Credit Card Signatures Don't Matter
Valid Signature?
Back in the day when I used to work in retail, I was a stickler about credit card signatures. If a card was not signed, I would insist that the person either sign the card with their signature or "Ask for ID." If their card was not already signed, I insisted on photo ID as proof of identity.
Most of the people who don't sign their cards offered the excuse that "if someone steals my card, they will know what my signature looks like and will be able to forge my signature." I wryly pointed out to these people that if the card wasn't signed at all, a thief could sign their name in the thief's handwriting and would not even need to learn to forge the signature in the first place! The runner-up excuse for not signing the card is that "no one ever checks it, anyway." Of course, wasn't I proving their theory wrong by checking the signature?
I once engaged in a verbal argument with a customer regarding the credit card. She absolutely refused to sign it and would not write "Ask for ID" on the back of the card. Usually I would allow the "Ask for ID" signature, but legally that is not valid, either. I pointed out the sentence, clearly written on the back of the card above the signature field that read: "Not valid unless signed." Go ahead, check any of your credit or debit cards . . . it's written there. Apparently this wording was a bit too murky for the customer, who started screaming about forgetting about the entire purchase, which was probably a whopping $20 or so. In my faux-friendly customer service tone of voice, I explained that the company was simply looking out for her and the security of her accounts by checking the card's signature. I had something to prove, and so did she. I honestly can't remember how that ended up, but as I try to remember, my mind remembers that she angrily signed her card and slip and huffed as I slowly compared the signature to the one on her ID. Good times. Retail is great . . . for me to poop on.
Given my feelings regarding credit card signatures, I was amazed at the results of the Credit Card Prank on Zug. Granted, he "cheats" (in my opinion) by running out on a couple before the cashier could raise any objections. According to the site:
Credit card signatures are a useless mechanism designed to make you feel safe, like airport security checks. So my question was, how crazy would I have to make my signature before someone would actually notice?
He feels he proves his point because he was still charged, but I disagree. If the store has a signed receipt and the person left with merchandise, you better believe that they will charge the card instead of taking an immediate loss on the merchandise (and an immediate increase in shrink). Leave it to the customer/victim to sort out the problem if it was fraudulent use. That's just business.
This entry was posted
on Tuesday, April 26th, 2005 at 18:46 by Novac and is filed under All, Humor, Mindless.
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