Sainsbury's took her card!

young_victor_meldrew

I lost all sympathy when I read that she "Flew off the handle" - what a moron!

euronorris

wrangler5 wrote: »

I live in the real world too, which is why when i know i am going shopping i always make sure i have an alternative means of payment to save myself any embarrassment on the off chance that there may be a problem with my 'sole' debit card, rather than just assuming it will always work at every single retailer i visit.

If someone on benefits with no savings after having had major surgery can manage to take personal responsibility for unforseen situations like this then i don't see why a young woman who is obviously fit & healthy enough to get embroiled in public arguments can't do the same.

So there.

Haha! So there? Are we in the playground? :rotfl::rotfl:

I don't think the OP's friend (I hope I got that right) should've flown of the handle. I understand it's embarrassing, but shouting and/or screaming at someone is not going to resolve the issue. However, I do also believe that the customer services lad should've been a little more courteous.

As for the cards thing. Whilst I agree that you should have some form of back up with you, I think it is extremely unwise to take all your debit and credit cards, plus cash, with you everytime you go shopping. If you were to be mugged then you would be completely screwed! Best to take one spare (with enough money on it/in the account) to cover what you intend to buy as a back up. The rest should stay at home for safety.

Having extra cash can be tricky. If it's close to the end of the month and the planned shop is say 40GBP and you only have 60GBP left in the account, then you can only have a maximum of 20BP as a backup. Then again, I suppose that would at least cover dinner and enough petrol to get home/to a friends/family for some temporary help.

I am interested to know the outcome of this though. OP - Did your friend ever find out why they had declined the payment and taken her card? She must've asked them by now.

Dave101t

sainsburys you say? they are a polite bunch in there, why not explain the situation and see what they offer. the thinking man may suggest redeeming all those points off your nectar card as payment, possibly a store credit on the basis you return within 24 hours to pay (ive done this with petrol), or simply 'hold onto the shopping while i arrange other monies', ive done this too.
of course flying off the handle immediatly closes all doors.....

euronorris

Dave101t wrote: »

sainsburys you say? they are a polite bunch in there, why not explain the situation and see what they offer. the thinking man may suggest redeeming all those points off your nectar card as payment, possibly a store credit on the basis you return within 24 hours to pay (ive done this with petrol), or simply 'hold onto the shopping while i arrange other monies', ive done this too.
of course flying off the handle immediatly closes all doors.....

Yeah, I must admit I've had some very good experiences with Sainsbury's.

I remember buying a bottle of Archer's in there once and dropped the bag with it in on the way out. The bottle smashed instantly creating a mess and a bit of embarrassment. But they rushed right over, cleaned it up and gave me a new bottle free of charge! It wasn't their fault, it was just an accident, so I was really pleased with them for that.

jamesperrett

mab2000 wrote: »

Doesn't matter that your friend only got her new card in April. Natwest started issuing Visa Debit cards in September, and plan to replace all Maestro cards with visa debit cards by the end of next year, even if they are not due to expire. I think in this case it is very likely that they have issued a new visa debit card and it has got delayed in getting to your friend (unless your friend doesn't open their post very often).

Natwest sent out a warning letter before sending out the card so it would have required two items of post to go missing for her not to know about the change.

However, maybe she did what my wife did and cut up the wrong card when she received the new one. It took us a few days to realise what had happened.

Cheers

James.

lisyloo

However, I do also believe that the customer services lad should've been a little more courteous.

For goodness sake, it's not the Ritz, it's Sainburys.
He wasn't impolite, rude etc.

It's a complete diversion for her or anyone else to complain about the fact that it didn't come with a group hug.

Most supermarkets I go to have cash machines.
I just don't understand going somewhere with only one method of payment.
What happens if she breaks down or her shoe breaks and she needs to get a cab? What if a breakdown or taxi company don't accept that single method of payment she's chosen to take.

I liev in the real world and that means taking a phone, breakdown documents, phone numbers, and several methods of payment.
I have facilities should my car/bike breakdown and measures if I can't walk for any reason.
I carry plasters, headache tablets, immodium, migraine tablets everywhere I go. so I'm ready to deal with most things.

Do people here really go out without a phone and without cash????

gailey_2

I have worked in retail and apart from cases of fraud we have never been told to retain the card.
Natwest streamline were no we rang for authorisations most were automated systems where you ounch in numbers if there was problem then the staff and customer had to speak to someone.

The cashier usually offers to hold shopping or accept other method of payment.

I have had the misfortune of being declined in sainsbursy recently despite money being in account luckily i had cash card with me so left shopping with them and withdrew cash and went to customer service desk to make payment.

I can understand it more with credit card as recently hubby accidentally paid less than his min payment and despite having leftover credit card was declined.

Unfortunatly cheques were quite bad for retail fraud although do miss using cheque.Think pin made things safer.
Is it because she entered wrong pin? Think you get 3chances. before it locks the card.

The bit about britain being lawless and being mugged made me chuckle.
I must admit I dont always carry much cash myself as most places take card so guilty of that but usally have 2cards and small amount of cash in purse.

euronorris

lisyloo wrote: »

For goodness sake, it's not the Ritz, it's Sainburys.
He wasn't impolite, rude etc.

It's a complete diversion for her or anyone else to complain about the fact that it didn't come with a group hug.

No one expects the level of service seen at the Ritz. However, just repeating 'card declined, i have to retain the card' is not the best way to break the news.

Simply elaborating further with: 'I'm sorry but your card has been declined and the bank have asked me to retain it', followed by 'I don't know, you will need to speak to your bank about this' would've softened the blow a little. Plus, this is how I was taught to react to these situations when I worked at Superdrug's.

The idea is, as a customer service operator, that you do your utmost to deflate any potential customer rants before they happen. No one wants to hear that there card has been declined, and so, a little tact goes a long way.

That said....I fear the OP's friend would've still reacted in the same way.

vet8

lisyloo wrote: »

I just don't understand going somewhere with only one method of payment.

I liev in the real world and that means taking a phone, breakdown documents, phone numbers, and several methods of payment.

Do people here really go out without a phone and without cash????

Can I inject a note of common sense here?

I agree that the supermarket had no choice other than to retain the card and I also agree that the lady was wrong to lose her rag with the bloke, but in her defence a great many people would have got angry in the same situation. If you are in a crowded supermarket and your card is declined you feel a right prat and lots of people would make a scene.

As for this idea about going out with other methods of payments - get real. This lady sensibly does not have a credit card and believe it or not there are thousands, probably millions of people who do not have credit cards. Either they do not want them or cannot get them.

I have one bank account, I have always only had one bank account, to the best of my knowledge all of my friends only have one bank account. So where is this extra debit card supposed to come from? I have several credit cards, but most of those I do not use for shopping as I used them for LOB transfers etc.

I do not feel it is unreasonable to go shopping and expect your card to be accepted when you know you have enough money in the account. Posters have said that she may have been sent a new card which she had not used. I think that is ridiculous. If the old card had expired, yes do not take it, but to retain a valid card because she has been sent a new one is unreasonable.

Where I work I have had several people attempt to pay with an out of date card and the machine just rejects it, it does not ask me to retain it. I am assuming there is a suggestion of fraud here, where they suspect that she is not the card holder, that is why you are usually asked to retain the card. In that case the bank and supermarket are right, but a bit of tact explaining to to the PAYING customer would not go amiss. Banks are always high handed though.

I agree with the comments about cheques, they were reliable and a great fail-safe. I was shopping once and tried to pay by card, but my salary had been paid in late so there was insufficient money in the account. I wrote out a cheque instead, quaranteed by the bank card and by the time that reached my account the salary had cleared.

As for "are there people who go out without phones?" Yes, I have never owned a mobile, not everyone does.;)

Marmaris08

young_victor_meldrew wrote: »

I lost all sympathy when I read that she "Flew off the handle" - what a moron!

I suppose you have never lost your rag or got a little annoyed at the way you have been treated by customer service personnel in the past then? I take it you are a total angel who handles all problems in a calm manner?

Obviously not though, otherwise you wouldn't have called the OP a moron. Which to me looks like a personal insult. Tut tut you really are showing your immaturity.

The customer service guy was acting like a spoilt little child who could have handled the matter a bit more professionally, instead of just repeating over and over "I have to retain the card".