But it's DEBIT!?

[Pezzle]

I had a customer come through my line today with two returns. We have to ring each return by their respective receipts. 3 of the same item, 2 receipts, 2 different days - no problem. realize this is my job where ive put my 2 weeks in so my tongue is a little loose.

First receipt is a Debit card, and we give debit back as cash. No problem, ring it through as cash. The 2nd receipt says "VISA/MASTER CARD **** **** **** XXXX" however when I ask him for his card, he got upset... and I got confused as to why.

Me: Do you have the Visa and/or Mastercard ending in XXXX?
Him: What do you need that for? It's debit.
Me: No sir, I'm afraid it says that this went through as a charge.
Him: Well it's a DEBIT card not a CHARGE card a D E B I T. *he was saying it like I was slow in the brain department*
Me: Well on purchases over 10 dollars it gives you a choice to enter your PIN or press Enter for credit. A possible circumstance is that you pressed enter prematurely, before you entered your PIN, or that you used Register 1 (broke around that time, only cashier-swipe credit works there - pin pad is busted with a huge white sign taped over it that says "CREDIT ONLY - PIN PAD OUT OF ORDER")
Him: So I can't get cash for this!?
Me: No, I can only charge it back or give you store credit - your choice.
*Around this time, I note on the receipt that it was indeed at register 1. He finally caves and gives me the matching card. As he fills out the small cash refund form, I notice he is scrawling angrily and his face is getting red*
Me: Alright, so 8.54 is refunded to your card, and here's the cash from the previous transaction, a total of 6.41
Him: You know, you are so irresponsible. People don't know you can't use debit, why can't you use debit!? You should really put up a sign! -trigger-
Me: Ah, well you see there is a sign. A big white sign taped over the PIN pad that says CREDIT ONLY, that is impossible to miss, because it's taped over the strip reader. If you truly wanted to use debit, you could use a different register. Over 10 dollars it gives you a choice for credit or debit, and you either chose credit or chose register 1. If it was an electronic fluke, then you could've canceled if you wanted debit so much. However the fact is, you paid in credit, and I will not give you cash back.
Him: Well you should fix it! This is terrible customer service, how could you not give me cash back!? Incompetent pricks...

and with that he walks away. I still felt victorious

[casey13]

If it is a Visa, you should've pointed him to call VISA and complain to them. They have it in their rules that no cash can be given back for credit transactions.

[otakuneko]

I've never been refunded cash for a card purchase.. debit or credit. It's always put back on the card or store credit.

[jackfaire]

We use a third party company to process card payments and when I say that they immediatly ask, "What if I pay with debit instead" Uhm dude it's still a card payment now isn't it.

[EvilEmpryss]

I've seen some stores treat debit same as cash, others treat it as a "card" purchase. Either way, it's been a long time since I've been so hard up for money that not getting it back as cash was a problem.

[Dreamstalker]

The card reader at Game Store would DFO fairly regularly; our store's pinpad was connected via a cable and sat on the counter (customers could reach the pinpad but not the terminal itself). The machine would be down, I'd dutifully put up a sign "Card machine out of order, cash ONLY at this time" and still get people asking if they can pay via debit (um, debit is still card-based and we cannot accept cards right now...there's an ATM around the corner though).

*ripping the sign off of the pinpad* "But you have a pinpad! That means that debit works!"
"But you HAVE to take debit cards! It's the LAW!!!111"

I would have disconnected the pad and hid it under the counter, but it was designed in such a way to make that impossible.

I've never been refunded cash for a card purchase.. debit or credit. It's always put back on the card or store credit.

One or two stores that I shop at give you the option of getting cash back if you have the receipt and it's a short enough time within the return period.

[Shalom]

Reason they won't let you get back cash on a credit transaction is to prevent back-door cash advances that look like sales on their system. Cash advances have much more restrictive terms than sales (e.g. transaction fees, higher interest rates, no grace period etc.) and make them a lot more money...