The SC: The Not-My-Credit-card

[Horsetuna]

I dont know if he was dishonest, dumb or truly sucky. He didnt ACT like it aside from some mild (rahter meek) arguments.

Anyways so i ring his stuff up and he tries debit. No go. So he pulls out a credit card, I start to swipe it through. Lalalala... almost end of a REALLY bad day (mistakes left and right. fortunately little ones) and I hand him the slip to sign.

THen, I do a sig match.

Waitaminute. His name isn't Carol. And he didn't sign Carol anyways.

Me: Uh, this isn't your card.
Him: OH yeah. Its' my moms.

Me: Well, you can't use it then.
Him : She gave me permission
Me: I know but SHE has to sign it, not you. Hold on.
So I go over and call the supervisor over, tell her, who tells him the same thing. we refund the visa and stuff and he dissapears. I'm told I did a good job and that was the third time today someone tried that.

I do wish we didnt have to give the card back. But apparently we aren't allowed to KEEP it. (stupid IMHO). Cause it MAY NOT be stolen.

Hopefully the next clerk he tries that on watches the sigs.

She did try to contact Visa to report it though.

[Rapscallion]

I'm rather awaiting the Internet WAV file of an SC complaining about this to a VISA rep.

"I tried to use someone else's card, and the store prevented me from doing so! Make them accept it!"

"Um..."

Rapscallion

[ZumZum]

Actually, Visa and Mastercard allow authorized users. If he had ID on him and it matched the last name on the card he could have used it. That or a note from the card holder (signed and matching the signature on the card) would have sufficed.

American Express and Discover do not allow authorized users. Only the card holder can sign for it. That way they can charge upwards of $50 a year for you to get another card on your account.

[imal'sheva]

I live in Israel. My kids have one of my credit cards and use it all the time.

[Imogene]

Actually, Visa and Mastercard allow authorized users. If he had ID on him and it matched the last name on the card he could have used it. That or a note from the card holder (signed and matching the signature on the card) would have sufficed.

I borrowed my mom's Visa one day, cause I needed new pants for work (so I could get a job, actually. I'd been out of work for three months, and my money was extremely low) and Mom was busy that day. So she wrote a note, signed it, the whole nine yards. I went to the store (a specialty store for tall people) I was the only person in the store that time of day, besides the worker at the counter.
Picked out pants and a shirt (Mom had told me to, if I found one cheap enough) took them up to the register, woman checks me out, and asks for payment. I hand her the card and the note (I had folded the note around the card to fit both in one pocket) She looks at the card, then at the note, asks for my ID. No problem, I show it to her. She gets this look on her face and says, "Do you have another form of payment?"
M: "No... Well, I do, but neither of them have any money on the account..."
H: "Well, we're not supposed to do this..." *runs the card anyway* "Next time the card holder needs to be here."
M: "She couldn't be here today. She had business to attend to. That's why she wrote the note."
H: *hands me the bag of clothes after I sign the slip* "I can't do that again. Next time, she has to be here as well."
M: *blink, blink*

[Jester]

Yesterday at the waterfront bar, I had an amusing time with a family of six.

First, the younger folks ordered drinks. None of them had ID. Despite the father's protestations that they were his kids, and that they were all of age, I stood my ground. I said, "I'm sorry, but without their ID, I can't serve them." I thought, "I'm sorry, sir, but the State of Florida does not recognize you as a source of valid identification for your children for the purposes of purchasing alcohol." Later on, one of the kids went back to the hotel/guest house and got everyone's ID, so everyone got their drinks (they WERE all of age), and everyone was happy.

Same group pays. I get the credit card, run it, and only after I have run it, I notice "CHECK ID" on the back of it, in the signature line. *sigh* Why do I have to be so efficient at my job? I go back to the table and say my usual line. "I am one of those silly people that read instructions, and this card says I need to see ID." It was the mom's credit card, she was in the bathroom at the time (she had been there when the dad handed it to me), and the father said, to my disbelief, "Oh! I don't think she has her ID with her." Me: *blink blink* "Um, silly question? Why would you put "CHECK ID" on the credit card and then not carry your ID?" I had a good rapport with these people at this point, so I coudl get away with asking such insolent questions. They had no good answer to that one, but the father showed me his ID, and his last name and the mother's last name on the credit card matched....so I let it go...but seriously, folks, wtf?

These people were not SC's, but were exhibiting some really not bright behavior. The kids were of valid drinking age, but looked young, so why would they not be carrying their ID? The credit card they gave me had "CHECK ID" on it, which they obviously wrote, yet they don't have the ID that matches the credit card?

*sigh* All's well that ends well, I guess. And I have today off (though I am filling in at the magic bar tonight), so I get to go watch football. Wait, that's not good either....I am a Raiders fan.

[Kogarashi]

Actually, Visa and Mastercard allow authorized users. If he had ID on him and it matched the last name on the card he could have used it. That or a note from the card holder (signed and matching the signature on the card) would have sufficed.

American Express and Discover do not allow authorized users. Only the card holder can sign for it. That way they can charge upwards of $50 a year for you to get another card on your account.

And this distinction, and the fact that my doctor's office wouldn't let me run my husband's Visa despite me producing ID with the same surname, is why we nipped it in the bud and just got me a Visa with the same account number and my name. Because Visa is nice and doesn't charge us an extra monthly fee to do that.

Plus it's easier for us to get Amazon points. ::rubs hands together evilly::

[hotelslave]

Not their credit cards

One time a womann came to my hotel to check in with a credit card that had a guys picture on it. She got mad cause I wouldn't take it. She threatened to call corporate on me for bad service. I threatened to call the cops on her for credit card fraud . She left shortly after that and I cut the card up.

[Gurndigarn]

American Express and Discover do not allow authorized users. Only the card holder can sign for it. That way they can charge upwards of $50 a year for you to get another card on your account.

Maybe American Express. But Discover practicly begs me to take extra cards.

[Crosshair]

I had a customer who wanted to buy an airsoft gun. Only problem was that she wasn't 18. She said that was OK, she had her moms ID and a check blank that her mom said that she could use. They don't teach you to deal with stuff like this in training. I refused to sell it to her and she had to leave unhappy. She couldn't understand why I wouldn't sell it to her.

[heather124]

It seems like no one ever even looks at my credit card when I use it, they swipe it and hand it back to me straight away without even waiting for me to sign the slip so they can check the signature. I have a credit card in my maiden name still and once I used it and accidently signed my married name (2 completely different names that look nothing alike)..and this was one time the guy actually checked the signature, but never said anything and handed it back to me. I couldn't believe he checked and yet didn't even notice the name on the card had a different last name than the signature!

[iradney]

It seems like no one ever even looks at my credit card when I use it, they swipe it and hand it back to me straight away without even waiting for me to sign the slip so they can check the signature.

same here! my boyfriend and i occasionally swap cards (they look alike, so we get confused) and when we use them, the cashiers don't even notice the completely different sigs!
this is why i prefer my debit card. if you don't have my pin, you can't use the card!

[Enjis]

At my department store (a nationwide chain) we have PIN pads. The customer swipes the credit card themselves...if it is credit, they sign the chit, if it is debit, they enter their number in the pad.
We never get to see the card, so we never get to check IDs or see siggys. It is very annoying. We never know if someone has a stolen card or not. Our Security department hates it, but cannot really do anything about it. It is NOT corporate policy to demand that salespersons chack IDs.
Now, if we DO ask for IDs, everyone gets really made that we think they are theves or something.
Worse, the thieves KNOW this, so they buy Gift Cards with stolen cards, so they can buy anything they want, without fear of SOMEONE catching them with a stolen card.

I HATE the system, but if I buck the trend, I get yelled at by indignant customers who now think it is their RIGHT to use unsigned cards...!

[Depot Denizen]

I process credit cards for sales regularly. In all cases, we usually have the affiliates' campus ID card to check against the credit card. It's easy to see if the card doesn't match. In most issues, we have a problem with credit cards being declined, mostly due to a daily limit (when you buy a $1500-$2500 computer, that tends to nudge against the limits) that the card can be used for.

[pbmods]

Incidentally, if the sig doesn't match the card, it's not the end of the world. The worst case scenario, if the customer disputes the charge, your store is SOL and has to eat the chargeback.

There will be no heavy fines, nobody goes to jail. Your store just gave away some product for free.