How am I supposed to pay for this?

[Sapphire Silk]

Got this story from a vet I know the other night.

Seems she had a SC in the animal hospital where she works who'd run up a $200 tab for routine vet care for her dog. The initial encounter went well enough, and she was a regular customer.

Time comes to check out and the lady tries to pay with a Care Card, a sort of credit card for vet and dental care (go figure).

The card is declined.

SC: Oh, it can't be declined. I have a $2100 limit
Tech: Well, it didn't go through. Do you have another way to pay?
SC: Run it again

Tech runs it again. Lather, rinse, repeat. Finally they offer to call the card company for her so she can find out what the problem was.

Turns out, she hadn't made a payment on her card in months. So they cut her off.

SC: what do you mean you won't pay? I have a $2100 limit! How am I supposed to pay for my dog if you don't pay? I can't make a payment, I don't have a job! You're supposed to pay this, I have a $2100 limit! How am I supposed to pay for this? You're supposed to pay!

Meanwhile, the vet tech is quietly putting away the meds and products the SC was planning to buy.

It took her 3 hours to come up with a way to pay for the service visit.

Clearly the concept of "You pay for services at the time they are rendered" doesn't quite compute.

[greensinestro]

I wonder how many other lines of credit she hasn't paid on in months like that?

And, I always ask, and I'll ask again. Why do people like this always think a credit card will always "undecline" after it is run a second time?

[Miss Maple Leaf]

And, I always ask, and I'll ask again. Why do people like this always think a credit card will always "undecline" after it is run a second time?

Because sometimes the card is good, and it's a machine error that's causing it to be declined. I've seen that before with credit cards and debit cards; the pin pad will say that they were declined, but when the customer asks to run the card again the charge goes through.

I have no idea why this happens, but I've seen it happen enough that I always give people the benefit of the doubt when they ask to run their cards again. It's only when they want to run it a third or fourth time after it was rejected that I get annoyed.

[Fish Taco64]

Lmao, she yells at them for not giving her credit, whilst telling them she has no job and therefore no way to repay them anyway?

[bainsidhe]

That or you'll have the customers who'll give you three or four different cards to try and find one that won't be declined.

I sympathize about the vet though. I gotta take my furbaby in on Monday, he's got a weird irritation around his mouth and the budget wasn't exactly ready for more pet bills.

[Teskeria]

Machine problem is pretty common. I work for a cc company and often have Cardmembers call in asking why their card was declined. And It wasn't. The store's machine never sent a request, so. The most irritated ones are those with 10000+ avail on their card in good standing and they get told a $50 purchase was declined

[BlaqueKatt]

I gotta take my furbaby in on Monday, he's got a weird irritation around his mouth and the budget wasn't exactly ready for more pet bills.

my cat gets those-in cats it can be something called rodent ulcer(nothing to do with rodents), or a food allergy, best to get checked to know the difference.

[HawaiianShirts]

Clearly the concept of "You pay for services at the time they are rendered" doesn't quite compute.

Or perhaps the idea of credit cards doesn't compute. (Or both.) I've encountered a disturbing number of people who seem to think that credit cards work like gift cards. A $2100 "limit" might mean to them that they can buy up to $2100 worth of stuff and let the bank pay for it.

Some people really are completely unaware (willfully, perhaps, in some cases) that credit cards are loans--permission to use somebody else's money now and pay back later.

That wouldn't make it any less stupid, though.

[protege]

Because sometimes the card is good, and it's a machine error that's causing it to be declined.

I've had that happen, even though I always pay my bills. Usually, the card has to be run more than once sometimes. Probably because I'm sitting on my wallet all the time

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I've had that happen, even though I always pay my bills. Usually, the card has to be run more than once sometimes. Probably because I'm sitting on my wallet all the time

That could be one reason . . . there could be a slight scratch on the magnetic strip that can cause the machine to not read it correctly the first time. And those strips don't last forever . . they can be easily scratched or dinged.

I run into this on occasion at work when I'm running a register. Matter of fact, I had a customer (the last one of the shift, actually) who was having trouble getting his card to take.

So I got a plastic grocery bag, put it over his card and swiped it. Machine took the card then and he was out the door a few second later with his bags and receipt.

[bainsidhe]

my cat gets those-in cats it can be something called rodent ulcer(nothing to do with rodents), or a food allergy, best to get checked to know the difference.

Ah, your poor baby. Based on what I've seen online, mine looks more like a type of feline acne. Guess I'll find out tomorrow. I changed his water/food dishes, but no change. It's hard to see in kitty's mouth, considering he squirms. He's still affectionate and eats/drinks/plays, so we'll see.

[Kiwi]

I have had a card say it declined but still take the money from my account. That was REALLY fun to prove to the store.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Since the orders I deal with are usually placed online or over the phone, the card never goes through a swipe machine, but occasionally it will be declined the first time. Our CC department calls the customer and asks them to provide another method of payment...they call their bank because they don't know why the card was declined, or they just say it should work, can you please run it again, so we do and sometimes it works the second time. One of the mysteries of banking, I suppose