Peeve of mine (little long)

[starsinthesky]

My number one peeve is customers getting upset over an ID request when using a credit card.

My first job, a party supply store. we weren't required to ask for ID. So, 2nd year I worked there during the run up to Halloween, someone had used a stolen card on a big purchase. So effective immediately we had to ask for ID's. So most people didn't have a problem, understood, and appreciated our attentiveness to customer security. A few grumbled but complained when I stood my ground. One lady, ugh. This 11 years ago, but her reaction was just so unreal.

So I am scanning her order, whole bunch of Halloween stuff. Fog machine, other decor, costumes, candy, etc. Her tab was about $1500. She pulls her credit card out and I promptly ask her ID. She pulls the mother of all fits. Acts insulted that I am suggesting that she is thief, how dare I assume that. I try explaining that we are required to ask for all credit cards. She gets in a huff leaves, I have to cancel the whole order and fill a cart with go backs.

Sometime after that, I would say maybe a month, we get word from the District manager that we can not, we are forbidden to ask for ID. To which, my 17 yr old self finds stupid. About a month later I am ringing up a customer and I give him the total and he hands me his card. I swipe and about to enter the million numbers to start running it and he stops me.

He asks me why I didn't ask for his ID, and I very matter of factlly tell him that I wasn't allowed to ask him. His wanted to know, and I told him that too many people complained before when we were required to ask for them, so they made us stop. He insisted on showing me his ID, I checked, ran his card, thanked him for shopping with us, and he said that he didn't know if he would be back.

I always expect to get asked, if and I forget my card, I get annoyed at myself. I have inconvenienced myself, other customers and the guy ringing up my purchase.

[blas]

Next thing you know, underage sales will be permitted so we don't upset minors. Or their parents. Or whatever.

[kpzra]

I know it's been covered before, but it has to do with the user agreements with the card companys. They can pull the right for your business to accept their cards if you ask for ID and people complain to them. This topic usually goes to Fratching, so I'm not adding anything but an explanation.

[Anamal]

Can't hurt precioius people's feelings.

I want to have a store where I can be a total dipshit and still make good money so bad. lol

[starsinthesky]

I posted here because her reaction was so over top it was the mother of all hissy fits. Her reaction that I was accusing her of theft was as if I asked told her she was ugly and smelled like she hadn't bathed in days. Also, leaving her cart full of crap meant I didn't get to go home until 11 pm that night as I had to put all $1500 worth of items back on where they belonged in addition to my normal responsibilities before I could leave.

[blas]

I understand your pain.

Imagine her hissy fit if you hadn't done your job and been proactive......and she became a victim of identity theft. Then she'd have screamed that you didn't protect her.

[bainsidhe]

As long as the card is signed, stores technically aren't supposed to ask for ID per the merchant agreement. Whatever. I'd have asked for ID on a $1500 sale too.

[Tama]

At least he was a bit polite about it, unlike her.

His response gave me the impression of: "Oh, dear. This place does not card you for purchases over $xxx. I don't feel safe around them."

My guess is he probably has had his identity stolen before.

I don't generally like to frequent places that don't care me for over a certain amount either.

Sorry about that.

[Caractacus_Potts]

I know it's been covered before, but it has to do with the user agreements with the card companys. They can pull the right for your business to accept their cards if you ask for ID and people complain to them.

I actually read the merchants ToS years ago for MasterCard and I came to the conclusion that it is deliberately convoluted so that no matter what a store or a customer does the card company can point to at least one place in the agreement where the person is either wrong or right (depending on whether the card company wants them to be wrong or right of course).

1: A merchant is not allowed to ask for ID as a condition of a card purchase.
2: A merchant is not to accept an unsigned card.
3: (PROFIT!) A merchant may request an ID if they feel the card may be being used fraudulently, for example if the card is unsigned.

Those are from three different sections of the ToS and, yes, they used the unsigned card as a specific example of when a merchant can ask for ID. Anyone else see the contradictions?

[emax4]

Sounds to me like the DM was mad because the purchase was over $1500 when the woman walked out. If it was $15, maybe the DM would be a little more careless about smaller purchases.

Why not suggest to the DM to have the stores card the customers if the total sales is over $xx.xx? This way the lines are going quicker for smaller purchases, and the store has less chance of being ripped off on larger purchases.

[Andara Bledin]

Gotta love it when different parts of the same document are written by different people and then nobody proofs them for consistency.

I'd wonder about people who blow up at the front liners, but I know better than to try to understand the crazy.

^-.-^

[earl colby pottinger]

Someday

I actually read the merchants ToS years ago for MasterCard and I came to the conclusion that it is deliberately convoluted so that no matter what a store or a customer does the card company can point to at least one place in the agreement where the person is either wrong or right (depending on whether the card company wants them to be wrong or right of course).

1: A merchant is not allowed to ask for ID as a condition of a card purchase.
2: A merchant is not to accept an unsigned card.
3: (PROFIT!) A merchant may request an ID if they feel the card may be being used fraudulently, for example if the card is unsigned.

Those are from three different sections of the ToS and, yes, they used the unsigned card as a specific example of when a merchant can ask for ID. Anyone else see the contradictions?

Some day this is going to hit the card companies HARD!

On very rare occasions I have had to process a card with a $1,000,000 limit. The card in-fact belongs to the city not the person using it. The city controller uses it for some large (but last minute) purchases, in the case of the computer store where I worked this might mean something like memory to update all the township's computers because a new program turns out to really need the memory (Ah, the joys of testing only one office before rolling out new software).

If a scammer (most people have no idea who the city's controller is) uses that card and nets over half a mill or more I am sure that a small company is not just going to eat the bill, and a messed up contract like that is just asking for the courts to invalidate charging said small company that was just following the card company's policy.

[MoonCat]

If she made that big a fuss over it, I can't help but think she actually WAS a thief. "Protest too much" and all that...

[Geek King]

On very rare occasions I have had to process a card with a $1,000,000 limit. The card in-fact belongs to the city not the person using it. The city controller uses it for some large (but last minute) purchases, in the case of the computer store where I worked this might mean something like memory to update all the township's computers because a new program turns out to really need the memory (Ah, the joys of testing only one office before rolling out new software).

As someone who works IT for a branch of a city government, I find it cute that you think they test at all before ordering something.

PS-lucky for us, the higher ups know little enough about things that Boss and I can usually pick what we need ourselves. That way, we can plan for needed upgrades as well.

Currently Working On: A score of new PCs that need set up because Biggest Bosses decided this week that they want the paperless training room ready last week. Oi.

[Moirae]

I always tell them that its for identity protection. We don't know you're who you say you are. If they protest I ask them if they would like it if their card was stolen and we charged it anyway. That stops the dumb arguments.