"If the signature does NOT match or there is NO signature...BY ALL MEANS ASK FOR AN ID!!!" But GEORGE, <color=red> THIS CARD IS NOT VALID </COLOR><color=blue>(AT ALL)</COLOR> <COLOR=RED>UNLESS SIGNED!</COLOR> -ingenue
Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? The position of some here, in their haughty quoting of card issuer policy, is that you may be prohibited from carding even if you do suspect something. My personal opinion is, check all signatures, and if anything's fishy or there's no signature, ask for ID. So what if the merchant is guaranteed payment when they get an authorization number? If it's a fraudulent transaction, in one way or another, *I* and every other consumer out there will end up paying for it. Perhaps I will be the victim if someone steals my card, doesn't get carded, and VISA sticks the bill to me because the signature is "close enough" to pass for mine. Perhaps VISA will let the merchant and the consumer off the hook and absorb/write off the loss - but I *have* my own VISA, so what's bad for VISA trickles down to me in the form of higher interest costs. Perhaps a card owner will come to where I work, complain that our company allowed a thief to use their card, and to avoid a stink, a very small amount of investigation and consumer placation could lose me a job. Is it really so much harder to show an ID when you make a purchase, than it is to dispute a fraudulent transaction with your credit issuer, who may give you provisional credit, then rescind it, then send it to collections if you don't pay the debt that you can't quite prove you didn't incur? If you're asking them to eat a loss, will your credit issuer treat you like a thief any less than a suspicious clerk does? When I check an ID, I don't check signature, or social (which shouldn't be on a picture ID, anyway), or any other information except: Picture. Name. And majority rules. The overwhelming majority of consumers are *pleasantly* surprised when asked for ID with their credit cards. -- Maybe GEORGE has a really unflattering Driver's License picture? -ingenue has "Ask for ID" written next to her signature on all her cards. -ingenue goes out of her way to voice her appreciation to management when a clerk actually looks at her card long enough to see "Ask for ID" and ask her for it.
Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? Whats the big friggin deal. You have to take out your wallet to give them the card. The wallet is already out to take out your ID as well. I have a feeling if someone stole your card and then charged a few 1000, the first thing you would ask is "Why didn't they check the persons ID?" Its not a big deal. Besides you cannot compare singatures until after the charge goes through. Then if the signature does not match and theres no ID, they have to void the transaction, call the proper authorities, etc. Its a lot easier for everyone to make sure you are the proper person BEFORE swiping the card.
Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? Whats the big friggin deal. You have to take out your wallet to give them the card. The wallet is already out to take out your ID as well. I have a feeling if someone stole your card and then charged a few 1000, the first thing you would ask is "Why didn't they check the persons ID?" Its not a big deal. Besides you cannot compare singatures until after the charge goes through. Then if the signature does not match and theres no ID, they have to void the transaction, call the proper authorities, etc. Its a lot easier for everyone to make sure you are the proper person BEFORE swiping the card.
Re: Re: I'm with you George!!! I am a 25 year old white male professional, and I always get asked. I highly doubt its always a racial issue, although sometimes it may be. But then again, how would you explain me?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? No such thing as 'close enough' on handwriting. If it came down to it, a certified graphoanalysis could tell if it was fraudulent or not. This whole conversation over the last year or so really frustrates me - not speaking of any posts or poster specifially - just the topic. Sometimes when you call Visa or MC they say that the store cannot ask you for ID - other times they say it's at the discression of the store. Then card issuers like Discover and BofA come out with cards that you can put on your keychain, thus eliminating the hassle of carrying around your wallet/purse with you. What do you do when you use your Discover2Go card and they ask for ID and you don't have your purse/wallet with you? I'd love for someone to explain this issue to me - the freakin' CARD ISSUER's promotion of the card indicates that you don't have to carry around extra ID with you - yet people are advocating being asked for ID. What is the point of these new and simpler cards if you still are being asked for identification? And again, I stress that at least 2 card issuers promote this 'quick and easy' way to make your purchase. And I will continue to say this probably forever - unless the cashier is a certified graphoanalysis, they have no CLUE, and no right to tell me my writing isn't mine. Unless you've studied this science (and it is a science) you are not qualified to pick apart someone's writing. People's handwriting varies - sometimes dramatically (to the uneducated eye) throughout their life. Some of these credit cards have 2-4 year validity - so when you signed your card in 2000 and had back pain and were going through a divorce and your pen was skipping and you were signing it while waiting in line with 4 impatient people behind you, you can sure as heck bet your bottom dollar that in 2003, after your divorce and when your back doesn't hurt, etc. that your writing will look different. Now, I do agree that if there is BLATANT difference, that's a different story - meaning the slant is totally different, the loops are different, the baseline is different - but if you don't understand what the loops, baseline and slant are, then do you really have just cause to embarass someone in line and request their identification? I LOVE that WalMart asks me to put in my zip code when I use my AmEx card. I've no problems with this added security - I think it makes a lot more sense than someone with no training trying to figure out if my handwriting is mine. I wish ALL merchants would do this or ask for a PIN or similar. Additionally, and of course just IMHO here, those cards you stick on your keychain are just stupid. People probably lose their keys a lot more than their wallets and that's a recipe for disaster. Very few times does my signature even get looked at and most places I swipe my own card, put it back in my wallet and leave. One time I wanted to use my VISA card but it had my hubbys' name on it (joint account). I wasn't allowed to use the card becuase my name wasn't on it. I was angry at the time but in retrospect, THAT makes sense. However it was a debit card and I still was unable to use the card even though I knew the PIN. That really annoyed me that I stood in line (it was Xmas time) and still couldn't make my purchase. I think the same thing could and probably has happened with those keychain cards - you go to make a purchase and the cashier says the handwriting isn't yours and you don't have your purse/wallet with you - now what do you do? You leave the store embarassed and if it was me, extremely torqued. And, while I'm hanging out on my soapbox, in this day and age of technology and checking your account online, if my card was stolen, I'd know about it probably within 2 days of it posting. Now, I know most people aren't that neurotic about checking their reports and their card accounts online, but that's just another reason for the consumer to be more diligent about their personal finances. <stepping off my soapbox and ignoring those who are rolling their eyes at me for my bellyaching about this topic <G>> Ozzy.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? I have a Long Name. Eleven letters in the last name. My official, careful signature looks nothing like my lazy, hasty signature. But the few elements the two have in common, would make them "close enough". If only a certified graphoanalysis can confirm signatures matching, perhaps clerks should always check ID because they're not qualified to judge if the signatures match (or are close enough.) Most clerks never even look, anyway.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? My DL is in my wallet, my wallet STAYS in my pants pocket... My credit cards are NOT in my wallet...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? THE LAST TIME SOMEBODY HERE TALKED ABOUT A GRAPHOLOGIST AND CREDIT CARD SIGNATURES...I got all my credit cards together...EVERY ONE OF THEM...and my license...NONE OF THEM MATCH...I SIGN DIFFERENT WITH MY MOOD AND THE WEATHER AND IF THE SUN IS OUT OR IT STINKIN' SNOWED THAT DAY OR I HAD TO TELL A CUSTOMER THAT HE CAN NOT USE MARY JONES CARD BECAUSE HE IS FRED JONES...NOT MARY JONES!!!!!! SOME similarities... "IF" some GRAPHOLOGIST got a hold of my DL and all my cards HE/SHE would say PROBABLY SAY I did NOT sign them all...
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? SOMETHING TO PONDER~~WHAT IF I GAVE THE DMV A "FAKE" SIGNATURE????
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask fo I once applied for an account in HSBC bank, they sent a letter to my old bank to verify my signature.... The letter came back.... "WE ARE SORRY, THE SIGNATURE DOES NOT MATCH". Even though I had 4 pieces of ID (DL, Passport, 2 CC's) the rep would not open an account for me... AND I AM ME!!! (REALLY!!)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? I always thought the driver's license check was to see if the picture matched the person holding the card. Silly me!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? AAAHHHHH, I went through this at Hot Topic the other day. I have to say I'm with George on this one. The Bugs Bunny VISA check card commercial comes to mind. Get a VISA check card and no ID is required. I was using my Visa check card. Go figure. coral
Just Show It This thread was covered at length months ago. Here is the link: http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&threadid=37092 Unfortunately, we are still in an age of intense security issues because of 911. I think at this stage, it is a moot point to try to argue ID refusal for credit/debit card purchases. Just show it. However, if you feel you are unfairly treated due to your ethnic background - don't remain silent! Let the store manager know - write the store's corporate office - report it to the news media and/or better business bureau. Identification is suppose to confirm who you are - not used as a racial profiling tool. If should not be used to determine if you have stolen the card you are using because of a quick subjective assessment related to skin color or clothing.
Re: Just Show It You say just show your id - but please explain how to show your ID if you're using a Discover2Go card or the like which advertises that you need no additional documentation of who you are to use it. This situation, to me, is like the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. Use your check card and no id is necessary. Use your Discover2Go card and no id is necessary - as long as they don't ask for it. It can't be both ways - if it was that important to have id for each transaction, then why on earth would at least 2 card compaines and VISA commericals advertise the simplicity and the lack of necessity for additional documentation?? It just makes no darn sense! And something that makes no sense deserves, imho, to be discussed. Ozzy.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? George, I can assure you, that an expert in the field of handwriting would be able to tell you that your writing is yours. Honest. My writing varies significantly also - and as the daughter of someone who studied handwriting, my handwriting samples were studied by several certified graphoanalysts for one reason or another, and my handwriting, regardless of my mood, the weather, whatever - was easily distinguished by them. I used to swear that they wouldn't be able to tell my handwriting becuase *I* thought it looked comptely different - however they proved me wrong. Maybe it's one of those things you've got to see to believe. =-) Ozzy.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: they ask for ID with CC!What 2 do? Good point about asking everyone for id - if they indeed did ask everyone as store policy and not singling people out. But then again, we could go in cirlces about asking for id when commercials indicate otherwise. Or, I love the idea of using a PIN instead of the signature stuff. Ozzy.
