Is it that hard to get a new credit card?

[foodservicesucks]

I just love it when people give me credit cards that are...
-cracked in almost half
-so worn that the magnetic strip no longer works (we are NOT allowed to type in a credit card number without a supervisor's permission, the strip needs to work)
-so worn that the signature panel just says "VOID" (it's obvious that they didn't tamper with it, it's just THAT worn)
-expired
-not their own
...and get mad when I won't accept them. You know they'd be upset if, for example, someone stole their card and tried to use it when the panel said "VOID", and would the first ones demanding I be fired for accepting it.

If your credit card is so destroyed that it doesn't work in my register, go get a new one! You know they know they need to.

[Moon]

One of my cards cracked right ON the strip after only a year or so, right down the middle of it (long ways). I did end up going to get a new one (it was thru my credit union and I had to go in anyway to pay my car note). Sometimes my cards will work fine, but other merchants have trouble reading it. Usually they just type it in instead of telling me they couldn't accept it. Of course I wouldn't throw a shit fit if they did, I'd just go somewhere else.

Part of the problem is banks often give you 4-5 years between new cards when even average use will wear it out in 2-3 years.

Interestingly enough, most merchants around here are set up so you don't need to sign for under $25 and some of them the clerk doesn't even handle the card themselves... so it is very easy to use someone else's card.

[icmedia]

My bank wants $35 for a replacement card, unless I report it lost, in which case all of the automatic payments I have set up will bounce, and I will be issued a new card number-which means going around to all of the online stores, PayPal, etc. and changing my payment information... In other words, I'll suffer through the 10% of retailers where my card will not swipe properly in order to avoid the hassle

[Raveni]

Down here, EBT (or SNAP or whatever they are called now) cards are notorious for not working straight out of the envelope. So a customer can spend 3+ weeks trying to get a new one, only to have the new card not work either.

[Moirae]

Strange. About 6 months ago, my husband and I received two new debit cards from the bank because they detected someone trying to use one of them somewhere overseas. It was free and we had to activate them. There's a reason banks need to be regulated more, and the examples shown in this thread are a great reason why, though my bank is fairly ok about that stuff.

[Geek King]

Strange. About 6 months ago, my husband and I received two new debit cards from the bank because they detected someone trying to use one of them somewhere overseas. It was free and we had to activate them.

I had the opposite happen. One day my card just didn't work. I asked the cashier to hold the transaction and stepped aside to call the company. It took twenty minutes to get a rep on the line, who told me they had sent me a new card two months ago. This surprised me, because at the time I had over a year before the card expired. The rep said they wanted me to have the new "rebranded" card.

Now, the bank that holds this card sends out absolute tons of junk mail that I routinely stick straight in the shredder. So likely, the card came looking like all the rest of their junk mailings, and got chewed up. I asked why they hadn't told me to watch for a new card, and was told they don't do that so that thieves won't be able to know when to intercept it. When I asked how I would know if a thief had gotten it if I didn't know it was coming, the rep didn't have a good answer: "Um, I dunno"

I finally got them to reactivate the card.

[Sarthor]

I remember one time when I got a new debit card through the post. My old one was about to expire but was still usable. I opened the envelope with the card as I was heading out to work and just put it in my wallet unsigned, intending to sign it later (I know, I know, my bad).

Anyway, I nipped into a local supermarket after work to pick up a few things and handed the cashier the unsigned card by mistake. After noticing that it was unsigned I explained and said I have the signed one right here and she could use that one, however the new card had already been swiped and I had already signed the receipt. Rather than void everything and rescan, she said to just sign the new one.

Now here's the funny bit. I then watched her take the card that she just saw me sign and check it against the signature on the receipt that she also saw me sign not 10 seconds previously. I didn't say anything but it just struck me as amusing.

Another thing that happened is when my sister and brother-in-law came to visit. I live in the UK and they live in Canada. For those that don't know, we have a thing in the UK called 'chip and pin'. This means that you no longer sign anything when using your card in a shop, you swipe it and type in your PIN number just as when using an ATM. Neither my sister nor brother-in-law knew their PIN numbers which meant that there was almost nowhere where they could use their cards and so had no way of getting money out of their accounts.

As far as I know this applies across most, if not all, of Europe. Something to be aware of if you travel over here and are counting on using your credit cards.

[LillFilly]

There are 1 or 2 stores of a chain that I just can't use my debit card to make purchases at because every time the card is declined. Not cannot be read, but declined, even though there is $ there and the car worked at another store 10 min previous. Someone mentioned it might be their machines. If a scanner is having trouble, sometimes buffing the card on my shirt helps, even though it's a fairly new card.

[Moon]

How do those chip/pin combo cards work in situations like restaurants, where the customer is not by the machine? Or situations such as online/telephone transactions where the card is not present at all?

[cinema guy]

Restaurants have portable chip and pin machines.

By phone and internet they tend to ask for the security number on the back of the card. More banks are now getting to have an additional password to verify online transcations.

[Moirae]

I wish Canada would get check cards. I'm from Alberta but living in Louisiana. Seriously, its sooooo much more convenient. Means you can use your debit card as though its a credit card. Things like establishing a paypal account, paying for online purchases, etc are all much easier.

[PepperElf]

i'm guilty of the cracked and worn card. not anymore but i use to be

it ended when my stupidass tried to put a cracked card into a gas pump and it got stuck.

after that i never used cracked cards again

[foodservicesucks]

I've had my associate ID card get caught in the register before... it was really embarassing!

[Trixie]

Had a guy come in earlier this week and his card wouldn't run. A tiny spot on the strip was missing. I run it manually. I see him again a couple of days ago at another register going through the same thing. He comes in today and tries running his card on the card reader and it's not going through. In between a few of the numerous times he's trying to swipe it he says "I don't know why it's not working." Really? Really? I took one look at his card and I remembered it didn't work. But because I like my job and I'm all about the customer service I kept my mouth shut.

[Moirae]

Had a guy come in earlier this week and his card wouldn't run. A tiny spot on the strip was missing. I run it manually. I see him again a couple of days ago at another register going through the same thing. He comes in today and tries running his card on the card reader and it's not going through. In between a few of the numerous times he's trying to swipe it he says "I don't know why it's not working." Really? Really? I took one look at his card and I remembered it didn't work. But because I like my job and I'm all about the customer service I kept my mouth shut.

Just because you're trying to do good customer service doesn't mean you have to keep your mouth shut. You can just say "See the back of the card?" and then show it to him and say "Its worn away. Means it won't ever work again. You might like to get a new one". Its still polite and it explains the problem. You make it seem like he probably just didn't know rather than tell him he's a monumental dumbass.