Credit card tantrums

[Ciarrai]

We've been told by Loss Prevention that we absolutely cannot accept an unsigned credit card. That includes cards that say See ID on them without a signature. This has caused a huge amount of problems, and of course everyone takes it out on the lowly cashier for doing what they've been told.
Various insults being slung include "you're an idiot" and "you obviously know nothing about credit card safety."
I hate customers.

[Der Cute]

Reply with a canned

"I'm sorry, this is a new store policy. If you have issues with this, please contact the SGM Joe Blow @ 123 456 7890." Keep smiling until they give you something signed and fits the bill.

you're there to do a job. If they bitch, whine, moan, remember : you do your job as well as you can, every day. If they dont like it, they are welcome to COMPLAIN TO THE PEOPLE WHO CAN FIX IT.

Good luck.

Cutenoob

[Guyver]

CC's

My favorite is when the purchase is < $5 and they freak out when you don't ask to see their ID. Especially if it's a customer you've seen 20 times.

I usually just say, well I doubt someone stealing a credit card is just going to buy a 20oz bottle of pop and gum.

lol

I usually ask if their ID says it, since I have the same thing on the back of my CC's

[Salesmonkey]

My credit cards have my smiling face right on the front. The "see ID" thing still is a decent safeguard against ID theft, but not a great one now that so many retailers have "swipe it yourself" cardstations. There's kind of a trade-off with credit card processors. The ones that charge the lowest rates on transactions will deny any transaction that isn't just perfect. The processors that will stand up for you and require proof of fraudulent activity before making a chargeback have to pay for their extra labor costs by charging a higher transaction rate.

[Banrion]

My cards are signed and say CID next to the signature. My signature validates the card, and most people understand the CID. The places I have the most trouble interestingly enough are restaurants. Even though they typically have my card in their possession for longer, and are not in any hurry for me to leave, as we usually pay as dessert arrives, so they know I am at least staying for that.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

Had a customer bitch me out when I didn't ask to see his ID when it said "See ID" on the back of his card.

I inormed the guy that he had been coming in every month for the three years I've worked there, he's a close personal friend of the Owner and has a maintenance account with us meaning that I see him once a week when I come in and swap out his backup tapes (so he can have off-site storage of critical data). I think I jolly know who he is.

He laughed at that and had a rather sheepish look to him when I said that.

Had another customer flip out when I didn't look at her ID when it had a "See ID" on it. Showed her the picture of her that was on the front of the card and said that since it looked just like you I considered that to be sufficient ID.

She had honestly never noticed the picture before.

Mongo

[BookstoreEscapee]

She had honestly never noticed the picture before.

Mongo

How did the pic get on there if she didn't submit it?

I used to have See ID on my CC. It was more of an experiment to see how many people actually looked at it. In 4 years I think I got asked 4 times. And one girl only asked why it said that, AS she was handing the card back to me and I had already signed the receipt. I told her it was an experiment to see how many people actually look at the card. She just said, Oh.... Yeah, girlie, you failed the quiz

[alogram]

I don't understand the concept of putting "see id".

I would think it would be pretty easy to get a fake id.....and then the signatures would match.

I would also think this would result in more liability for the cardholder.

JUST SIGN THE DAMN CARD!

[Becks]

We've been told by Loss Prevention that we absolutely cannot accept an unsigned credit card. That includes cards that say See ID on them without a signature.

Good for LP, I say!!! About damn time!!!!!!

(No, I am not a victim of identity theft, it just makes sense.)

But then there will be people who sign in right then and there, which can start problems, too, but that's something for another thread...

[Jazz]

We get customers on our online store, they buy something but our red flag goes up saying that something doesn't match. Or if an order is over a certain amount, we require them to send us their signature or verify themselves.

I don't get why they complain about this, we are trying to protect them from fraud! Whenever I receive one of those vertification notices from an order placed online, I always verify and then go about my day! What is the problem with extra protection? They should be grateful!

Of course, when their card is stolen and someone buys something...they blame that person for not being more careful about credit card frauds!

You can't win!

[BowserKoopa1]

I already posted about checking IDs on a different subject in "Sucky Customers", but I do have a different story.
One is a guy who came in to our computer store to make a purchase of less than $10. When it got denied, he got very upset and said, "Why the f*** is thie cvard being denied?! I got a $250,000 credit limit on this thing?!
Ok, first of all, I very much doubt that. Second, I don't give a dam if you're President Bush or some Martian Ambassador from outer space. If the computer says denied, then what makes them think that they can get the transaction to go through by bragging to me how rich they are with their huge credit limits?! He left and said he was going to shop somewhere else. Good riddens.
Later my manager, who was friends with someone at one of our rival's stores, heard the same story. His card was denied! Good!

The second story I have had happen several times. Our policy on AMEX cards is that only the person who's name is imprinted on the card my use it. It doesn't matter if John Doe is the name on the card, and Jane Doe comes in to use it, or even if you are John Doe II.
I hated this policy because it always caused a lot of grief and aggravation for us. People would get very irrate and have us call their boss or spouse, although we tell them the same thing over the phone.
I even had a 5 year old kid come into our store and bought 2 video games, with his total coming close to $100. He tried to pay with his Mom's credit card, which his Mom had given him permission to use (it was not AMEX btw). We called up his mom, and she came up to the store and paid herself. She was not happy of course.

The third story is about credit card imprints. When I started working at the computer store back in 2001, we had stone age systems, and we had to imprint all credit cards, no exceptions. Only a few people got upset about us doing that. One customer, instead of signing, grabbed the receipt with the imprint on it, and began scratching it out.
I asked him to not do that and that we had to have the imprint, store policy. My manage came over and explained it all to him, but he didn't care. He cancelled hsi transaction and left.
It took us 2 more years before we finally caught up with the rest of the world. They have cheap scanners now that don't work half the dam time!

[Auto]

I've never understood why customers worry about CC's being stolen -- which is why they tolerate the store making them jump through hoops to use a CC.

If someone steals my CC and uses it fraudulently, I call the CC company and dispute the charge. CC company issues me replacement card. End of story.

The merchant is also not on the hook (as long as the two sigs match).

It's VISA/MC that bears the risk. That's why "see ID" on the back of CC seems so dopey.

I'm not talking idnetity theft. That's a major problem. I've been the victim of identity theft and fixing it takes forever. That's why I'm not about to show my ID to any old person who demands to see it, including clerks.

[tollbaby]

The second story I have had happen several times. Our policy on AMEX cards is that only the person who's name is imprinted on the card my use it. It doesn't matter if John Doe is the name on the card, and Jane Doe comes in to use it, or even if you are John Doe II.
I hated this policy because it always caused a lot of grief and aggravation for us. People would get very irrate and have us call their boss or spouse, although we tell them the same thing over the phone.

Err... I thought that was the LAW with ALL credit cards. I'd never EVER let someone use a credit card that didn't have THEIR OWN name on it. ugh. I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

[chryso]

Err... I thought that was the LAW with ALL credit cards. I'd never EVER let someone use a credit card that didn't have THEIR OWN name on it. ugh. I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

Unless you can show me this law then I don't think it exists.
I think a difficulty here occurs when, for example, a parent sends a teenager to buy some jeans with the parents credit card.

[SongsOfDragons]

Unless you can show me this law then I don't think it exists.
I think a difficulty here occurs when, for example, a parent sends a teenager to buy some jeans with the parents credit card.

Or a mother gives her daughter her credit card to go and return an item bought for her that was too small. It was a bit of an umm-err moment for the sports shop manager but he let me do it 'just this once' and took that silly too small/light bow off my hands.

Mother dear...maybe in future, don't be presumptious about the archery gear, hmm? Then I wouldn't have gotten the long sigh from the manager...