Doesn't matter! It makes no difference what type of card I carry in my wallet. If they claim to take Visa and I present one to them, they should not give a rats behind what bank the thing is drawn on. And if they do, then maybe they should reconsider accepting that particular type of card. Oh! But that might actually piss off too many customers!
And if they're concerned that your card might lost, stolen or fraudulent? Then again, perhaps they should reconsider the cards they do accept! But again, that might actually piss off too many customers! Cost them business, etc! Can't have that! After all, the real goal here is the bottom line.
Case in point. A friend of mine walked into a grocery store one day with a wireless Palm Pilot. With in two minutes he had the host names of every cash register and was watching transactions run by in the clear. Lucky for them he's an honest individual.
You just couldn't resist, could you, Steve? I wondered how long it would take...
I just get tired of hearing people complain about it as though they personally would have to pay for the items charged, that's all. Of course I care, but realistically, it is just part of the cost of doing business.
I have done all of the above. I just needed to get my griping in for the month of May, since I have been very restrained and was running out of time. You know, curmudgeonly duties and all that. 8^>
Something that I use for online ordering is a virtual account number. It's great because it can only be used one time and the expiration date is real short. I log on to my credit card company's web site and generate a number when I want to order online, that way I don't care if someone subsequently breaks into the vendor's system and steals the number - it will never work again. They also offer the option of storing the code on your pc so you don't have to log on to generate a number. Works great.
Yes, the real goal IS the bottom line. Without protecting the bottomline, that retailer will not be in business. It is the merchant that takes in in the rear when cards are fraudulently used and the merchant account rules aren't followed exactly to the letter. Even when they ARE followed, it is usually the merchant who loses because there is no way to recover the goods, the money is charged back and the card company won't do much to help them.
Yes, Ed, it is part of the cost of doing business. And when that vendor has been burned enough, prices go up and they lose any competitive edge they may have had, That is a cost we are ALL paying regarding fraud.
Aw jeez, all you guys like to do is bitch. Why don't you just move to siberia and open your own business where you can do whatever you please and leave us alone!
I can't do anything about the situation, Paul. Therefore, I refuse to be concerned with it. Being concerned about something I cannot affect is a good way to shorten one's life.
If the company is following conventional CC processing methods, then it is accepted that there will be a certain percentage of loss. I buy things via CC regularly, mainly because of the protection that it offers me against unscrupulous retailers.
I have no issue of principle in giving the retailer the bank card's phone number. My problem is with the person that designed the card so that I could not read it. And then a retailer expects me to comply with what I consider to be an unreasonable request. There are many folks that cannot read print that small. Most are elderly individuals, as I pointed out in my post. I have tried using bogus phone numbers, by the way. The retailer rejected the purchase.
"If you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen". That is how I feel about retailers that attempt to put me through extra security hoops in order to buy. Their problem should not be transformed into my problem. In this instance, Hobby Horse was the only shop that I could find with a channel 32 crystal in stock for the receiver I wanted. Otherwise, I would have moved on to another retailer, made the purchase and thought nothing about it.
Jim - Jim - Jim. There you go again, bitching on the guys that like to bitch! Why don't YOU move to Siberia and bitch at the Russkies for bitching about the guys that like to bitch about the guys that like to bitch!?
They could just look it up in the phone book, the same as any crook could do - it aint a big secret - but I wonder why they wanted the BANK phone number - the number on your card would not be the banks I think, it is usually the Card mobs number (which as a dealer they would have on their files so they wouldn;t want that)
And if you don't think those losses are not calculated into the price of doing business, i.e. the price you pay as a consumer! Then you're no business man. In spite of what you or others may think.
The bottom line is the customer pays for it. Regardless what or where! If they don't, that place won't be in business very long.
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