o Actually Know What I'm Talking About

[TattooedMommie]

SC tells me, gruffly: "I'm using Food Stamps!"

She swipes her food stamp/EBT card. "Now what do I do??"
me: "Press 'EBT'"
SC: "It's FOOD STAMPS!"
me: "I understand. To use food stamps, you press the 'EBT' button.
SC: "NO! It's not EBT! it's FOOD STAMPS!"
me: "On the screen, it should be offering you 'DEbit', 'Credit', or 'EBT', you need to choose 'EBT' for a food stamp card..."
SC: "But it NOT EBT, it's FOOD STAMPS!" (yelling)
Lather, rinse, repeat.
She eventually presses the correct sequence of buttons.
SC: " Enter PIN number?? What's the PIN number??"
me: "It's your Personal ID number", should be a 4-digit number that you chose....
SC: "What is it??"
me: "Ma'am, I have no access to your PIN number, only you know it.."
Sc starts punching in the ENTIRE card number..
me: "No, ma'am, your PIN is a 4-digit number that you chose when you got the card..."
SC: "I didnt choose any numbers!"
me:" well, maybe they assigned you one...?"
SC flops down her giant purse and digs through it. Flips an old reciept from another store at me
SC: "It's probably on there, find it for me"
me: "Ma'am, your PIN number is not going to be printed anywhere. It's a number you chose as your password when you activated your card.."
SC: "well, where do I get that number??"
me: " There's a phone number on the back of the card, maybe if you call it, they can reset your PIN.."
SC stares blankly at me
me: "Or you can go down to the office and get a new one issued?
SC: "what office? What are you talking about??"
me: "well, the welfare office..."
SC starts screaming "I AIN'T ON WELFARE! HOW DARE YOU SAY WELFARE! I'M USING FOOD STAMPS!"
me: "Well, the welfare office IS where food stamps are issued from. If you don't know your PIN number, and don't know where you got your EBT card, if not through the welfare dept, then I am not sure I know how to help you..."

SC gives that big eye-roll "hrmrmmph" kinda sigh, cancels the card transaction and pulls out a $50 bill to pay me with....Still wondering if maybe it was a stolen card...

(for the record, Im not trying to delve into Fratching territory; I get a bit of food stamps each month myself. The point of the story is the hassle she caused with her ignorance of the system, hence my inclination to believe it was a stolen card)

[Sandman]

Me thinks stolen card....

[bainsidhe]

Being loud? Making a scene?

If it's a stolen card, you're doing it wrong!

[notalwaysright]

Stolen, or borrowed. I know some people who barter EBT funds for things like babysitting. This is not legal, I'm not approving of it, just saying it's done. And it says EBT several times on the back of my card.

[MoonCat]

Sounds like she never used one before, so either first-time user who didn't bother to read any of the information she was given, or yeah, it was stolen.

[malmalthekiller]

It's been EBT for a few years. Definitely seems like a stolen card to me.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

When I worked at a convenience store that took EBT, it wouldn't be uncommon for someone to "trade" the EBT funds on the card for straight up cash from friends/people on the street/etc.

Of course if we knew this had occurred we had to legally refuse the sale, and you should have HEARD those people scream.

[Food Lady]

Maybe she's just stupid.

[Zellie Crescent]

After reading that twice I say it's a stolen card.

[An Haddock]

Could be one of those situations where someone sold her a card... like a crackhead sold her a $50 EBT card for $25 cash but never mentioned needing the PIN or anything. You see scammers like that sometimes... they'll also try to sell empty gift cards.

[taxguykarl]

it wouldn't be uncommon for someone to "trade" the EBT funds on the card for straight up cash from friends/people on the street/etc.

My ex-GF's real BF (who, come to think of it first introduced her to crack) frequently offered to buy me groceries for about half the amount in cash, e.g. $50 in groceries on his IL-LINK (the name at that time) for $25 cash. I guess his (their?) drug dealer wouldn't go for that deal
Back to the OP, this sounds like a stolen or rented card to me too.

[purplecat41877]

SC: It's not EBT! it's FOOD STAMPS!"

Dream Response: EBT is Food Stamps. It stands for Electronics Benefits Transfer which you would've known if you actually paid attention when you got your card.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Dream Response: EBT is Food Stamps. It stands for Electronics Benefits Transfer which you would've known if you actually paid attention when you got your card.

That's operating on the belief that she just started receiving benefits.

By default the PIN will be the last 4 digits of your SSN, so if she wasn't smart enough to know that much, then I'm leaning toward stolen card.

[notalwaysright]

By default the PIN will be the last 4 digits of your SSN, so if she wasn't smart enough to know that much, then I'm leaning toward stolen card.

I think that differs by state. The default on mine was the last four digits of my birthday. Which is of course the year, and I thought that was unsafe. So the guy at the DSHC office let me change it there. Still, when you receive it you are told. I don't know how it works if you do all of it through the mail. It was a lot of paperwork to get, so I feel like I really need to be responsible with it.