Every single method of payment has some nuisances attached to them. My favorite pet peeves in this category have to do with payments with some form of cards, be it bank, credit, debit, Visa Electron, or what not.
There’s a huge variety of said cards available to the general public, which, much to the dismay of cashiers and clerks everywhere, come in a million different forms and colors. There are cards which are only a bank card, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Diners, Visa Electron, a debit card of sorts… You see where I’m going with this.
In addition to all that, there are cards which have both attributes, bank and credit. This little bugger is where most of the problems arise, such as the one mentioned in the post header.
On top of all this, every bank has their own look for their cards, possibly even a background of your choosing. Oh, and then they might also offer their own credit on the card.
Confused yet? That’s just a taste of daily business of cashiers everywhere. With all that information still fresh in your mind, here’s a list of a few things that tick me off when dealing with customers and their cards:
1.) When a cashier asks you a simple question along the lines of “Bank or Credit”, the appropriate answer is not “Yes”. Mind-reading is not part of our training, so these is no way I can tell which one you are referring to. I can’t assume that you meant the first one, because I don’t want to a.) listen to you screaming at me because you meant credit, and b.) fixing it might not be that simple. So when you’re asked a simple question, tell the cashier precisely what you mean.
2.) If the cashier has to repeat the question, don’t lose your mind over it. You’re being asked the same question twice because you weren’t clear about it the first time.
3.) Don’t tell the cashier to put on either one because “it doesn’t matter”. Yes of course it bloody well matters! Oh, and in saying this to the cashier you have essentially waived all right to complain about it.
4.) If you couldn’t make up your mind about whether you want it to be charged on bank or credit, don’t tell the clerk AFTER they have finished the transaction that “I hope you didn’t put it on credit.” Lady, that’s why you were given a choice in the first place!
5.) Don’t start changing your mind in the middle of the payment. More so, don’t change your mind AFTER the transaction has been completed. Depending on the store and the cash register system in use, it’s either really difficult and a pain in the butt to correct it, or there’s the chance that it can’t be done.
6.) If you’re paying with a card that’s only a credit card and the cashier asks you “Bank or Credit”, don’t get all huffy and snap at the cashier that “it only has credit”. Either the cashier is asking this because they aren’t sure about what attributes the card contains, or the card is new to them.
7.) If you have the option to make the background picture of the card be anything you want, please take a few minutes to think about it. I don’t want to look at your fat wife in a bikini, nor am I interested in your horde of kids covered in doodoo. You will rarely look at your card, while someone else will see it everytime you use it. Basically, it’s a way for you to present an image of yourself to the cashier. Choose carefully.
8.) Take good care of your card. Quite frequently I get a card that has been horrendously treated, and then patched up with tape or something. A few times I’ve even been handed a card in several pieces, followed by “if you put them together properly it should work”. (I have the right to not accept that card, and if I deem it to be a hassle, I won’t.) More often than not I get a card which just simply doesn’t work because the magnetic strip is completely busted. All of the above instances just mean one thing: more unnecessary work for me, the cashier.
9.) If your card doesn’t work, it’s not the cashier’s fault. There are basically four reasons why your card might not work:
- a.) Your card is broken. Many cash registers are sensitive beings and won’t accept your card. It can typically be entered manually, but it takes a lot longer.
- b.) There’s a system failure. This happens ever so often. There have been times that I’ve been at work and no card has worked. The reason this affects the consumer is because many cards go through a verification process before the register accepts it. If the link to the verification center is offline, your card will not work.
- c.) Your card is not accepted. Although most stores nowadays accept practically every card, international cards and rarer cards can be a problem. I’ve been told that each individual type of card from every bank has to be entered into the register system of each chain individually. So obviously some will be forgotten and many of the rarer cards will not work because no one though it would ever come up. Seriously, how often does a Namibian bank card come up in, say, Siberia?
- d.)You either have no money or no credit. Well, yeah. If you don’t have money or credit, it’s pretty obvious that you can’t buy stuff.
10.) If the clerk makes a mistake with your card, keep your cool and be understanding. If you avoid the mistakes I pointed out above and adhere to all the said rules, everything should go fine and mistakes will be avoided. More importantly, the mistakes can be fixed pretty fast. If, on the other hand, you blow up and scream at the cashier for making a mistake, things will be fixed reeaallllyyy ssllooowwwlyyy. Partly because you are acting like an asshole. Partly because your screaming is hindering me from fixing my mistake, a mistake which most likely was due to you being inconsiderate, naive, and and idiot. So, shut up and let me fix this. Thank you.
The cashier knows all. End of discussion. Ok, seriously, in all the ten scenarios I just pointed out above, the cashier is right and knows best. Don’t scream at the cashier under any circumstances. There is nothing you can gain from screaming (except maybe being barred from that particular store), so seriously, STFU.
If you have a story relating to this post, from either side of the counter, let’s hear it!
The customer is NOT always right. If you agree with this, or wish to know what to do and not do as a consumer, please subscribe to this blog’s updates by the way of the RSS feed or email subscriptions. Thank you for shopping at The Consumer Etiquette Guide, now go and make someone have a nice day at work!
