embarrassed, then just plain ol' mad....

bender-freak · December 2nd, 2008, 06:51 PM

lady bender-freak and i got out this morning to do some more Christmas shoplifting...went to K-marts, got some stuff, wrote a check, out the door and to the next place....got some stuff, wrote a check, out the door, to the next place...you get the idea........last place on our list today to pick up a video game, went in, found it, up to the counter to pay for it..people in line behind us, of course...anyhow laid the game down, wife wrote out a check for the purchase, girl ran it thru the check "verification' monster, check was rejected...!!!, did it 3 times, check rejected...i KNEW the money was in the bank, no DOUBT in my mind...checkout girl standing there with this "smirky smat-arsed" look on her face and loudly (to me, anyway) proclaims the check is "no good"...of COURSE, everyone in the store is looking at us and i felt my jaws getting getting pretty darn "torqued".....

we walked out, went straight to our bank, and as i already KNEW, was assured by the bank there was several thousand dollars in that checking account; we have 2 accounts...i have NEVER wrote a bad or insufficient check wither by accident or on purpose in my life....the bank had no explanation they could offer for the fiasco, we wrote a check afterwards for gas with no problem...???....

just needed to vent over this "electronic" utopia that we are living in that can make NO mistakes......ever...GGGGRRRRRR!!!!!

mudbean · December 2nd, 2008, 06:58 PM

"Wrote a check"

??? What century are we living in? What century are YOU living in?

BTW: "... got out this morning to do some more Christmas shoplifting" -- Priceless!!

mud

J-man · December 2nd, 2008, 07:01 PM

I hate it when something like that happens in a shop.. Even when I know my account has money in it I get nervous that my card will be rejected by in-store chip & pin machines.. It's horrible standing amidst all those people waiting to be served and not being able to pay!

I pay with cash as often as possible.

TDPRI · December 2nd, 2008, 07:02 PM

Yeah, I haven't "written a check" in about 5 years. Debit card is the only way to buy.

ToadLC · December 2nd, 2008, 07:08 PM

I tried to use my credit card for a purchase today & it was declined. Shouldn't be a problem, it's paid off each month. Called the credit card company & they closed the account. It seems that a local merchant has had customer information stolen & notified the credit card company. I guess that's better than having to argue that I didn't buy $10K of leather coats as Christmas presents.

getbent · December 2nd, 2008, 07:11 PM

I was behind an older woman in line at the World Market last week and she had that problem and the lady behind the counter kinda did the smirk thing and said, "there is a problem with your check you seem to have insufficient funds." and the lady was very near tears with embarrassment and worry and she said, "that can't be, that just can't be.." and the clerk kinda looked at me like she was exasperated with the lady... I was with my kids, but it pissed me off, so I said to the clerk, "Can't you call for verification?" and she said, 'it takes forever.' and I said, 'we're not in a hurry if you're not.' and the lady smiled at me. Then, I said, "I'm sure the check is good, I'll cover it if it isn't." and the manager came up and did something and suddenly the lady was done and on her way.

I can be pretty mean sometimes (and I always regret it) but, dang, this age of treating people like they were liars when the problem could be anything....

I have switched to a debit card long ago and don't even know where our checks are, but folks should get to buy stuff however they want if you ask me.

mudbean · December 2nd, 2008, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDPRI

Yeah, I haven't "written a check" in about 5 years. Debit card is the only way to buy.

+1 ... And, having myself (more than once

) experienced the embarrassment felt by b-freak, I'm so neurotic that I even like to have the cash in my pocket to cover my purchase "just in case" when I use my debit card.

mud

The Bone · December 2nd, 2008, 07:18 PM

your credit card, either, if you are doing some serious speed shopping. Most credit card companies through up the red flag if you use the card more than your normal habit, even if it is during Xmas. Then you have to call and verify all of your purchases and off you go.

PS. Check?

fltpkr · December 2nd, 2008, 07:31 PM

Amazon rejected my debit card twice, for a couple of books even after I verified all the card information with my bank. Don't know what the problem is, but it's their loss.

J-man · December 2nd, 2008, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tony

your credit card, either, if you are doing some serious speed shopping. Most credit card companies through up the red flag if you use the card more than your normal habit, even if it is during Xmas. Then you have to call and verify all of your purchases and off you go.

PS. Check?

I recently got a "fraud" put on my debit account because I had my student loans paid in and I withdrew £100 of it from within a bank on the same day.......

I managed to get it fixed in about an hour, but banks seem to pounce on any odd behaviour.

(The account hadn't been used in a few months)

I really don't know what their justification was for doing it (I never found out). But I'd like to know what's odd about a student account having money withdrawn from it on loan day.

cletus · December 2nd, 2008, 08:20 PM

I have been in situations where the damn little card reader wouldn't work ---- so i just wrote a check. Just sayin'.
cletus

RickG501 · December 2nd, 2008, 08:32 PM

Tony's got it!

When you write too many checks in too short a time span, the check verification outfits throw up a red flag. Because it looks to them like someone stole your check book and is out spending your money like a drunken sailor. It's like you can't get more than XXX.XX amount of money(whatever your banks rules are) out of an ATM in one day. It is embarassing. Did you just whup a credit card on 'em, you can pay that as soon as the bill comes in and not incur any interest?

I'd bought something from Amazon UK, from my computer in OKC, and got my debit card shut down. The Fraud Alert dept, could'nt understand how I could use my card in England and in Oklahoma City in the same day....must be stolen. As soon as I went to the bank and called the Fraud dept. it got squared away.

morroben · December 2nd, 2008, 08:35 PM

I was at an Albertson's a couple of years ago buying some groceries...I got up to the checkout line and the little swipe-it-yourself thing was broken so I gave the lady my debit card for her to swipe on her register. She told me it was rejected. I was shocked. I knew there was enough to cover what I was buying, although I wouldn't be leaving myself much in the account after that. She was a real b**** about it so I just took my card and went down the street to Spencer's Market and bought the same stuff. Card worked fine.
Well I go to the ATM the next day and it says I don't have the funds to pull out a little cash. Wierd...so I walk over to the bank. I'm overdrawn. Albertson's had charged me for the stuff even though they said my card was rejected. So I paid for the same groceries at two different stores.
I was livid....after getting documentation from the bank about their mistake the fine folks at Albertson's gave me a $25 gift card for my trouble. The overdraw charge was $30 so it didn't really make me feel much better.

boneyguy · December 2nd, 2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bender-freak

we wrote a check afterwards for gas with no problem...???....

Wrote a cheque for gas?!!! To put in your horseless carriage I presume.

I'm like the others. I couldn't even find my cheque book now.

I'm curious to know what the advantage is to writing cheques as opposed to using a debit card. If you're using cheques to continually pay for everything, as it sounds like you are, there must be a continous backlog of waiting for cheques to clear and making continual notes in your cheque book etc. to account for everything. I cant' imagine what the advantage would be.

Regardless of what system you use it sucks when it fails to work for you.

Guitar_Ninja · December 2nd, 2008, 09:02 PM

I generally put everything on my credit card and then just pay it all off at the end of the month. I input all of the receipts into an excel file to help keep track of expenditures.

kelnet · December 2nd, 2008, 09:12 PM

I cannot imagine the hassle of paying with a cheque these days. Every store would ask for 2 pieces of identification. Some stores don't even accept cheques any more.
Debit card is so much simpler.

jimd · December 2nd, 2008, 09:25 PM

We just got a new cat. We went to the pet store to pick up some cat food. At the check out the girl was very chatty. She gets us to sign up for one of those cards to get coupons and discounts. As we are being checked out the girl is talking cat food with my wife. She decides we need to talk to some pet food rep. who was there that day and runs off to get him. She brings this dude back to talk cat food with my wife and then runs off. We finish talking cat food with the guy and grab our stuff and leave. When we got home, the phone rings. Its the pet store girl, we left without paying. She rang it up and bagged our stuff, but didn't get the money. My wife was so busy talking cat food and I was so distracted trying to get out of there we didn't notice. They got our phone number from the discount card application we signed up for. It was a little embarassing, but just more annoying that we had to run back to the store to pay.

I always use credit. Debit cards don't have as much protection and checks are a pain.

T_red7882 · December 2nd, 2008, 09:46 PM

I've worked a register many many many times. If a check or card gets rejected, we don't care if you say it's wrong or not. our system says that payment cannot be made via that method from you. that is your problem, and not ours. Want to make matters worse? Argue with us clerks about something we have absolutely no control over. Do you know how often people try to scam us clerks? even really *nice* looking couples have tried to screw me on many occasions. People always "say" they are good for something, and they rarely are. the smirkey, smart arsed fashion in which the clerk treated you with is your interpretation. From my point of view, that sounds like a frustrated clerk trying to be nice to you while you put up a fuss over something they had no control over.

Another common misconceptions about debit cards with a visa or master card logo are that if we run it as "credit," where you sign for it, that the transaction is charged to your credit account. not true. the funds are still taken from your checking account, just like a debit transaction, where you enter your PIN, would be charged. The only difference is that credit transactions are slower to process. Use this method over entering your PIN. the amount of near invisible "recorders" that are used for fraud (you enter your card and pin, and an electronic slip in a gas pump or card swipe remembers it and a person later collects this data and screws you royally) are increasing in availability and ease of use.

getbent · December 2nd, 2008, 10:40 PM

t_red, I think many of us have rung a register. When I have been working at a store I realize that I'm representing my company and that my company would always want to make sure that our customers felt good about their visit. There are times when machines make mistakes, when software malfunctions and when mistakes are made... it is what we do when those things crop up that differentiates us from our competitors.

More than once back in the old days I was instructed by a credit card company to confiscate a card which I did, but all the while apologizing profusely and explaining that I'd been ordered to do it. I can imagine that, like benderfreak says, it is embarrassing when you know you have it, but it would be just as embarrassing if you didn't, like Ben said, and there is no reason to embarrass your customers, whether they are wrong or not does not matter, you don't know (like you said.)

Good customer service isn't when it all goes well, it is when it goes to hell that you find out who the talented people are.... those folks are the ones that while the situation is frustrating or while you may believe that the customer is trying to rip you off, you don't show it. Instead you kill them with good manners and professional behavior.

Of course the interpretation is that of the receiver---> that doesn't make it incorrect and I can promise you any store director will tell you that they do NOT want customers feeling that the sales agent was a smart ass or smirking. I think that is pretty obvious... so, it doesn't matter what is going on in the mind of the clerk, what matters for everyone in the store is that everyone feel valued and respected. When that breaks down... sales decrease and you lose customers. There are two stores in our town that lost our business. Their owners are aware of it. In one case, the owner reached out to me and several others and apologized and asked us back. We went back in and gave it a go, but, sadly, he's done a too poor job training his staff and we won't be back. The other place closed up 3 months ago.

You can't skimp on treating people right. If they feel mistreated, it doesn't matter what was in your head... their perception IS the reality.

Caffeine Patrol · December 2nd, 2008, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kelnet

I cannot imagine the hassle of paying with a cheque these days. Every store would ask for 2 pieces of identification. Some stores don't even accept cheques any more.
Debit card is so much simpler.

Old guy/experienced counter jockey talking: Cash is best. When sunspots act up and the credit card machines crash (oh, yes, sunspots, plus a dozen other common things) the lines pile up really quick-like. Over Memorial Day we were driving home from Oklahoma and stopped on I-35 for a break and snacks--the whole dern megastore, right in the middle of the turnpike on a holiday weekend no less, was paralyzed because a big storm had come through and fried their "system." They couldn't pump gas (glad we filled up before we split Stillwater)!! I'm walking around with a five-spot trying to buy some Funyuns and a Dr. Pepper and they just can't sell anything. Yeesh.
I closed my eyes and dreamed of standing in a nice tarpaper store on the edge of Rt. 66 with an old man making change out of a cigar box.
Ever been in line at a pizza joint or the like where some joker is trying to use his little piece of plastic to pay for a three dollar slice and the place doesn't take plastic? I've been prepared to pay for the hapless customer's slice but he/she usually throws such a tantrum about their plastic being worthless that it hardly seems worth it to reward bad behavior.
Do yourself a favor--tuck a twenty in your sock.

rextasy · December 2nd, 2008, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by getbent

I was behind an older woman in line at the World Market last week and she had that problem and the lady behind the counter kinda did the smirk thing and said, "there is a problem with your check you seem to have insufficient funds." and the lady was very near tears with embarrassment and worry and she said, "that can't be, that just can't be.." and the clerk kinda looked at me like she was exasperated with the lady... I was with my kids, but it pissed me off, so I said to the clerk, "Can't you call for verification?" and she said, 'it takes forever.' and I said, 'we're not in a hurry if you're not.' and the lady smiled at me. Then, I said, "I'm sure the check is good, I'll cover it if it isn't." and the manager came up and did something and suddenly the lady was done and on her way.

I can be pretty mean sometimes (and I always regret it) but, dang, this age of treating people like they were liars when the problem could be anything....

I have switched to a debit card long ago and don't even know where our checks are, but folks should get to buy stuff however they want if you ask me.

Good job.

The only time I write checks are for rent.

raf · December 2nd, 2008, 10:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by getbent

...and I said, 'we're not in a hurry if you're not.' and the lady smiled at me. Then, I said, "I'm sure the check is good, I'll cover it if it isn't." ....

You're a better man than I. It IS a wonderful life!

emu! · December 2nd, 2008, 11:06 PM

I used to work at a bank. The banks HATE it when they have to process checks. The over-head costs are WAY higher than the ACH (automated clearing house) system. Most banks don't even want to send an image statement of your checks either. They would rather you go on-line and look at your account balances.

Now the ATM machines, that's a whole other deal. They LOVE it when people go to the ATM, retrieve $20.00 cash and pay a $1.00 fee. That's a 5% return!

boris bubbanov · December 2nd, 2008, 11:07 PM

We were talking about solid Southern accents being clustered in certain areas, and so it is with the use of checks for merchant purchases. I like saving my local fellow businessman the credit card fee.

With all the criminal activity in New Orleans, I make a real big deal of making sure anyone who is listening knows I don't have an ATM or debit card. I'd rather just hand off the cash and hopefully be done with the robber. Those other things act as a magnet for thugs who need your continuing help to complete their criminal transaction, and that's a bad thing.

I think the big nationwide chains hate checks, so they won't make much effort to get things right. So I buy from family businesses or local ones instead.

SimpleOne · December 2nd, 2008, 11:35 PM

What happened to...
"The customer is always right"?
Been there and done that OP.
Right after a nice B_Day dinner the waitress quietly leaned over and said that the debit card I was using was not working on their machine...Left the diner and went to the nearest ATM, withdrew the funds, with the same card, and then got the wife and kids from being held hostage, have not been back.
IT WAS THE MERCHANT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO DO MORE TO RESOLVE THIS MISHAP. Just MHO. If this has happened while any of you were at the register, my question is...what did you, and/or, your store do to try to avoid this kind of thing from happening again? This is really the bottom line for revealing where good customer service comes in, for me at least.
Just saying that it is the customers fault, sorry, you're outta here...??? If you own a business, one can imagine that a proprietor will do all within his, or her, power to rectify such situations. Otherwise the message is..."We do not want your funds enough to be bothered".

HOBBSTER01 · December 2nd, 2008, 11:50 PM

You my friend suffered from a 'velocity' or territorial rejection.
When your checks are ran electronically,it's the number of checks,not the volume or dollar amount that bites you in the end.
This is a fraud prevention measure, usually by one of the smaller processing companies like Tiger Trans or redi-chek.
You usually will not experience this with a company like Telecheck or Certigy.
However most smaller companies use the same database and unfortunately your account may be flagged by all the above.
Find out which company flagged your account and rectify this immediately with a phone call or it could take weeks for your account to return to normal.
Signed,
Your friendly credit card processing sales agent

T_red7882 · December 2nd, 2008, 11:59 PM

In my experience, the customer is usually wrong. My current boss encourages us to not take any crap from anyone, tell anyone who has a problem to not come back or risk police intervetion, and to take matters up with their bank and not us. He's been in business for 40 years as an independent business, has a great reputation in the community and is regarded as very honest because he doesn't give crap and doesn't take any.

As for the people who still long for the "good ole days" when the customer was always right... the days of the customer being cordial long enough to be treated like gold are long gone. People are increasingly more rude with each following week. Many people here have WORKED a register, but i currently work one all the time. People are jerks, that's the ultimate truth.

Unseen · December 3rd, 2008, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bender-freak

just needed to vent over this "electronic" utopia that we are living in that can make NO mistakes......ever...GGGGRRRRRR!!!!!

I'll tell you something else about our electronic utopia. This is about the broken promise of the computer. Computers were going to make transactions faster and they were going to propel us into a future without paper (or a lot less anyway). Well, now that banks are computerized, people are actually spending MORE time at the teller window than back when everything was done with ink on paper. As for saving paper, NOTHING wastes paper like a computer.

tazzboy · December 3rd, 2008, 12:06 AM

That happen to my mom and me in Wal Mart last year. The bank had decided to put ID Theft security to make sure it work. Well It did and didn't thrill my mom and me to know end either.

bender-freak · December 3rd, 2008, 12:36 AM

well, well...some interesting responses to all this and i'll offer a little more info especially to those that seem to think i live in a cave and play a kerosene powered amp and a tele with grape vines for strings...

i don't have a credit card; ex-wife broke me of that nonsense...i prefer to look at it as "credit cards don't have/own ME"...too many people are in serious trouble/debt because of plastic...

i DO have a debit card...i CHOOSE not to use it unless of emergency...

i prefer to pay by check....without intending to be political, i will continue to use checks until the government makes credit cards/plastic/debit cards mandatory...

i ALWAYS have cash in my pocket/billfold, usually several hundred dollars...and woe be to the one who tries to rob me....

now for your rather caustic remarks, Mr T red7882....if you will kindly read my original post, no where did i say that i raised my voice to the clerk or caused a scene in any way, nor since she is MUCH more laid back than i am, did my wife say anything....i didn't say anything to the smirker or raise my voice other than ask why the check was rejected......the smirky arsed girl smirkily replied that she "didn't HAVE to tell me" because of ..quote..."security reasons"....SHE is the one that created the "scene" and made sure everyone in the place heard her...

you are quite ultimately correct....some people are jerks....

i was rather hacked off by it all, but we got the game elsewhere; the original store's loss, not ours, we know the money is and was in the bank all along.....i'm calmer now and settled down, i'll be fine tomorrow, but that girl will always be a smirky idiot and we don't have to ever go back, but we know a lot of people and we will tell any and all who care to listen how we were treated by this store's "customer service"....

Derek S · December 3rd, 2008, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by T_red7882

In my experience, the customer is usually wrong. My current boss encourages us to not take any crap from anyone, tell anyone who has a problem to not come back or risk police intervetion, and to take matters up with their bank and not us. He's been in business for 40 years as an independent business, has a great reputation in the community and is regarded as very honest because he doesn't give crap and doesn't take any.

The Boss sounds like a great guy

As for the people who still long for the "good ole days" when the customer was always right... the days of the customer being cordial long enough to be treated like gold are long gone. People are increasingly more rude with each following week. Many people here have WORKED a register, but i currently work one all the time. People are jerks, that's the ultimate truth.

What the blazes kind of store is this where there's constant rudeness? I can't imagine.

T_red7882 · December 3rd, 2008, 01:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bender-freak

well, well...some interesting responses to all
i

now for your rather caustic remarks, Mr T red7882....if you will kindly read my original post, no where did i say that i raised my voice to the clerk or caused a scene in any way, nor since she is MUCH more laid back than i am, did my wife say anything....i didn't say anything to the smirker or raise my voice other than ask why the check was rejected......the smirky arsed girl smirkily replied that she "didn't HAVE to tell me" because of ..quote..."security reasons"....SHE is the one that created the "scene" and made sure everyone in the place heard her...

you are quite ultimately correct....some people are jerks....

You didn't have to raise your voice, but i bet your "torqued" jaw was sending some body language and she was responding likewise. As for her "annoucing" that your check was no good, that was probably so that the people behind you in line knew where to place their frustration over waiting in line. People get extremely impatient during the holiday season and checkers often bear the brunt of that negativity. She didn't tell you why the check wasn't accepted to avoid the "...but there's money is that account" arguement that often ensues with some customers. Maybe not you, but it happens enough to have a fall back line to feed people. also, some people might not want it blurted out that "your check got denied because you don't have any money in that account." true?

As for the person asking about the "constant rudeness" of my place of business... we just don't put up with jerk customers. You would be amazed how often people start screaming at us over something we have no control over (like a card getting denied). We are a very busy place with plenty of business, we don't deem it necessary to deal with difficult people. We tell them to leave and to not come back, its pretty simple. We charge honest prices and run an honest business. People appreciate it and we appreciate their business. Any business that lasts 40 years, that is independently run and owned is obviously not a rude place of business, rather one that is well run and realizes where to pick battles and where not to pick battles. Its not in our best interest to debate with customers about why their card isn't being accepted.

casterway · December 3rd, 2008, 02:05 AM

I used to be a debit lover, and rarely carried cash. I realized lately, while looking at my online banking statement that I was nickle and diming my self to death with the card. $20 here, $14 there, $35, $57, and so on. Lots of little stuff I didn't really need, coffee out, magazines, shiny tools. The last couple of months I switched to pulling $100 or so out of my ATM on the weekend, and this (and sometimes less) gets me through to the following weekend, covering food, gas and a little entertainment. I sure noticed my bank account stabilizing.
For me these day, it's almost exclusively cash.

As far as the security...I don't mind being scrutinized, after someone walked into a cel phone provider a few years ago with my name and social insurance number, trying to get a phone in my name. Luckily, they got suspicious, put a hold on it, and got ahold of me and confirmed that it was indeed identity theft.

getbent · December 3rd, 2008, 02:15 AM

So, I guess it could be said that when T_red is talking about benderfreak's experience he is using his perception as a counter clerk and assuming that since he currently rings a register he has knowledge of benderfreak's experience that none of us would have.

That would be HIS perception. He is a successful counter guy in a business that has been around for 40 years and they tell people to shove off all the time.

I'm not one to yell at clerks or be upset when things go awry.... I tend to remember my days of working the counter and what a thankless crap job that was and that usually the people ringing it are kinda doomed and, if anything, I should pity them their lot. When one of them is rude to me I usually continue the transaction or I just walk away without a word. When I was at the World Market and the counter person was rude to a clearly nice little old lady (trust me this was Beaver Cleaver's mom at 75) my inner protective gene kicked in and this probably overworked and underpaid clerk was not being respectful... I acted.

I've known benderfreak around here for several years. He is a good guy and kind and I kinda doubt he was doing anything other than just working through his day... so, to assume anything different is just poor perception if you ask me.

The soup **** was successful on the seinfeld show, and I've seen some stores that are quirky in how they meet the public. The assumption that 'the customer is always right' would imply that it meant that the customer could be rude is just poor thinking. All parties should be respectful and if a customer is clearly out of control then, sure, they should be asked to leave. I have escorted people out of a place of business in my life.

I can imagine having a good experience in your bosses store t-red, because I'm a good customer, usually don't have problems with my debit card etc and if there were a problem, I'm sure we'd work it out provided both sides were respectful. Failing that, I would simply walk away not to return and making sure to tell anyone who asked... all about my experience.

I have seen local businesses closing here by the score. They had previously been very successful, but when folks had a choice and when it came down to where they really wanted to spend their money.... they'll pick the place that they feel the best about from their perception.

One last thought: having a card come up with a problem or a check or whatever does not make a customer a 'jerk' customer. A jerk customer is someone who is disrespectful and maybe who assumes too much.

t-red, you've obviously had some problems with customers...which resulted in your kinda tough perceptions of an incident you did not witness... it would be my thought that while you may be in the trenches every day ringing folks up and slugging it out at the counter... that may not be what happened to benderfreak at all.

T_red7882 · December 3rd, 2008, 02:48 AM

While I did not witness the event, i am just trying to give benderfreak some insight as to what might have gone down in the mind of the clerk and what why vague answers might have been given. Being as how i routinely get to be on both sides (as an employee and a regular shopper at stores), i see how rudely people treat checkers. i see it all the time. yesterday i saw an 80 year old man screaming at a pharmacist, calling him incompetent for making him wait in line for 15 minutes.

As for my workplace, problems don't occur when people's cards don't work, problems occur when people start screaming at us for their cards not working. These are the people we feel we can do without. Most people accept that we have no idea why their card won't work, thank us for trying and come back later having fixed the problem. granted, i've only worked there for 3 years, but the general consensus is rude people are told to leave and not come back after situations with cards go south. Because we have a very good business, we have the liberty to tell people not to come back. But in this economy , many other places will take any and all business they can get and this means the same rude people will come back and be rude to all empoyees at a Target for instance. thats not what the employees need or want to deal with, but they have no choice.

thankfully, running a register is only something I do only a quarter of my time at work. I feel for the people who have to do it 8 hrs a day. Customers get flustered, embarassed and unreasonable when anything unexpected happens. Don't get me started on the reactions that occur when you have to tell people you are out of a certain product..." I drove 20 miles here and you don't have it!? What do you mean you don't have it?" as if there couldn't be a more clear description of the situation at hand.

Often times you have to just laugh, but there are more than a few people out there wo make it their business to create quite a stink over matters out of the hands of the business. Bent, i know you said you had to take a credit card one time, i commend you for being a brave man. In 1992 a guy at our place was instructed to seize the card by the computer, and all he got was a black eye. suffice to say, we don't try and take their cards anymore.

getbent · December 3rd, 2008, 02:52 AM

except benderfreak didn't raise his voice. he didn't swear or accuse anyone..... he was just treated in a manner that he found humiliating. I think most of us think that being treated that way is not cool and not defensible. I think that was the gist of his complaint... and, having had some bad experiences with rude people many of us could empathize with his experience. I don't think he was looking for an education on the difficulties of being a checker, right?

as for taking the card... in the old days it was part of the agreement between our company and the credit card companies... there was a slot in the register to slide them into... our instructions were to call security if the customer 'got physical'..... usually the folks were unhappy but just left. I never placed any value on it one way or the other.... none of my business....

markothefish · December 3rd, 2008, 04:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by getbent

I was behind an older woman in line at the World Market last week and she had that problem and the lady behind the counter kinda did the smirk thing and said, "there is a problem with your check you seem to have insufficient funds." and the lady was very near tears with embarrassment and worry and she said, "that can't be, that just can't be.." and the clerk kinda looked at me like she was exasperated with the lady... I was with my kids, but it pissed me off, so I said to the clerk, "Can't you call for verification?" and she said, 'it takes forever.' and I said, 'we're not in a hurry if you're not.' and the lady smiled at me. Then, I said, "I'm sure the check is good, I'll cover it if it isn't." and the manager came up and did something and suddenly the lady was done and on her way.

That my friend was very classy, This should be a lesson to us on how to treat our fellow man(or woman) this holiday season. I'd buy you a beer if I lived on the Left Coast my good Doctor Bent... MB

thunderbyrd · December 3rd, 2008, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by getbent

I was behind an older woman in line at the World Market last week and she had that problem and the lady behind the counter kinda did the smirk thing and said, "there is a problem with your check you seem to have insufficient funds." and the lady was very near tears with embarrassment and worry and she said, "that can't be, that just can't be.." and the clerk kinda looked at me like she was exasperated with the lady... I was with my kids, but it pissed me off, so I said to the clerk, "Can't you call for verification?" and she said, 'it takes forever.' and I said, 'we're not in a hurry if you're not.' and the lady smiled at me. Then, I said, "I'm sure the check is good, I'll cover it if it isn't." and the manager came up and did something and suddenly the lady was done and on her way.

I can be pretty mean sometimes (and I always regret it) but, dang, this age of treating people like they were liars when the problem could be anything....

I have switched to a debit card long ago and don't even know where our checks are, but folks should get to buy stuff however they want if you ask me.

Amen, getbent.

raf · December 3rd, 2008, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bender-freak

well, well...some interesting responses to all this and i'll offer a little more info especially to those that seem to think i live in a cave and play a kerosene powered amp and a tele with grape vines for strings...

i don't have a credit card; ex-wife broke me of that nonsense...i prefer to look at it as "credit cards don't have/own ME"...too many people are in serious trouble/debt because of plastic...

i DO have a debit card...i CHOOSE not to use it unless of emergency...

i prefer to pay by check....without intending to be political, i will continue to use checks until the government makes credit cards/plastic/debit cards mandatory...

i ALWAYS have cash in my pocket/billfold, usually several hundred dollars...and woe be to the one who tries to rob me....

now for your rather caustic remarks, Mr T red7882....if you will kindly read my original post, no where did i say that i raised my voice to the clerk or caused a scene in any way, nor since she is MUCH more laid back than i am, did my wife say anything....i didn't say anything to the smirker or raise my voice other than ask why the check was rejected......the smirky arsed girl smirkily replied that she "didn't HAVE to tell me" because of ..quote..."security reasons"....SHE is the one that created the "scene" and made sure everyone in the place heard her...

you are quite ultimately correct....some people are jerks....

i was rather hacked off by it all, but we got the game elsewhere; the original store's loss, not ours, we know the money is and was in the bank all along.....i'm calmer now and settled down, i'll be fine tomorrow, but that girl will always be a smirky idiot and we don't have to ever go back, but we know a lot of people and we will tell any and all who care to listen how we were treated by this store's "customer service"....

amen brother!

Tele Fan · December 3rd, 2008, 09:04 AM

When I worked retail as a kid, those check readers used to act up all the time. I just called the people personally. No reason not to that I can see.

December 2nd, 2008, 06:51 PM	#1 (permalink)
bender-freak Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: springfield, missouri Posts: 1,708	embarrassed, then just plain ol' mad.... lady bender-freak and i got out this morning to do some more Christmas shoplifting...went to K-marts, got some stuff, wrote a check, out the door and to the next place....got some stuff, wrote a check, out the door, to the next place...you get the idea........last place on our list today to pick up a video game, went in, found it, up to the counter to pay for it..people in line behind us, of course...anyhow laid the game down, wife wrote out a check for the purchase, girl ran it thru the check "verification' monster, check was rejected...!!!, did it 3 times, check rejected...i KNEW the money was in the bank, no DOUBT in my mind...checkout girl standing there with this "smirky smat-arsed" look on her face and loudly (to me, anyway) proclaims the check is "no good"...of COURSE, everyone in the store is looking at us and i felt my jaws getting getting pretty darn "torqued"..... we walked out, went straight to our bank, and as i already KNEW, was assured by the bank there was several thousand dollars in that checking account; we have 2 accounts...i have NEVER wrote a bad or insufficient check wither by accident or on purpose in my life....the bank had no explanation they could offer for the fiasco, we wrote a check afterwards for gas with no problem...???.... just needed to vent over this "electronic" utopia that we are living in that can make NO mistakes......ever...GGGGRRRRRR!!!!! __________________ bender-freak

December 2nd, 2008, 06:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
mudbean Friend of Leo's Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: SoCal Semi-Desert Semi-Paradise Age: 50 Posts: 3,185 10 Photos	"Wrote a check" ??? What century are we living in? What century are YOU living in? BTW: "... got out this morning to do some more Christmas shoplifting" -- Priceless!! mud __________________ MudBean Music Nekkid Bart: "This is the worst day of my life." Laffing Homer: "Worst day SO FAR!!"

December 2nd, 2008, 07:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
J-man Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Wales/Scarborough Age: 21 Posts: 7,368 19 Photos	I hate it when something like that happens in a shop.. Even when I know my account has money in it I get nervous that my card will be rejected by in-store chip & pin machines.. It's horrible standing amidst all those people waiting to be served and not being able to pay! I pay with cash as often as possible. __________________ "Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth." - Oscar Wilde

December 2nd, 2008, 07:08 PM	#5 (permalink)
ToadLC Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sacramento Posts: 299 3 Photos	I tried to use my credit card for a purchase today & it was declined. Shouldn't be a problem, it's paid off each month. Called the credit card company & they closed the account. It seems that a local merchant has had customer information stolen & notified the credit card company. I guess that's better than having to argue that I didn't buy $10K of leather coats as Christmas presents. __________________ Happiness is not a destination: it is a manner of traveling.

December 2nd, 2008, 07:11 PM	#6 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Posts: 13,589 37 Photos	I was behind an older woman in line at the World Market last week and she had that problem and the lady behind the counter kinda did the smirk thing and said, "there is a problem with your check you seem to have insufficient funds." and the lady was very near tears with embarrassment and worry and she said, "that can't be, that just can't be.." and the clerk kinda looked at me like she was exasperated with the lady... I was with my kids, but it pissed me off, so I said to the clerk, "Can't you call for verification?" and she said, 'it takes forever.' and I said, 'we're not in a hurry if you're not.' and the lady smiled at me. Then, I said, "I'm sure the check is good, I'll cover it if it isn't." and the manager came up and did something and suddenly the lady was done and on her way. I can be pretty mean sometimes (and I always regret it) but, dang, this age of treating people like they were liars when the problem could be anything.... I have switched to a debit card long ago and don't even know where our checks are, but folks should get to buy stuff however they want if you ask me. __________________ Let me preface this by saying I don't know anything about anything.-- Allen St. John

December 2nd, 2008, 07:02 PM	#4 (permalink)
TDPRI Administrator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: TDPRILAND Posts: 7,032 46 Photos	Yeah, I haven't "written a check" in about 5 years. Debit card is the only way to buy.

December 2nd, 2008, 07:18 PM	#8 (permalink)
The Bone Friend of Leo's Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Sacratomato Age: 44 Posts: 2,402	don't be surprised if you get rejected on your credit card, either, if you are doing some serious speed shopping. Most credit card companies through up the red flag if you use the card more than your normal habit, even if it is during Xmas. Then you have to call and verify all of your purchases and off you go. PS. Check?

December 2nd, 2008, 07:31 PM	#9 (permalink)
fltpkr Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Oregoon Posts: 1,353	Amazon rejected my debit card twice, for a couple of books even after I verified all the card information with my bank. Don't know what the problem is, but it's their loss. __________________ The preacher says all my sins is warshed away, including that Piggly Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo.

December 2nd, 2008, 08:20 PM	#11 (permalink)
cletus Tele-Meister Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Charleston SC Age: 44 Posts: 342 5 Photos	I have been in situations where the damn little card reader wouldn't work ---- so i just wrote a check. Just sayin'. cletus __________________ I chased a chicken.

December 2nd, 2008, 08:32 PM	#12 (permalink)
RickG501 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Oklahoma City Age: 55 Posts: 1,346	Tony's got it! When you write too many checks in too short a time span, the check verification outfits throw up a red flag. Because it looks to them like someone stole your check book and is out spending your money like a drunken sailor. It's like you can't get more than XXX.XX amount of money(whatever your banks rules are) out of an ATM in one day. It is embarassing. Did you just whup a credit card on 'em, you can pay that as soon as the bill comes in and not incur any interest? I'd bought something from Amazon UK, from my computer in OKC, and got my debit card shut down. The Fraud Alert dept, could'nt understand how I could use my card in England and in Oklahoma City in the same day....must be stolen. As soon as I went to the bank and called the Fraud dept. it got squared away. __________________ I know my words sound strange to you but if you wait til my song is sung and my story's told you might come to understand...

December 2nd, 2008, 08:35 PM	#13 (permalink)
morroben Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Morro Bay, Ca Age: 33 Posts: 2,703 18 Photos	I was at an Albertson's a couple of years ago buying some groceries...I got up to the checkout line and the little swipe-it-yourself thing was broken so I gave the lady my debit card for her to swipe on her register. She told me it was rejected. I was shocked. I knew there was enough to cover what I was buying, although I wouldn't be leaving myself much in the account after that. She was a real b**** about it so I just took my card and went down the street to Spencer's Market and bought the same stuff. Card worked fine. Well I go to the ATM the next day and it says I don't have the funds to pull out a little cash. Wierd...so I walk over to the bank. I'm overdrawn. Albertson's had charged me for the stuff even though they said my card was rejected. So I paid for the same groceries at two different stores. I was livid....after getting documentation from the bank about their mistake the fine folks at Albertson's gave me a $25 gift card for my trouble. The overdraw charge was $30 so it didn't really make me feel much better.

December 2nd, 2008, 09:02 PM	#15 (permalink)
Guitar_Ninja Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Posts: 2,170 7 Photos	I generally put everything on my credit card and then just pay it all off at the end of the month. I input all of the receipts into an excel file to help keep track of expenditures. __________________ "The wisdom of a fool won't set you free"

December 2nd, 2008, 09:12 PM	#16 (permalink)
kelnet Friend of Leo's Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Port Moody, BC Posts: 2,710	I cannot imagine the hassle of paying with a cheque these days. Every store would ask for 2 pieces of identification. Some stores don't even accept cheques any more. Debit card is so much simpler.

December 2nd, 2008, 09:25 PM	#17 (permalink)
jimd Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Age: 43 Posts: 902	We just got a new cat. We went to the pet store to pick up some cat food. At the check out the girl was very chatty. She gets us to sign up for one of those cards to get coupons and discounts. As we are being checked out the girl is talking cat food with my wife. She decides we need to talk to some pet food rep. who was there that day and runs off to get him. She brings this dude back to talk cat food with my wife and then runs off. We finish talking cat food with the guy and grab our stuff and leave. When we got home, the phone rings. Its the pet store girl, we left without paying. She rang it up and bagged our stuff, but didn't get the money. My wife was so busy talking cat food and I was so distracted trying to get out of there we didn't notice. They got our phone number from the discount card application we signed up for. It was a little embarassing, but just more annoying that we had to run back to the store to pay. I always use credit. Debit cards don't have as much protection and checks are a pain.

December 2nd, 2008, 09:46 PM	#18 (permalink)
T_red7882 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: San Francisco Age: 27 Posts: 1,251	I've worked a register many many many times. If a check or card gets rejected, we don't care if you say it's wrong or not. our system says that payment cannot be made via that method from you. that is your problem, and not ours. Want to make matters worse? Argue with us clerks about something we have absolutely no control over. Do you know how often people try to scam us clerks? even really nice looking couples have tried to screw me on many occasions. People always "say" they are good for something, and they rarely are. the smirkey, smart arsed fashion in which the clerk treated you with is your interpretation. From my point of view, that sounds like a frustrated clerk trying to be nice to you while you put up a fuss over something they had no control over. Another common misconceptions about debit cards with a visa or master card logo are that if we run it as "credit," where you sign for it, that the transaction is charged to your credit account. not true. the funds are still taken from your checking account, just like a debit transaction, where you enter your PIN, would be charged. The only difference is that credit transactions are slower to process. Use this method over entering your PIN. the amount of near invisible "recorders" that are used for fraud (you enter your card and pin, and an electronic slip in a gas pump or card swipe remembers it and a person later collects this data and screws you royally) are increasing in availability and ease of use. __________________ Homebrew tele (modeled after a 52) or MIM std strat-------> Mid 70s SFMV Vibrosonic Reverb or 65 TRRI Last edited by T_red7882; December 3rd, 2008 at 01:46 AM.

December 2nd, 2008, 10:40 PM	#19 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Posts: 13,589 37 Photos	t_red, I think many of us have rung a register. When I have been working at a store I realize that I'm representing my company and that my company would always want to make sure that our customers felt good about their visit. There are times when machines make mistakes, when software malfunctions and when mistakes are made... it is what we do when those things crop up that differentiates us from our competitors. More than once back in the old days I was instructed by a credit card company to confiscate a card which I did, but all the while apologizing profusely and explaining that I'd been ordered to do it. I can imagine that, like benderfreak says, it is embarrassing when you know you have it, but it would be just as embarrassing if you didn't, like Ben said, and there is no reason to embarrass your customers, whether they are wrong or not does not matter, you don't know (like you said.) Good customer service isn't when it all goes well, it is when it goes to hell that you find out who the talented people are.... those folks are the ones that while the situation is frustrating or while you may believe that the customer is trying to rip you off, you don't show it. Instead you kill them with good manners and professional behavior. Of course the interpretation is that of the receiver---> that doesn't make it incorrect and I can promise you any store director will tell you that they do NOT want customers feeling that the sales agent was a smart ass or smirking. I think that is pretty obvious... so, it doesn't matter what is going on in the mind of the clerk, what matters for everyone in the store is that everyone feel valued and respected. When that breaks down... sales decrease and you lose customers. There are two stores in our town that lost our business. Their owners are aware of it. In one case, the owner reached out to me and several others and apologized and asked us back. We went back in and gave it a go, but, sadly, he's done a too poor job training his staff and we won't be back. The other place closed up 3 months ago. You can't skimp on treating people right. If they feel mistreated, it doesn't matter what was in your head... their perception IS the reality. __________________ Let me preface this by saying I don't know anything about anything.-- Allen St. John

December 2nd, 2008, 11:06 PM	#23 (permalink)
emu! Friend of Leo's Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Here Posts: 2,281	I used to work at a bank. The banks HATE it when they have to process checks. The over-head costs are WAY higher than the ACH (automated clearing house) system. Most banks don't even want to send an image statement of your checks either. They would rather you go on-line and look at your account balances. Now the ATM machines, that's a whole other deal. They LOVE it when people go to the ATM, retrieve $20.00 cash and pay a $1.00 fee. That's a 5% return!

December 2nd, 2008, 11:07 PM	#24 (permalink)
boris bubbanov Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: New Orleans, LA + in the past Posts: 14,998	We were talking about solid Southern accents being clustered in certain areas, and so it is with the use of checks for merchant purchases. I like saving my local fellow businessman the credit card fee. With all the criminal activity in New Orleans, I make a real big deal of making sure anyone who is listening knows I don't have an ATM or debit card. I'd rather just hand off the cash and hopefully be done with the robber. Those other things act as a magnet for thugs who need your continuing help to complete their criminal transaction, and that's a bad thing. I think the big nationwide chains hate checks, so they won't make much effort to get things right. So I buy from family businesses or local ones instead. __________________ When i listen

December 2nd, 2008, 11:35 PM	#25 (permalink)
SimpleOne Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: NN,Age: 53 Posts: 1,501 4 Photos	What happened to... "The customer is always right"? Been there and done that OP. Right after a nice B_Day dinner the waitress quietly leaned over and said that the debit card I was using was not working on their machine...Left the diner and went to the nearest ATM, withdrew the funds, with the same card, and then got the wife and kids from being held hostage, have not been back. IT WAS THE MERCHANT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO DO MORE TO RESOLVE THIS MISHAP. Just MHO. If this has happened while any of you were at the register, my question is...what did you, and/or, your store do to try to avoid this kind of thing from happening again? This is really the bottom line for revealing where good customer service comes in, for me at least. Just saying that it is the customers fault, sorry, you're outta here...??? If you own a business, one can imagine that a proprietor will do all within his, or her, power to rectify such situations. Otherwise the message is..."We do not want your funds enough to be bothered".

December 2nd, 2008, 11:50 PM	#26 (permalink)
HOBBSTER01 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: North GA. Age: 47 Posts: 1,573 4 Photos	You my friend suffered from a 'velocity' or territorial rejection. When your checks are ran electronically,it's the number of checks,not the volume or dollar amount that bites you in the end. This is a fraud prevention measure, usually by one of the smaller processing companies like Tiger Trans or redi-chek. You usually will not experience this with a company like Telecheck or Certigy. However most smaller companies use the same database and unfortunately your account may be flagged by all the above. Find out which company flagged your account and rectify this immediately with a phone call or it could take weeks for your account to return to normal. Signed, Your friendly credit card processing sales agent __________________ The Hobbster

December 2nd, 2008, 11:59 PM	#27 (permalink)
T_red7882 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: San Francisco Age: 27 Posts: 1,251	In my experience, the customer is usually wrong. My current boss encourages us to not take any crap from anyone, tell anyone who has a problem to not come back or risk police intervetion, and to take matters up with their bank and not us. He's been in business for 40 years as an independent business, has a great reputation in the community and is regarded as very honest because he doesn't give crap and doesn't take any. As for the people who still long for the "good ole days" when the customer was always right... the days of the customer being cordial long enough to be treated like gold are long gone. People are increasingly more rude with each following week. Many people here have WORKED a register, but i currently work one all the time. People are jerks, that's the ultimate truth. __________________ Homebrew tele (modeled after a 52) or MIM std strat-------> Mid 70s SFMV Vibrosonic Reverb or 65 TRRI

December 3rd, 2008, 12:06 AM	#29 (permalink)
tazzboy Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2005 Location: Oregon Age: 32 Posts: 4,748 1 Photos	That happen to my mom and me in Wal Mart last year. The bank had decided to put ID Theft security to make sure it work. Well It did and didn't thrill my mom and me to know end either. __________________

December 3rd, 2008, 12:36 AM	#30 (permalink)
bender-freak Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: springfield, missouri Posts: 1,708	well, well...some interesting responses to all this and i'll offer a little more info especially to those that seem to think i live in a cave and play a kerosene powered amp and a tele with grape vines for strings... i don't have a credit card; ex-wife broke me of that nonsense...i prefer to look at it as "credit cards don't have/own ME"...too many people are in serious trouble/debt because of plastic... i DO have a debit card...i CHOOSE not to use it unless of emergency... i prefer to pay by check....without intending to be political, i will continue to use checks until the government makes credit cards/plastic/debit cards mandatory... i ALWAYS have cash in my pocket/billfold, usually several hundred dollars...and woe be to the one who tries to rob me.... now for your rather caustic remarks, Mr T red7882....if you will kindly read my original post, no where did i say that i raised my voice to the clerk or caused a scene in any way, nor since she is MUCH more laid back than i am, did my wife say anything....i didn't say anything to the smirker or raise my voice other than ask why the check was rejected......the smirky arsed girl smirkily replied that she "didn't HAVE to tell me" because of ..quote..."security reasons"....SHE is the one that created the "scene" and made sure everyone in the place heard her... you are quite ultimately correct....some people are jerks.... i was rather hacked off by it all, but we got the game elsewhere; the original store's loss, not ours, we know the money is and was in the bank all along.....i'm calmer now and settled down, i'll be fine tomorrow, but that girl will always be a smirky idiot and we don't have to ever go back, but we know a lot of people and we will tell any and all who care to listen how we were treated by this store's "customer service".... __________________ bender-freak

December 3rd, 2008, 02:05 AM	#33 (permalink)
casterway Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Aldergrove, British Columbia,Canada Age: 41 Posts: 4,092	I used to be a debit lover, and rarely carried cash. I realized lately, while looking at my online banking statement that I was nickle and diming my self to death with the card. $20 here, $14 there, $35, $57, and so on. Lots of little stuff I didn't really need, coffee out, magazines, shiny tools. The last couple of months I switched to pulling $100 or so out of my ATM on the weekend, and this (and sometimes less) gets me through to the following weekend, covering food, gas and a little entertainment. I sure noticed my bank account stabilizing. For me these day, it's almost exclusively cash. As far as the security...I don't mind being scrutinized, after someone walked into a cel phone provider a few years ago with my name and social insurance number, trying to get a phone in my name. Luckily, they got suspicious, put a hold on it, and got ahold of me and confirmed that it was indeed identity theft. __________________ If Meg White can call herself a musician, then so can I.

December 3rd, 2008, 02:15 AM	#34 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Posts: 13,589 37 Photos	So, I guess it could be said that when T_red is talking about benderfreak's experience he is using his perception as a counter clerk and assuming that since he currently rings a register he has knowledge of benderfreak's experience that none of us would have. That would be HIS perception. He is a successful counter guy in a business that has been around for 40 years and they tell people to shove off all the time. I'm not one to yell at clerks or be upset when things go awry.... I tend to remember my days of working the counter and what a thankless crap job that was and that usually the people ringing it are kinda doomed and, if anything, I should pity them their lot. When one of them is rude to me I usually continue the transaction or I just walk away without a word. When I was at the World Market and the counter person was rude to a clearly nice little old lady (trust me this was Beaver Cleaver's mom at 75) my inner protective gene kicked in and this probably overworked and underpaid clerk was not being respectful... I acted. I've known benderfreak around here for several years. He is a good guy and kind and I kinda doubt he was doing anything other than just working through his day... so, to assume anything different is just poor perception if you ask me. The soup **** was successful on the seinfeld show, and I've seen some stores that are quirky in how they meet the public. The assumption that 'the customer is always right' would imply that it meant that the customer could be rude is just poor thinking. All parties should be respectful and if a customer is clearly out of control then, sure, they should be asked to leave. I have escorted people out of a place of business in my life. I can imagine having a good experience in your bosses store t-red, because I'm a good customer, usually don't have problems with my debit card etc and if there were a problem, I'm sure we'd work it out provided both sides were respectful. Failing that, I would simply walk away not to return and making sure to tell anyone who asked... all about my experience. I have seen local businesses closing here by the score. They had previously been very successful, but when folks had a choice and when it came down to where they really wanted to spend their money.... they'll pick the place that they feel the best about from their perception. One last thought: having a card come up with a problem or a check or whatever does not make a customer a 'jerk' customer. A jerk customer is someone who is disrespectful and maybe who assumes too much. t-red, you've obviously had some problems with customers...which resulted in your kinda tough perceptions of an incident you did not witness... it would be my thought that while you may be in the trenches every day ringing folks up and slugging it out at the counter... that may not be what happened to benderfreak at all. __________________ Let me preface this by saying I don't know anything about anything.-- Allen St. John

IMPORTANT:Treat everyone here with respect, no matter how difficult! No sex, drug, political, religion or hate discussion permitted here.

December 3rd, 2008, 02:48 AM	#35 (permalink)
T_red7882 Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: San Francisco Age: 27 Posts: 1,251	While I did not witness the event, i am just trying to give benderfreak some insight as to what might have gone down in the mind of the clerk and what why vague answers might have been given. Being as how i routinely get to be on both sides (as an employee and a regular shopper at stores), i see how rudely people treat checkers. i see it all the time. yesterday i saw an 80 year old man screaming at a pharmacist, calling him incompetent for making him wait in line for 15 minutes. As for my workplace, problems don't occur when people's cards don't work, problems occur when people start screaming at us for their cards not working. These are the people we feel we can do without. Most people accept that we have no idea why their card won't work, thank us for trying and come back later having fixed the problem. granted, i've only worked there for 3 years, but the general consensus is rude people are told to leave and not come back after situations with cards go south. Because we have a very good business, we have the liberty to tell people not to come back. But in this economy , many other places will take any and all business they can get and this means the same rude people will come back and be rude to all empoyees at a Target for instance. thats not what the employees need or want to deal with, but they have no choice. thankfully, running a register is only something I do only a quarter of my time at work. I feel for the people who have to do it 8 hrs a day. Customers get flustered, embarassed and unreasonable when anything unexpected happens. Don't get me started on the reactions that occur when you have to tell people you are out of a certain product..." I drove 20 miles here and you don't have it!? What do you mean you don't have it?" as if there couldn't be a more clear description of the situation at hand. Often times you have to just laugh, but there are more than a few people out there wo make it their business to create quite a stink over matters out of the hands of the business. Bent, i know you said you had to take a credit card one time, i commend you for being a brave man. In 1992 a guy at our place was instructed to seize the card by the computer, and all he got was a black eye. suffice to say, we don't try and take their cards anymore. __________________ Homebrew tele (modeled after a 52) or MIM std strat-------> Mid 70s SFMV Vibrosonic Reverb or 65 TRRI

December 3rd, 2008, 02:52 AM	#36 (permalink)
getbent Moderator Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: San Benito County, California Posts: 13,589 37 Photos	except benderfreak didn't raise his voice. he didn't swear or accuse anyone..... he was just treated in a manner that he found humiliating. I think most of us think that being treated that way is not cool and not defensible. I think that was the gist of his complaint... and, having had some bad experiences with rude people many of us could empathize with his experience. I don't think he was looking for an education on the difficulties of being a checker, right? as for taking the card... in the old days it was part of the agreement between our company and the credit card companies... there was a slot in the register to slide them into... our instructions were to call security if the customer 'got physical'..... usually the folks were unhappy but just left. I never placed any value on it one way or the other.... none of my business.... __________________ Let me preface this by saying I don't know anything about anything.-- Allen St. John

December 3rd, 2008, 09:04 AM	#40 (permalink)
Tele Fan Friend of Leo's Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Louisville, Ky Age: 30 Posts: 2,933	When I worked retail as a kid, those check readers used to act up all the time. I just called the people personally. No reason not to that I can see. __________________ Life is better when you just make it up as you go along.