Still My Biggest Peeve! veeeerrryyy long!

[WHShit]

My biggest peeve with customers is how they STILL do not know how to put their cards into the Chip and PIN machine.

This started to annoy me about 4 months into the whole Chip and PIN fiasco. And, now that we have had Chip and PIN machines for over a year, you think they would get it right. NOPE!

Chip and PIN was made to stop fraud, so you think that customers would be happy with that. No. Also, the machines that are in front of the tills are there for the customer to use...not for the employees, and it is evident because they are hard for the employee to reach. It is there for their convienence and to make the transaction faster. Do they appreciate or realize this? No

When this first started, we were instructed to educate the customers on it. We told them how to put the cards into the machines and told them that they only need to follow the instructions on the screen to make the transaction go smoothly. It is not hard at all! Simple really!

I would say that in the first few months,I tried to have patience, especially with the older generation of customers, as it was all new to all of them.

What happened was, they would always hand ME their card, and I would show them that they could put the card in for themselves and told them to follow the screens instructions. Also, in a memo that was sent from Head Office, we were told not to even touch their cards. They would sometimes do what they were told, and then they would bitch about how hard it was. Yes, it is soooo hard to put a card into a machine, press enter and key a PIN number in! After a few months, I grew tired of their laziness and apathy toward doing what as expected. Here is a rundown of all the problems and various situations that I hate to deal with:

PROBLEM A: putting card into machine

SITUATION A:

I ring their items through and they try to hand me the card. I tell them to please place the card in the machine. They try to do it, but complain with one of a few sentences. Either "they do it FOR me at (different store)", Which way does it go"? "This is ridiculous, I do not like this new PIN thing"!
So, they place the card into the machine wrong. MOSTLY ALWAYS! Not many have ever or will ever (it seems) get it right. So, I end up doing it for them anyway.

SITUATION B:

They put the card in wrong, and they keep messing around with it and pulling it in and out of the machine and getting flustered, because after attempting 6 different ways to put the card in, they have STILL managed to get it wrong. This is strange because there are only four ways it can be put in the machine, so this means that they keep trying the same way. If it did not work before then it is not going to work now, idiot. Then when I try to take the card from them and put it in correctly, they either bat my hand away or snatch the card away and continue trying the wrong way. Even after I tell them "chip downand facing you" they just do not get it!

PROBLEM B: not paying attention to the screen

SITUATION A:

Ok, so we have managed to get the card into the machine, now comes the fun part...keying in the PIN or hitting "enter". OOOHHH......difficult stuff here! So, the card is in and I press "card payment" on my screen, then it prompts them to enter the PIN on THEIR screen, but they are too busy fussing with the kids, looking at a magazine or just staring into space. Basicly doing ANYTHIG but looking at the screen. So, I have to tell the to enter their PIN.

SITUATION B:

So, card in the machine, and they enter their PIN. It is wrong, so the machinse says "PIN failure, please try again". They snatch the card out of the machine and put it in their wallets before I can say "no......". The we have to repeat the whole drama over again because they did not read what the screen said.

SITUATION C:

At my store, the reciept will not print unless the card is taken out of the machine. This is to assure that no one leaves it there,I guess. Anyway, the machine says "REMOVE CARD" when the transaction is complete. They never do this at all! Sometimes I do not realize that the card is still in the machine so I am waiting for the reciept along with them. Only when I notice do they say "Oh, it said "REOVE CARD" but I wasn't sure if I should". DUH! Where did you come from, you moron!?!

PROBLEM C: "they are all different"

NO! THEY ARE NOT! All PIN machines need the cards to go in the same way....chip down facing the keypad. That is how every machine is, unless it is a swipe machine. When I tell them to put it in the machine and they do it wrong, I say to them "chip down, facing you" or "chip down, facing the keypad".They always say "it is different in every store, that is why I don't know how to do it" I always say "no, it is actually the same in every store unless it is to be swiped". The chip always goes into the machine so the machine can read it (again, DUH!) and it always faces the keypad. Customer says "Oh, I will try to remember that" (no, you won't cause the next 5 times I see you in here we will go through the same thing!).Or they grumble something like "no, it is different" UGH!

PROBLEM D: they tell you their PIN nubers!

Yes, I have had about 20 people actually say the numbers aloud or tell me their number so I can keyi it in for them! WTF?

PROBLEM E: they don't know their PIN

Sometimes they just forgot their PIN and sometimes they have about 8 cards all with different PINS and forget which PIN is for which card. They always ask if they can sign. I am sorry, but over a year ago, everyone in England was sent a pamphlet in the mail telling them that PIN numbers were nessacary to pay for goods with a card that has been issued a PIN. . NO....we cant let you sign, jackass!

PROBLEM F: taking the card out before you are done

This happens for many reasons, but the most popular are either they key in the PIN and forget to press enter, so they yank the card out, or they think they messed up, so instead of pressing the cancel button or typing it in again, they yank it out and we have to start all over. It says "PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE CARD" And it says "REMOVE CARD " when they need to do so. Errrgh!

PROBLEM G: getting a refund on a card

Now, when you pay by card you have to get the money refunded back onto the card.That is a rule. So, when I tell you that I need you to put the card in the machine do not look at me all dumbfounded. And when you do put it in the machine, do not look at me weirdly when I ask you to put the PIN in. It is for your own good, asshole!

Finally, this is not really a problem but it is just dumb.....the adults have the kids do the whole thing! They have the kids whining saying "can I do it"? They let them, and the kids know the PINS and everything. Sad thing is that the kids get it right every single time. They always put the card in right and always read the screen. Seriously, every time I have had a kid do the payment for the parent they always do it correctly! And, when the parents do it themselves, they usually do it wrong and the kids correct them. When it comes time for the parents to be paying attention to their screen, the kids are the ones who say"you can put your number in now" or "take your card out, mom"!

Thing that really gets me all befuddled is that, when people go to get money out of a cash machine, there are no employees or anyone there to help them.They manage to put the card in correctly, eventually, and manage to follow the screens instructions. So, why can't they apply the same sense when it omes to Chip and PIN machines? WHY?

Does anyone have any stories about this? Or does anyone hate it as much as I do? Please share!

[Ree]

I'm one of those who always seems to have trouble getting the card right, and I don't know why.

I do know that there are so many different styles of units out there, and they vary so much form store to store.
Some, the customer swipes the card, and some, the staff swipe it. Some have the stripe facing in, some have it facing out.

Some, you have to select whether it's a Credit or Debit card, and some, that information is already in there so you just go immediately to OK'ing the amount, and all the other steps.

At our old store, we swiped the card for the customer, handed it back, and they proceeded with the PIN pad. All they had to do was OK the amount, select the account, and enter the PIN.
Now, our regulars get confused, because it's a different setup. We still swipe the card, but then they have to choose Debit. There's an option for credit, but it's inactive on our units. We finally put a little label under the Debit button.

So, yeah, it's probably annoying, but I can kind of understand the confusion...unless a person shops there every week and uses the same unit all the time. Then, you would expect that they would remember.

[trunks2k]

I just love the "They're all different" thing. They can't possibly all be different as there is only 4 ways to put the card through the machine, and if you are swiping it, there's technically 8 ways but I've never seen anyone hold the card that wrongly (a new word!).

So we have two type of machines, the ones where you insert the card, and the ones where you swipe the card. THe ones where you insert the card, it's almost always with the stripe down and to the left, but occasionally the stripe is down and to the right. So there's really only two ways the card goes in.

With the swiping there's two types, ones where the card is held perpendicular and ones where the card is held parallel. The parallel ones only work one way, with the strip down and facing in towards the machine. The perpendicular ones either have the card with the stripe down and facing in, or with the stripe down and to the left. (same idea with the wierd insert & swipe ones)

So at worst, depending on which machine, there's only two possibilities.

[shazman]

I agree Ree.
Actually I agree with most of the annoying things in the OP but some I can relate to the customer because I deal with it myself as a customer at various places myself.
It really is different in various stores. Some face in, some face out, some you have to push credit or debit before running the card thru the machine- some after. It's still not that hard to figure it out after a second or two though. So those that take longer than that or try the same way over and over are SC's in my opinion.

As for the pin- if it's a credit card and not a debit card I'd be in a world of hurt here. I don't even know the PIN on my credit cards because I never use them -only on my debit.

Also here in the states I'd find it extremely weird to have to not only scan the card myself but put in a PIN in order to receive a refund. That's not how it's done here. I have never had to scan my card and put in a pin to get a refund on my card. It's either done automatically off the receipt back on to my card or they ask for the card to do it. I'd think something is weird that I have to give my PIN # to have a refund put back on the card that is showing right there on the receipt. What purpose is that? I have to prove it's my card when I'm trying to get a refund back on my card that the receipt shows I used that card? How could that be a scam?

[pbmods]

The worst offense (as a customer) that I've ever committed is swiping the card at the PINpad early when the register is set up to only allow card swiping after the cashier has hit TOTAL. But other than that... well, seeing as how my IQ is higher than 25, it's really not that hard for me....

[trunks2k]

I have to give my PIN # to have

<pet peeve> it's "PIN". P.I.N. that's it, nothing more. To say "PIN number" is to be redundant, because you are saying "personal identification number number"</pet peeve>

Sorry, but stuff like that is big pet peeve of mine. Just like people who say "ATM Machine"

(and yes I do realize you got it right throughout the rest of your post, but I just can't stand "pin number" it must be erradicated)

[Becks]

PROBLEM E: they don't know their PIN

Sometimes they just forgot their PIN and sometimes they have about 8 cards all with different PINS and forget which PIN is for which card.

And THAT is why I try to get the same PIN for my cards. Makes my life so much easier...

[trunks2k]

And THAT is why I try to get the same PIN for my cards. Makes my life so much easier...

I do the same thing. But it makes it very dangerous. If someone finds out the pin to one account, they'll know the pin to everything else. But really, it's just not worth the effort to remember different ones, so I take my chances.

[Becks]

Actually, I only have a debit card, but since I've had to switch banks occasionally, I try to have my PIN remain the same. Beats trying to remember stuff. (Example...OK, my last PIN was {not real PINs}8547...Did I keep that one, or did I change it to 7540?) Stuff like that.

[Rapscallion]

Over here in the UK, we don't have credit/debit choices to make, or at least I've yet to see one. Makes it a bit simpler than the US system. Customers still manage to foul it up

I also know that every debit card where I have to swipe has clear diagrams, though I've don't often use them so I've not seen that many.

Rapscallion

[cheese]

Also every chip and pin machine in the UK (well all the ones I've seen, anyway) are pretty much identical, and the card goes in the same way every time. Even if the customer hadn't ever used one before, is it not common sense that the machine won't be able to read the card if the bit where the chip is is not in the machine, and is sticking out the top?

At my store we have the machines that the customers can use themselves like this but we can also put them through our own tills and the customer still enters their PIN in the same way. I much prefer to do it this way; because otherwise a lot of customers will take their card straight out after they have entered their PIN. It needs to stay in there until it says "Remove Card" while it is processed. If they take the card out too early then it is cancelled and we have to start all over again - which they can't understand. "But I entered my PIN correctly, am I going to get charged twice for this??"

Another problem with them is that people press the keys far too hard - and then the keys get stuck. When one key is stuck in, none of the other keys will work and you have to pull it out a bit (almost always the Enter button.) So I get a lot of customers not even mentioning to me that the little stars aren't actually coming up on screen (they're standing there for ages fiddling and I assume they're putting their PIN in incorrectly.) Then I have to sort out the machine and they get all pissed when I tell them they have to enter it AGAIN

[Ringtail Z28]

I really hate it when a customer tries to use a PIN pad with a stylus and touch screen. I had quite a few things I hated about it actually.

It's really not necessary to stab the screen with the stylus.

Using your finger to sign on the screen is not as good as the stylus.

Don't use a real pen to sign on the screen.

Yes it truly is one of the wonders of the world, with the screen and pen thing and all. Now please stop standing there staring at it in awe with that stupid smile on your face. You're creeping out the cashier and pissing off the customers waiting to use it.

[Rapscallion]

Oh, the British keypads - they remind me of the old Sinclair Spectrum, or 'ornamental eraser holder' as I affectionately remember it.

Yech.

Rapscallion

[Lace Neil Singer]

I agree with everything the OP said. So there's nothing I can add to this, cept that I hate it when people take out a piece of paper with their PIN written on or have it written on their hands! Argh!

[shazman]

<pet peeve> it's "PIN". P.I.N. that's it, nothing more. To say "PIN number" is to be redundant, because you are saying "personal identification number number"</pet peeve>

Sorry, but stuff like that is big pet peeve of mine. Just like people who say "ATM Machine"

(and yes I do realize you got it right throughout the rest of your post, but I just can't stand "pin number" it must be erradicated)

Actually that's my pet peeve too (especially "ATM machine") and it was just a slip there- as witnessed by me not repeating that several times throughout my post. I agree- and ATM "machine" needs to be erradicated also. It makes my head want to explode when I hear it- and I hear it like every single day.