Staff at Tesco's cut up my Credit Card

Glittermonkey

Where i work, i probably do about 10 authorisation calls a month.

Everytime,unless i get authorsiation straight away, Barclays Merchant Services always speak to the customer and go through security checks with them first.

If there has been a problem i've been told to retain the card but the most i've ever had to retain is about 2 in a year and only once have i had to cut it up.

And yes, we get £50 for it as well ( actually £64.10 but the tax man takes him cut which we can claim back at the end of the year)

GM

markokeeffe

I can see both sides of the coin here. The staff member was only doing what they were told, although there are ways and means - and chances are they had to ring their bank's card processing department. Obviously you cannot leave the card intact, in case there are any fraudulent transactions that take place. Part of my work involves recovering cards from cardholders and I would always mutilate the card in front of them.

Having said many years ago I had my First Direct card flag up on a hotlist as please retain. Rang the bank there and then and they could not explain it - nor could they after a full investigation!

Mark

James

I can see both sides too. But why didn't Tesco make a Code 10 Call? This should have cleared up any misunderstanding. Something worth asking Tesco.

The following is the advice given to retailers on how to deal with retained cards:

Once you have retained a card, it is important to treat it and any other evidence properly so it can be used by the police and bank in any investigation.
> Cut the bottom left corner off the front of the card
It is important not to damage the magnetic stripe, or chip if there is one.
> Preserve fingerprints on card and sales voucher
Handle the card and sales voucher as little as possible to preserve fingerprints and put the evidence in a paper bag to protect it.
> Retain any CCTV video evidence and note date and time
If you have CCTV cameras make sure the footage is retained and labelled with the date and time of the incident.
> Fill in an Incident /Personal Description Form
Note what the fraudster looked like, what they were wearing, any accents or other distinguishable features.
Follow the directions of your Authorisation Centre.

Just for info:

Over £19 million was paid out in rewards during 2003

But the same people also tell us that:

The PIN proves customers are who they say they are, unlike a signature which can easily be copied.

I think a more accurate statement is that: The PIN proves that the person knows the key to the card and may not be the genuine cardholder!!!!

M_Thomson

I have heard people mention that the people that asked the staff member to retain the card was a third party agency, this would not be the case, it would be the card processing company that Tesco use ie Barclays or Natwest merchant services. Also the £50 reward is not just dished out willy nilly like some people have mentioned here. It is given if the card is retained and the transaction is fradulent. Maybe the card has been cloned and the bank had cancelled it. These are things that the OP needs to clarify with their bank.

---lee---

chriz1000 wrote:

I’ve had to cut up customers cards in the past, usually you get told to call authorisation by the terminal, you ring the number, if there is a problem with the card you get put through to a different department where you take down the address of where to send the card to, you then have to cut the card over the magnetic strip in-front of the customer and inform them that you are performing this act under the request of the credit agency and returning the card to them.
You may think this as a lot of effort and hassle for a company and the member of staff, but every time I have done it, the credit company has sent the company a thankyou cheque for £100+ and myself a cheque for £50+ (depending on the type of card VISA/MasterCard/AMEX)
So to be honest when a lot of people/companies call up the authorisation they want the card to be cut up, as there likely to benefit from a nice thankyou cheque.

Correct. I have a merchant account and you do get a reward for destroying cards (on instruction by the authorisation service).

Sounds like an error has been made in this case, but you never know your card may have been used fraudulently by someone else (online or whatever). The card issuer should be able to explain the problem.

This happened to a friend of mine some years ago. He had recently split with his wife and the credit card company sent a statement to their house. She opened it and called them to say he did not live there and never had. The next time he used his card, the checkout operator called security, destroyed his card and had him escorted from the premises. As they say, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn’

---lee---

comicmankev wrote:

I have also been asked several times to cut up a card. In my opinion I would be more prepared for them to cut it up thatn keep it whole, in fact, I'm pretty sure they are not aloud to keep it whole. Not sure why it happened in this instance, but usually to do with fraud (Not saying thats what your up to because clearly you are not! -lol)

You do not have to cut up the card. If for example you feel you would be at risk by doing so.

The risk is greatly reduced in a large supermarket with plenty of staff and customers around, but if you are in a little backstreet shop by yourself faced with an irate 8 foot burly weight lifter, you may think twice :eek:

freddysmith

Thanks to everyone who has given advice, opinions and general infomation. This event happened on 28 Dec and I have just received my new card from Goldfish with the same 16 digit number and PIN number also the same 3 digit security number on the back. Only thing different is the valid from date. That shows me there couldn't have been a major problem with my card. Well done Goldfish!!

---lee---

freddysmith wrote:

Thanks to everyone who has given advice, opinions and general infomation. This event happened on 28 Dec and I have just received my new card from Goldfish with the same 16 digit number and PIN number also the same 3 digit security number on the back. Only thing different is the valid from date. That shows me there couldn't have been a major problem with my card. Well done Goldfish!!

Have you spoken to the CC provider to find out why they requested it should be destroyed?

Bossyboots

---lee--- wrote:

Have you spoken to the CC provider to find out why they requested it should be destroyed?

I think several people would like to know the answer to this as well. It was such a Draconian action that not only would I like the OP to find an answer for his own peace of mind, but also so that we can all be on the alert to a similar risk to our own cards if we are faced with stores checking out cards.

I shop at Tesco too, so I am doubly keen to find out what went wrong.

freddysmith

My CC provider did not request the card to be destroyed it was a third party agency that tesco's uses.
I used my card to buy an item online the day before. I received an email saying that item was a misprice and my card had not been charged. This must have flagged up the initial problem with my CC so I don't know what this online shop had done.
I then go to use my card the next day at tesco's and then the problem began. My CC provider said if tesco's had phone them it would have easily had been sorted out by myself talking on the phone to them, but they use a third party agency and use a different procedure by not speaking to the customer to verify who they are, and just authorising the destruction of the card.