It's YOUR fault my card declined!

[rerant]

This didn't happen to me, but to a coworker.
Now I didn't get the full story or any delicious details but I did get the fuck-tardedly stupid gist.

So the cashier rings through this couple's large order that came to just over $7,000.
Cashier tries card, it declines, customer loses it.
Cashier and customers play Musical Credit Cards, only to find that they're all either declining or expired.
SC accuses cashier of making her credit cards expire.
Somehow the SC got it in her head that the cashier, B, was able to shift time and space and make her credit cards magically expire. The SC was also convinced that B was doing something on the register that was forcing the SC's non-expired cards to decline.

I don't know if B suggested splitting the payments between different cards, but even if she did everything was declining anyway.

According to B the customer was hollering at her the whole time, accusing her of making her cards decline and claiming B was "disrespecting" her.
This went on for 40 minutes. FORTY minutes, people!
Managers were called and the SC demanded that she get an apology from B for all of this, to which my manager (who told me this bit) responded, "She did nothing wrong and she's not apologising for anything," and refused to make B apologise and even refused to offer one herself, since the store was at not fault in the situation.

Apparently the SC wanted records of ALL of her receipts from purchases she's made at the store since, I can only gather, the beginning of time, as this would somehow prove that her cards should be going through, and further solidifying her stance that B was using her magic cashier voodoo to force her cards to either decline or expire.

Please note that this is the same magic cashier voodoo that makes the store busy on weekends and forces us to be short-handed on these days. It also locks the cryogenic chamber in the magical land of The Back where we keep our reserve cashiers.

I believe my manager refused to look up all of these receipts, and I can only gather (since I didn't really get all the details, that the SC and her husband were forced to leave empty-handed and frustrated.

Poor B had another SC that day too that I got to witness.
The customer B was currently serving informed the customers behind her that she had a large order and it will take a few minutes. No one left the line.
Well it took several minutes, as promised, because the customer had a couple of carts full of stuff, needed delivery (not a problem) and assembly (have to add up all the items they want assembled then get 15% of that amount) as well she wanted a few things mounted to the wall (add $15 for every wall mounted item to the assembly cost).

Well of course this takes a little while, especially when the customer is quibbling over the fact that the assembly and installation cost would have been roughly $500 after taxes.

The SC next in line lost it on B, telling her she shouldn't have to wait for this and she only has one item.
B and the customer she was serving both tell the SC that she was told it was going to take a while, and B pointed out that there were three other lanes open with only about one or two people in line.

Of course the SC decided it would be better to stand there and bitch out B instead of moving to another line.

B got to go home early that day.

[Becks]

B got to go home early that day.

With pay, I hope.

[rerant]

With pay, I hope.

That much I don't know, but I'm sure at the point where she was told she could leave she didn't care and just wanted out.

[Becks]

You make a good point there.

[Apathy]

That much I don't know, but I'm sure at the point where she was told she could leave she didn't care and just wanted out.

I know any time I had to opportunity to leave early, I'd always think, "Would I pay seven dollars right now to leave early? (Assuming I'm leaving an hour early and got paid 7/hr.) The answer was always a resounding yes.

[Bramblerose]

Please note that this is the same magic cashier voodoo that makes the store busy on weekends and forces us to be short-handed on these days. It also locks the cryogenic chamber in the magical land of The Back where we keep our reserve cashiers.

a HA! Now I know who's hogging up the extra cashiers! I thought WalMart was waerhousing them somewhere......

[Bright_Star]

Now that's a new one I've never heard of-blaming a cashier for making their cards expire.

[csever01]

My favorite is when a customer asks, "Why is my card declined."

I don't know, nor do I WANT to know.

[rerant]

My favorite is when a customer asks, "Why is my card declined."

I don't know, nor do I WANT to know.

And then they make you run it through again and they're always presented with the same result.

Well, almost always.
I had a woman's card decline and she swore it should work and insisted I try it again. I did, as I typically do just to humour people, and the second time it went through without issue.
I was, and still am, very perplexed.

This particular woman would have almost been left out of SC-dom, had she not stood there glaring at me like I had lied to her when I told her it declined, and continued staring at me with her laser death-gaze while I made every single move as I swiped it again.
Normally I'll play the Blink and Stare Game with customers and win, but this woman was just so... creepy that I not only had to look away but turn my back and pretend to be looking for someone or something.
And of course when I turned back when I heard the register beep she was STILL staring at me.

Freak.

[EmilyRose1982]

I can't even begin to tell you how many times I argued with people over their credit cards and the accounts therein during my two years as a bank teller.

Apparently people do not understand the POS limit on credit cards.

Sure, you lovely Visa may have a 10k limit on it, but there may also be a POS limit as well. (Point of sale) This means that although the credit company will cover up to 10k for you, they will NOT do it for a single purchase.

POS limits are more common on debit cards. This is to prevent your accounts from being liquidated/maxed out should your card(s) get stolen.

I can't remember what POS limits I've seen on credit cards, but the standard one for my bank's debit cards is $300.

But for fuck sake, WHY do SC's just assume that we cashiers know what the deal is with their credit cards? "Sure thing sir, let me just read the little note that my register spit out along with the receipt that says declined. But oh wait, that's all it fucking says!!!"

Seriously, people need to learn to keep track of their accounts and their limits therein.

"Yes Mr. SC, I don't like you, so I'm going to push the magic DECLINE button on my register screen. HAHAHA!!!"

[Applerod]

I've learned that one huge source of avoidable and unnecessary conflict between people is personalization--which is to say making something personal which isn't. Obviously there are different reasons why customers do this and I think the most common one is thoughtlessness, which is generally forgivable, (e.g. "You overcharged me.")
It's when people persist in making something personal that goes beyond thoughtlessness and becomes something else, which IME is usually the person having a bad day or a bad life and taking out their frustrations on the easiest target; and aside from children, I can't think of an easier target than someone (the employee/cashier) who literally is trapped in the situation and required to act mature, respectful, submissive, and apologetic no matter how much of an ass the other person is. And then there are (rare) people, like probably the lady in the first post(?), who are trying to scam the store so they redirect the attention away from themselves and onto the employee.

[IHateStupidCustomers]

Man, I feel sorry for the poor cashier!

That reminds me of a story when I worked at Sears. As everyone probably knows, the cashiers have to (or are supposed to, anyway) ask everyone if they want to open a Sears card. I must have been having a good day (or just lost my mind) because I asked this couple if they wanted to open a Sears card and they said yes right away.

I go through the application, put everything in and it comes back either declined, or that they need more time to review it and the customer will get a letter. Both of them were so far being completely pleasant. But, when I mentioned the application was declined (or that they'd get a letter) the wife FLIPPED out. She was screaming and shouting at me. She threw her keys on the ground in a manner that reminded me of a football player getting a touchdown and spiking the ball.

"We just bought a house! Obviously we have credit! This is ridiculous! Why me! Oh, God, WHY ME!!!!!"

Holy shit, you'd think somebody just died or something. And they were just buying a pair of shoes! It's not like they were making some expensive purchase, like appliances, and they needed the card to be able to buy it.

And did I mention, this was right at closing time? I think I was there an hour or so late.

[Angry_Hippie]

I'm a big fan of soft pedaling decline cards. I think its easier over the phone though. I'll say "I see we had some trouble getting authorization on your credit card, the most likely reason for that to happen is your credit card number or expiration date might have been mistyped when you placed the order, would you like to try that card again or use a different credit card?"

The trick to it is to spit all of that out at a reasonable pace while NOT pausing long enough for the customer to get a word in edgewise. If I don't get that out I have to suffer through the "I have great credit, I pay every bill on time, why didn't it go through? it should have went through".

Just like everyone else for security reasons I don't have the answer all I know is its not authorizing. I try to encourage them to contact the CC issuer, but lots of times they'll repeat the fabulous credit speech over and over.

Its always the people with the most persistent speech about how much money they have that try 5 cards have them all fail. We've even had a customer one time who's multiple cards failed on a $20 order and she wanted it sent free for the inconvenience saying what a great customer she is. Searched her every way possible, no order history. She spent over an hour with two supervisors to get nothing.

[depechemodefan]

This is not a credit card. But in order to make copies at my library you have to add money to your library card. If you have no money on your card and you go to the copier to make a copy, it won't say, "you have no money on your card" or "$0.00", it will say "the system can not log you on. Make sure your id and password are correct." And that could mean the card is expired, or that the person didnt type in their library card when the computer asked for it (when you are at the computer and you press print, a dialogue box appears asking for your card number).

So sometimes I end up asking if they typed in their number, and if they did then I ask if they added money. Of course, they get pissed at me because first I asked if they typed in the number right, then I asked if they put money, and they would say, "Why didn't you ask me first if I added money?"

anyway, one day this woman comes in and scans the card and calls me over and tells me she does have money on her card but it's giving her that message. I go to another machine to check and it shows no money but she goes back to the copier and it shows she has money. So of course she says I did something to her card. ANd she won't shut up for 10 min (I walk away after a min.). Like if she keeps on talking she will magically get the 5 min. she lost when she asked me for help.