Are credit/debit machines making people dumber?

[drjonah]

It just seems to me that more and more customers are acting like the credit/debit machines are BRAND NEW. I mean I understand that every place has a different method for running it but it's the same principle, swipe your card, follow along on the screen and you're done.

But lately more and more customers swipe their cards and then stand there and stare at the machine blankly.

At my new job, the machine is really nice. When you swipe (or insert if you have a chip), the screen immediately gives you 4 options on what kind of card you have (credit, atm/debit, gift card, ebt) sounds simple right? Nope! Customers stand there blankly and then look at me and ask what to do next. And when you tell them to follow along on the screen they still act lost. I mean how hard is it really to push a couple buttons and be done?

Any other places having this problem?

[notalwaysright]

The new chip readers seem to flummox about 95% of the people I help. I don't think there are any extra steps other than inserting the card (instead of swiping), but they have loooong pauses where they don't do anything. Like, they insert their card, fuss with their phone, okay the amount, move stuff around in their purse, sign the screen, play with their phone again, then take their card. I get that the machine takes maybe... a few seconds to process, but come on people. You were so impatient and now you're taking waaaay longer than necessary.

[CyberLurch]

No, people are becoming dumber all on their own. Any new technology or process invariably induces confusion, even though there are clear, concise direction prominently on display. At the dollar store the other day, a new POS terminal had one woman damned near in a panic. There was really nothing new about it, and she was using an old-school (as in, non-chip) card, but the cashier practically had to walk her through the entire process. She was utterly baffled.

I, too, paid with a magnetic-strip debit card, and as far as I could tell, it was just one more question, easily answered yes or no. Gotta wonder sometimes.

[BrenDAnn]

Add in the factor that everyone seems to constantly be in a state of 'omg hurry go NOW!' and it makes things that much worse. I don't know how many times I've had to stop someone from running out the door so they could enter their PIN, or sign a credit card slip. It's not that hard, people! Slow down, and pay attention!

[RealUnimportant]

Aliteracy is rampant. So many customers turn to me and say "it says (obvious prompt), what do I do?"

[panamared]

Definitely dumber. If the worst schools produce the worst students, and the better schools can only produce mediocre students, then what do you think will happen as technology grows exponentially more complicated as time goes on?

[CloserToSane]

I don't even work in retail and I can't believe the amount of stores that have to put up "Sorry, not contactless" signs. I mean... it's either an option or it isn't right? Wait, hang on. I forgot what website I was on.

[icmedia]

I just think that, if all stores who had non-working chip readers would do what some have (put something in the slot to block it, with a sign saying only to swipe), it would make the whole transaction easier.

Granted, you'd still have people yanking it out to shove their card in, but those of us with working brains would be saved the embarrassment of not knowing what's up/having to ask the clerk for their 10,000th time that day.

[Swordsman422]

I think it's the chip readers introduced in the last several years and the fact that there isn't 100% saturation yet. My cards all have chips now, but it's still about 50/50 whether I am supposed to swipe or use the chip reader even on the same card machine models, and even occasionally still handing it to the cashier to be processed. I've been swiping since I started using plastic, and I've only been using it for around 15 years. I have only had chips for 6-9 months, so when I go to pay, I'm still kinda on autopilot. I cannot imagine how difficult the transition to chip readers is for folks who have been used to older methods for decades like self-swiping, handing to the clerk, or the ancient carbon copy devices.

Muscle memory is a bitch.

[Nunavut Pants]

I went somewhere this past weekend, and they had cards (the size of credit cards) stuck into the chip-reading slot of their readers. The cards were BRIGHT GREEN and had nice big letters and an arrow, saying "PLEASE SWIPE ->". I told them I thought that was a neat idea!

... Now I'm wondering how many people have removed said, cards, tried to use their chip card, and then complained that the reader was "broken"...

[Shotgun Chuck]

One of the other cashiers tried the "put a No Chips sign in the slot" method. Then the signs disappeared, don't know what happened.

[dalesys]

One of the other cashiers tried the "put a No Chips sign in the slot" method. Then the signs disappeared, don't know what happened.

So they fed it Doritos...

[Sparklyturtle]

I just went to the grocery store and used one of these chip reading/card swiping machines. The machine wasn't yet set up for chip reading, and there was a sign saying, "Please swipe your card." I did so, and had no problems with it. Then again, I read signs. Not that I couldn't have figured it out without a sign.

[Nunavut Pants]

So they fed it Doritos...

After midnight....

[RealUnimportant]

I've been working in retail on & off since the old carbon copy days; I remember when we got a swipe, very modern!

Of course, the real fun starts when you get contactless payment... 3 different ways to screw up in a single machine!

Just remembered a recent wtf moment: customer kept getting invalid PIN issues. Turned out that, because our machine tilts to accommodate usage from different heights, this customer couldn't see one row of numbers - so they just didn't type anything.