones who hand me their cards rather than swiping them themselves. I don't mind. I just ask "is that on credit?" then swipe the card, select the account, and let the customer sign or enter their PIN. Much easier and faster than the customer trying to figure it out themselves.

I used to try to re-direct people who did that to use the pin pad, but I gave up when it's more efficient to do it myself than have customers learn to have some degree of autonomy. I now prefer to have people hand me their cards to deal with.

What I HATE HATE HATE are people who get their panties in bunches because the machine didn't put the card through the way they want. Does it really matter? NO. Our machines are such that I have a button for cards, and then it either automatically does transactions as credit or gives the customer an option of entering their PIN. I've actually gone so far as telling the customer, "Look at my register. See this? I have *one* button, and it says "charge." I have absolutely no control how the transaction goes through. You do, to some degree. But I can't control it." And then there are people who think they know how the machines work, and they'll pull stuff like sliding the card, almost leaving, and then getting huffy when I need them to either sign or enter their pin. I try to explain, "well, I need some sort of verification--either a PIN or a signature" and they'll get all bent out of shape, "no I don't--it's never been like that!!" (in the back of my mind, I've worked for the company for 2.5 years, at two different stores. That's exactly how it is...).

[powerboy]

I use my debit card alot. I am also one of the smart ones that will actually read the screen.

[Jacen]

Comparing Apples and Apples

When you make a mistake and refuse to use that little yellow "CORRECTION" button and hit cancel you fail.

You fail more when you proclaim " all of these thing are different everywhere I go !"

No, No they are not.

They all have numbers 0-9.
They all have a GREEN "ok" button
They all have a RED "cancel" button
They all have a YELLOW "correction" button
They all have a "savings" button
They all have a "checquing" button

But then again the inventors, had they done any research, would have known that simple directions/instructions entangle the minds of the masses of consumers.

( You may have different debit machines where you live, but in this city, they are all pretty much as I described)

Exactly the same here too, except it has Credit, savings, and Cheque. (wtf? Aren't cheques a bit of paper?)

I don't see how something soooo simple and most of them easy to read, can be hard to use...

[Aggravated Associate]

I feel as though I've posted this before, and if I have, I apologize, but it applies here, too... I once had to walk a woman through the ENTIRE process of running her card through the machine. Screen-by-screen. I guess that this is just a pet peeve of mine, but if these people would just READ THE SCREEN, it honestly wouldn't be so difficult.

"What do I do?"
"Swipe your card."
"I want to do debit."
"Okay, type in your PIN."
"Then what?"
"Press enter."
"It says 'cash back.' What does that mean?"
"It means, 'do you want cash back?'"
"I don't. What do I do?"
"Press 'no.'"
"It says 'confirm transaction. [or some var. of this]' What does that mean?"
"It means 'Will you confirm the transaction?'"
"Oh. What do I do?"
"Press 'yes.'"
"It says 'show card/hold card for cashier.' What does that mean?"



I mean, really.