'Should you let them take your credit card at a bar?' blog discussion

kikibee_2

No way. My husband goes balistic should we go out for a meal and they want to take the card away from the table to 'get approval' from their superviser. Anyone with a fraudulent mind can copy details down in seconds but to let them hold the card or walk off with it is asking for fraud to take place. It is a sad world that we have to be so careful but unfortunately thats the way it is. Ive worked hard for my money and I dont want some thief to walk off with it or put me in debt when i am working so hard to get through the tunnel.

Another thing that cheeses me off is when you are paying for goods with a cheque and they want you to put house number and postcode on the back of the cheque even though they have your cheque guarentee card. What's that all about??? Where I live in south Wales the Co-op is the main culprit. Also I've noticed alot of petrol stations refusing cheques in one of the nearby towns - there must be a lot of fraud around.

kikibee_2

chip and pin??? another farce. I absolutely hate them. I repect the space needed for privacy if someone in front of me is using the chip and pin machine but I find that not many others do that are behind me. Some have little shields on them giving the illusion that entering the pin is private but others don't and all it takes is someone over your shoulder and that is it. Saw Watchdog a few weeks ago and one mature lady who had never used a cash machine in her life and never knew her pin had someone take alot of money out of her account (I can't remember all details) but the bank refuses to refund the money as they say she must of left her pin lying around somewhere. My point is that I just believe chip and pin is a cop out for banks to 'pretend' they are dealing with fraud when in fact I believe it is making it worse as the user is even more vulnerable when at a chip and pin machine.

(hope that wasn't too much of a ramble!!!!):dance:

apearson

We never let card out of sight. Last week in a pub/restaurant we said we'd leave so they gave in, but refused to serve drinks at the table and gave second rate service. Wot no tip, surprise surprise.

kikibee_2

i wonder if they let their cards out of there sight when they are out and about? bad news spreads fast - your friends still going there?????

greengrass

After discovering £800 had been taken from my debit account two weeks ago, there is no way I would let any card out of my site, and believe me I am so careful, I always use secure web sites, I do think it was done in a shop because the lady seemed to have trouble with my card and I let her take it away to another machine, so therefore this is a big eye opener for me, a definate no no.

minky_11

recently got caught out with my debit card. would never let it out of my sight and am now very cautious when buying on-line.
apparently my card details were stolen when buying on-line. the person at the other end just took my details and spent my money. fortunately my bank were quick to realise something was wrong. they spent £500 and i recovered all but about £20.:mad:
i also never use hole in the wall cash machines but prefer to go into the bank instead.

mollymauk

I have two friends, who when they are out on the tiles, often put one card behind the bar.

Then they take turns to sign it, just to see if they can get away with it. Surprise surprise, they always do.

The bar staff don't tend to look at the signature, or even notice that a 5 foot 9 guy has suddenly grown 6 inches and turned from black haired to blonde.

asea

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

I'm probably totally behind the times having never lived in London and for the last few years having lived in rural Spain where they faint at the sight of a plastic card - but what's wrong with just paying cash??

absolutely nothing but i tend to not carry cash as I have been mugged for it before but that's just a personal thing! Carrying cash around at night when you're a girl on your own makes me feel very uncomfortable

volare

mollymauk wrote: »

I have two friends, who when they are out on the tiles, often put one card behind the bar.

Then they take turns to sign it, just to see if they can get away with it. Surprise surprise, they always do.

The bar staff don't tend to look at the signature, or even notice that a 5 foot 9 guy has suddenly grown 6 inches and turned from black haired to blonde.

Heh. I have friends who have experimented with this, signing Mickey Mouse or Do Not Pay This on the slips - nobody noticed. Nobody - including the bank!! Despite the previous poster's beliefs, this is the main benefit of chip and pin - machines never forget/omit to check the "signature"! Nobody should be afraid to be openly paranoid about their pin number, shield it with a hand, hunch over the keypad - so you get a funny look or two, so what, at least nobody steals your number!!

A large proportion of fraud is processed through restaurants - they have skimmer machines which they quickly swipe and get all they need, sticking the information on to blank cards which they then use to get money - there are a lot of crooked establishment owners etc out there! It's not a case of just one thief who happens to get your details - it's a whole industry and people work in gangs to get literally thousands of peoples' details. I absolutely will not leave my card behind the bar anywhere.

Biggles

ericthelobster wrote: »

Do you to extend this policy to never, ever letting a waiter (or anyone else) take your card out of your sight, even for a few seconds? That's pretty well impossible unless you're going to be really anal about it, following the waiter across the restaurant, leaving behind that date you're trying to impress (not!).

Absolutely. Where my card goes, I go! And I'm sure your 'date' would be less impressed if he/she thought you were totally clueless with money and security.