Credit Card slips question

[Android Kaeli]

A Litte Note: I was going to post this on CS but thought that it might spark a little bit of a debate, so I posted it here instead. I really just want more information, but decided to play it safe regardless.



You all know the last few digits on the signed credit slips that has the last few numbers of your credit card? The one that you give back to the cashier after you've signed the slip? Yea, those things.

Well I had a customer not only get all upset with me, but said customer also went on a rant with a manager as well over these numbers. Customer said he had a "legal right" to scratch a pen through the numbers on the credit card slip.

Now I don't think this is true, even said as much, but customer got all pissed off saying that they worked in a retail place as well that the customer had a right to scratch off the numbers.

Questions: Is it legal for customers to do that to the credit card slip? Who was right in this situation?

[fireheart17]

I really fail to see the point of doing so.

I use the numbers primarily for security, to ensure that the customer's card is valid and not programmed for another card. AMEX shows the first six and the last three. Visa, mastercard and I think Diners all just display the last four.

There is no way to identify those numbers as belonging to a particular card, or even to a customer.

The only comprimising situation I've encountered since starting at new store is having a guy come through with a broken arm. I made him do an X on his credit slip and then cited his ID, wrote down that I'd done it as such and also included the licence number.

[AdminAssistant]

In some cases, scratching through the numbers can void the purchase.

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

What in the name of Zeus's Butthole does this person do for online purchases when there is no real paper invoice for him to run a pen through?

[Android Kaeli]

I dunno, this was the first time anyone has thrown a hissy fit over something as stupid as this.

I thank you guys for the answers.

[daleduke17]

Do like I used to do. Customer scratches out their CC #, they leave, I reprint the receipt and staple the clear copy to the scratched out one.

[RavenStarr]

I wonder what people like this do when they have to sign one of those small credit machines instead of a credit slip.

I could see someone saying, "I'm not signing that, you'll give away my card number".

Sad thing, it probably has happened.

[joe hx]

I heard a story at work where a customer wanted to pay with credit card, but wouldn't give us the number because she was afraid we'd steal it.

[insertNameHere]

The great thing about my credit card, if you steal it I don't have to pay! OF course it is a pain in the ass to get charges off but I don't see why people flip out so much. Next time as the guy to cite the law that allows him to do that.

Of course Im an SC at establishments that state they have a MINIMUM amount you must by and/or a surcharge will be added for using credit, yet they take VISA, which for the merchants terms and conditions clearly state they can't setup a surcharge or minimum for using your visa (some credit cards do allow it) http://usa.visa.com/merchants/operat...surcharge.html


and to answer your question, I have no idea, all our stuff is electronic anymore. only in rare situations does a receipt that needs to be signed print out, even rarer is needing to get the knuckle buster out. Well last week our internet went out at night and for purchases over $25, i did have to call the credit company and enter the one guys card number but I asked him if it was ok first since well it was pay cash or let me enter the number.

[Ghel]

The great thing about my credit card, if you steal it I don't have to pay! OF course it is a pain in the ass to get charges off but I don't see why people flip out so much.

It can be quite the pain in the ass. With our Visa-branded debit cards, we have to print out each fraudulent transaction (2 pages), fill out two forms (one the customer has to sign), and fax those four pages (for each transaction) to the debit card company, who may take as long as 3 weeks to process the chargeback. By regulation, we (the bank) have to give the customer a provisional credit within 10 business days, so the customer frequently doesn't get his money back for 2 weeks anyway.

This became a several-day-long process when a customer's debit card was used at a penny auction website a couple weeks ago. 40 transactions, most of which were about $1.25, but some as high as $150.00. This customer lives in Nevada and we're in Minnesota, so there was no way I could get him in to sign 40 copies of the chargeback form. Luckily, the debit card company accepted a letter from him listing all the transactions. So I faxed the 120 pages to the debit card company and gave him his provisional credit.

The part that really bothers me about this is that these transactions took 3-4 days to clear. I could see the authorizations on the DCC's website, but there was no way to cancel them without letting them hit the customer's card. I could see that they were coming. The customer had informed us that they were fraudulent. But there was nothing we could do to stop them from being processed.

[jackfaire]

I think people need to stop watching the news and then maybe the networks will work on informing us without trying to terrify us.

Everytime I run into a situation like this it is because someone was watching a news report where this happened to a small percentage of people by some small company and now they are worried that Target, Walmart etc is going to take everything they own.

[DrFaroohk]

What the hell is someone gonna do with the last four digits anyway? If they somehow got ahold of the first twelve, you're probably screwed anyway.

[Salesmonkey]

I could see this in CS. The customer was an idiot true, but as a manager I would have humored the fool to get him out the door, and then promptly printed a reconciliation report from the machine and put it with the other paperwork from their transaction so I'd have all the records in case of a problem.

[aurelemsrealm]

I've never run into a customer being that paranoid over the last four digits being displayed. Heck, many of my customers don't even want a copy of their receipts. They just tell me to toss it and walk off. I just put the unwanted customer copies with my other credit card receipts because I'm not going to bother with walking to the trash can to throw every unwanted receipt away.

I did have an incident one time in which our network was down, and had to use the card imprinter. This sucktomer wanted to prepay for gas, and was insistent that I tear up our copy in front of him. However, our copy was necessary to enter the information later when the network came back online. I explained this to him, and he started throwing a fit that he knew better, blah, blah, blah. I'd already put my copy of the slip in the drawer. He said he wasn't leaving until I dug it out and tore it up. I told him that I could tear up the receipt if it meant that much to him, but he would not be getting any gas if I did. He continued to rant, and so I told him his choice was to go pump his gas and leave now, or have me tear up my copies of the receipt and he could go somewhere else to get gas. He opted to get his gas, and let it be known that he would be complaining to management. He made sure to write down my name. His name was imprinted from the card. While he was getting gas, I wrote down the time of his visit, physical description, vehicle description, and tag number, and attached a note with all that information explaining that he made a scene because I refused to tear up our imprinter copy. What I had to laugh about was that he was giving me a death glare from the gas pump when he saw me at the window writing down his tag number. I asked the manager about it a few days later, and she just rolled her eyes like she does when dealing with stupid people. I never heard any more about it.

[ExRetailDrone]

I admit that there have been a few times when I have scratched out part of my CC# on receipts. But these incidents involved old CC machines that printed the entire number on the receipt that I signed and gave back. I scratched out all but the last four. Not long before I began looking for this, my parents had their CC# stolen in a restaurant setting (most likely when a waiter walked away with the card to process the charge) and it was a pain for them to get it all sorted out. I haven't seen an old slip like that for a long time, and I know that nobody can do a damn thing with only the last four digits.