I just upset a shop assistant

[Tiffany]

Went to the local shop to purchase a few bits.

Woman in front of me paid with credit/debit card. The assistant took her card and bent down, ( the card machine is kept under the counter) she was bent down for about 10 15 secs, popped back up and placed the machine on the counter... with the card inserted. Customer entered her pin, receipt was given and off she went.

Then came my turn, she attempted to take my card, I pulled my hand back, she gestured to me to hand the card over ( so she could bend down push buttons,) basically do the same thing she did with previous customer. After I told her the card stayed in my sight, she huffed and puffed and plonked the machine down so I could insert my own card.

What possible reason would she have to operate in this way, ?....OK it looked dodgy to me lol

[Bex]

I've never come across that! You were well within your rights to keep it in your sight though IMO!

[Marky C]

Beats me why she should keep the card reader down under the counter.... Surely it would be feasible to keep the card reader on top of the counter for customers to easily enter their pin?

Bit dodgy imho.

[Talon]

sounds horrendously dodgy. Any way you can report something like that?

[Tiffany]

Beats me why she should keep the card reader down under the counter.... Surely it would be feasible to keep the card reader on top of the counter for customers to easily enter their pin?

Bit dodgy imho.

The counter is very small, with box's of sweets on it... so no room for the card machine. My problem was the fact that she took the womans card out of sight before she could enter her pin.

[Drifter]

Doesn't sound good practice to me, I don't blame you for wanting to keep the card in sight. Our tills at work have the readers on top of the counter, there isn't enough cable for them to move out of sight anyway.

[Tiffany]

I've never come across it before either Bex.

Talon... I don't think it could be reported, I don't know if she did anything wrong.

I do know I wasn't happy for her to take my card

[Bambi]

You were right to keep your card in sight at all times.
She could easily have held the chip and pin machine and inserted it, in your view.
It doesnt take long for someone 'dodgy' to swipe a card and take the details off it.
'not saying that is what she was doing'.

[Tiffany]

Drifter... it looked like an old reader to me.... big black thing with a battered LCD. Not a bit like the small blue things in the supermarkets.

Would she have to put her own assistant id in?.( maybe why it was out of view)?

Just looked at my receipt, the back has pay point on it.????

[Tiffany]

You were right to keep your card in sight at all times.
She could easily have held the chip and pin machine and inserted it, in your view.
It doesnt take long for someone 'dodgy' to swipe a card and take the details off it.
'not saying that is what she was doing'.

Bambi, I wouldn't have given this a second thought a while back, but after watching the real hustle, and how quick things can be done ... well.....:eek:

[Drifter]

She would likely have had to enter her assistant ID and the ammount first, but if she could put the reader on top of the counter, there isn't much reason not to have it up there from the start. Better to do these things in plain view, then it can be seen to be above board.

[Tiffany]

I wondered if that's what she was doing Drifter

[Jollygood]

Tiff it has been known that that is an approach used by card-swipers who take the credit card, steal its details and record them into a cloned credit cards. Basically, the card gets swiped twice once out of sight of the card holder and then once in front of the card holder.

I hasten to add I do not for one moment suggest or accuse the assistant of doing that, but you only have to read stories about assistants at Petrol Stations and cloned credit cards to think there maybe something not quite right about it. After all the assistant's actions alerted your instincts...if you get my drift.

[ozzmare]

Tiffany, I would personally go and see or phone either the supervisor or manager or the company head office and ask them if this was the practice recommended for their staff. If it isn't then you have possibly saved a lot of people a lot of heartache and loss of money. If it is, thats ok too...you are just showing vigilence in an age where scamming is getting more and more prevalent

[wazza]

Good for you TillyKins.... Cards should stay in your sight all the time

[Captain Scarlet]

hmmm. I think you have done right.

[Tiffany]

Well! I just telephoned the manager of the shop. I asked what the policy was regarding the procedure of credit/debit cards in the reader. His reply... "er what". I repeated the question several times... wording it slightly different each time.

Eventually! I managed to get him to understand my question. His reply was.... "the reader is old ( yeah I noticed) and the connection is loose.... if we keep lifting it up on the counter it switches off and takes ages to switch back on".
My answer .... you have to put the thing on the counter so customers may enter their pin, so why the hell not put it up there in the first place.....and NOT take cards under the counter (out of the owners site). He repeated it was old blah blah.

I mentioned that he could have lots of customers worried by their actions, and I told him the banks don't take kindly to this sort of behavior. His reply " you're the first to complain".

To be honest, it was a total waste of time ringing him, but, I did manage to get it off my chest lol

[Talon]

local paper it :P

[ozzmare]

local paper it :P
Now thats a good idea!..or watchdog it

[Cookie]

Phone whichever bank supplies their machine

They'll either supply them with a new one, or investigate them for card fraud :p

[Masked Marauder]

Thats what I don't understand here, most small businesses have the machine leased to them by thier card processing service, a phonecall would see the issue resolved by either a new terminal or a repair.

[Shobhna]

that's when you wonder if something untoward was going on.