This is an odd one

cardinalbiggles

Enfieldian wrote: »

Had the Police been contacted in this instance I doubt whether they would have even attended based on what the OP has said.

They would most likely have advised the retailer that this was a civil matter.

Absolutely, its a civil matter. Had the OP tried to leave without paying it would be criminal but the fact they tried to pay and could not means the police would not be interested.

If it was me I would leave my name and phone number but that's it. Post them a cheque or pop in next time I was passing. Its the restaurants fault for not having the facility to pay not the customers.

hollydays

cardinalbiggles wrote: »

Absolutely, its a civil matter. Had the OP tried to leave without paying it would be criminal but the fact they tried to pay and could not means the police would not be interested.

If it was me I would leave my name and phone number but that's it. Post them a cheque or pop in next time I was passing. Its the restaurants fault for not having the facility to pay not the customers.

What, a common sense reply!

Goldiegirl

Paully232000 wrote: »

Do shops no longer have manual card machines. I remember working in a shop, albeit many years ago, where you took the card and it was like a small guillotine that you added carbon paper to and swiped it across the card. Then it was signed and a copy given to the customer.

Not sure it is any different to leaving card details to be manually added later, as long as a receipt (hand-written, or not) was given so you could reconcile it with the actual amount taken.

I wouldn't have a problem with that, although i would want to be given the option of leaving my address details and going to a cash machine. As for the police being called, I am afraid, given my stubborn nature I would have said go ahead then, waited for them and see what the police had to say about a wasted call.

I'm wondering if the OP would have been happy with using an old style imprinter, as the full card details are imprinted on the transaction slip, so the staff would have been able to see all the details.

Also, wondering if the OP has ever bought anything over the phone, or made a booking for something over the phone. It's normal to give all the details of the card, including the CVV number to the person on the other end of the phone. It's fairly standard procedure.

I think the problem here was that the OP was asked to give details of the card, in a situation that wasn't normal or familiar, and over-reacted a bit.