I could give a crap about your FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS

[bean]

Yesterday I pulled a muscle in my left leg, so I was limping pretty badly, and I'm still limping a bit. What appeared to be Sweet Old Lady (SOL) came up to my line.

"Oh dear, I forgot <something from dairy>, can someone go get it for me?"

I told her nobody was available but I'd be happy to get it, and start limping away.

"Oh, it's obvious I can do it faster than you, nevermind, I'll get it myself, you'll unload my cart for me right?".

oh... kay. Not only have you just told me you think you're better and faster than me, you've just told me to unload your cart. When I'm already hobbling on one leg and you're holding up a pretty good sized line.

She titters off to get it herself, I'm stuck not only unloading her entire friggin cart myself (she put 1 item on the belt out of an overflowing cart), with a decent line, but then she takes her sweet ass time coming back - I've already got everything bagged and back in her cart (I didn't have a bagger and it was a $300+ order). Once she finally comes back, she tries to pay.

"DECLINE AUTHORIZATION" shows up on my screen. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, your card was declined".

Which launches a tirade of "THAT'S FUCKING BULLSHIT! I HAVE OVER FIVE THOUSAND FUCKING DOLLARS IN THAT ACCOUNT! YOU'RE FUCKING LYING TO ME, YOU RUN MY CARD AGAIN!". Yes, I'm lying even though I swung my display around to you to show you the exact fucking message that showed up on my screen.

................................... I mumble something a bit louder than I should have about how my bank account has less than a total of $5 in it and how nice it must be to have five thousand dollars in a checking account (and I know she heard me, she's already pissed me off bad and the supervisor working that day will back me up if she complains). Re-run it as debit instead of credit, and it's approved.

"I'M GOING TO CALL THOSE FUCKING ASSHOLES AND RIP THEM TO SHREADS, MY FUCKING CARD SHOULD NEVER BE DECLINED, I HAVE FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS IN THERE!

"You do that, have a nice day... <mumblebitchmumble>"

This lady was easily pushing 80, btw.

[Victory Sabre]

If she, actually, had 5k in her account, her card wouldn't have been declined. Can you say "scammer"?

[Hobbs]

I have $5k in both my accounts, and on several occassions its been declined. It's always been because of some bank error or anti-fraud reason though.

[Caffienated_Caramel]

*shudder* I swear the SOL thing is facade I tell you!

[Anakah]

I'd have told the old bag to shove it and put her own shit on the belt. lol But those are things we wish we could do. I wish I had 5k too. She didn't have to be such a bitch about it.

[Calud]

I paid a 2000€ PC with my credit once. Went through fine. They send me a letter telling me not to spent so much of their money though.

I didn't even go into debt, all of the 2k were saved up...

[Andara Bledin]

I paid a 2000€ PC with my credit once. Went through fine. They send me a letter telling me not to spent so much of their money though.

I think after a letter like that, I'd tell 'em "fine" and go find another credit card provider.

As for cards being declined, there are about 20 reasons why a card might decline, and an actual lack of funds is only 1 of those reasons. Sure, it's the most common, but it's not always the reason, sometimes even when the response says it is.

^-.-^

[Flying Grype]

If she, actually, had 5k in her account, her card wouldn't have been declined. Can you say "scammer"?

My bank puts a five-day hold on any cheque deposit over a thousand dollars. If I deposit my paycheque into an empty or almost-empty account, and then go try to use a debit card to buy something the same day, it'll say insufficient funds. The funds are in there but they haven't been released.

I got ticked off the first time it happened (i.e. the first time I deposited anything over a thousand), asked the bank what was up, and they explained it. Sucks, but it's what I get for using a no-fee chequing account. I just have to plan better. Sounds like your customer was caught off-guard with a new bank account.

[Sapphire Silk]

<snip>

This lady was easily pushing 80, btw.

Some people are just too mean to die . . . .

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

If she, actually, had 5k in her account, her card wouldn't have been declined. Can you say "scammer"?

Depends. If the money just hit from a source that isn't an official one (payroll, Social Security, Pension, etc) then there may be a hold on the account until the check is verified.

Also, if the person ATM'ed the check after hours then it will not proc until the next business day.

Third option is the fact that many Debit cards have transaction limits. She could have $10k in the bank and if she burned her limit (between $500 and $1500 depending on bank and account type) before going grocery shopping, she'll be unable to touch the money until the following day when the computer unlocks the card's ability to be run.

And lastly, there are some debit cards that do not work in all machines. Mine in particular will not run in ANY gas pump's reader. None at all. I have to go in and pay at the register which works without a single problem.

So there is a good chance that she has the money...and a equally good chance that there isn't. What I usually tell people is that if they are sure they have the money, they can try the WaWa across the street of where I used to work and pull the money on their fee-free ATM.

If they really did have the money I apologize again and say that's it's not them, it's our merchant services (and I'll usually give a 5% discount on their next purchase per my manager for the inconvenience). If they don't have the money...they never come back and I get to laugh.

[chainedbarista]

yep, that bitter anger keeps them going indefinitely. wow, from sweet granny type to full on raging ancient harpy mode in under what, five seconds??

so what if you had/didn't have the money; declines happen, there's a reason, so...GO FIND OUT WHY, YOU OLD C***.

miserable people need to be rounded up, shipped off to an isolated area where they can kill each other.

[Ironclad Alibi]

It may be that although Granny had $5K in her account, she had reached her credit limit which is an amount independent of what she in her account. (Note: IANAB* so I don't know if the credit limit on a debit card is related to the account balance or not. Nor do I have a debit card.)

*IANAB = I Am Not A Banker

[saturnz_dragon]

People pull that shit on me all the time. They get mad at me because their card is declined, like it's personally me stopping them from buying their stuff. Wtf. I have nothing to do with the bank or the way the credit system works, so quit yelling at me!

[bean]

Had another today.. not quite as old, but equally bitchy.

Mom's visiting her daughter from New Mexico.. no biggie, both are there. Mom makes it a point to try to pay first.

"DECLINE AUTHORIZATION"

I'm sorry ma'am.. your card was declined.

"No it wasn't. Your machine is broken."

Sure, it's broken.. especially when all of our registers are on the same network and all go out over the same authorization system. All 20 of them must be broken, but hey, I re-run the card anyway, and it's declined again. I politely suggest that since she's out of her home state, her bank's fraud protection may have kicked in. "Whatever, I'll try a different card".

Same thing. Second one is declined. So is the third. "What the fuck is wrong with your machine?". Again, I politely suggest that she really needs to call her bank. I even show her my display that says "DECLINE AUTHORIZATION", and offer to suspend the transaction so she can call her bank.

Daughter intervenes while Mom is cussing up a storm. Daughter's card is approved immediately. Daughter even mentions "Her cards wouldn't work anywhere yesterday either".

Consensus is mom is a bitch, daughter is pretty nice.

[Andara Bledin]

This reminds me of an incident a few years back.

I was in line to check into a hotel, and the guy behind me was talking to his friend about how his card was declined, and he was pretty irate about the whole thing, especially since he hadn't used the card at all in the last few months, so it was completely clear.

I turned around and told him that his bank probably put an alert on the account and that he should call them to get it lifted so he could use the card, and then went on to explain that I handle credit card charges for my company and I see that sort of thing all the time and a call to the bank will get it fixed immediately.

He kind of gave me a look because I wasn't originally a part of his conversation with his buddy, but he did thank me for the info.

^-.-^