What would you have done?

happyandcontented

Went out for Sunday lunch with friends yesterday, as we are staying with them for a few days.

Pub was out in the wilds, as we ate our main courses (having had drinks and starters) the waiter told us no card payments could be taken as their internet had gone down. We knew the bill was substantial and we didn't have enough cash on us, but I had a cheque book. I said as much to the waiter who didn't comment.

When we went to pay the bill the pub refused to take a cheque (even with a garantee card) (not their policy it seems) and wanted me to write down my card details inc the 3 digits security code and leave it behind the bar for them to use when the net was back online. I refused, we once had our account decimated by an experience in a restaurant just like that.

So they then asked us to give name/address phone number details so that they can ring us and we can pay over the phone, reluctantly I have agreed to that, but we are away from home so they will have to wait till we get back. They will still have the card details if I pay over the phone, which they wouldn't have had if we had been able to use their terminal at the time we ate.

I feel like telling them that I will just post them a cheque and leave them to decide whether they will cash it or not. Why should their "policy" be used when it is their fault we couldn't use a method we consider more secure to pay our bill?

I think I should just have left the cheque and walked out. If we had been told before we started to eat then we would have gone elsewhere. The service was rubbish too, and the woman manager was borderline rude when dealing with the issue.

Money_maker

happyandcontented wrote: »

I refused, we once had our account decimated by an experience in a restaurant just like that.

How very unlucky to have the same scenario previously. How exactly did they manage to decimate your account with your card number?

beeg0d

happyandcontented wrote: »

...When we went to pay the bill the pub refused to take a cheque (even with a garantee card) (not their policy it seems)...

What garentee card? the cheque garentee scheme ended on 30 June 2011. so there is no such thing as a garentee card anymore.

I know not answering your question but i thought it important to point that bit out.

Sagz_2

I'd have given them a mobile number so I could pay over the phone when they rang, and left name and address if the wanted it.
Like you, I wouldn't have let them write down my card details, I'm surprised they even asked.

neilmcl

happyandcontented wrote: »

So they then asked us to give name/address phone number details so that they can ring us and we can pay over the phone, reluctantly I have agreed to that, but we are away from home so they will have to wait till we get back. They will still have the card details if I pay over the phone, which they wouldn't have had if we had been able to use their terminal at the time we ate.

What's wrong with that?

neilmcl

Sagz wrote: »

I'd have given them a mobile number so I could pay over the phone when they rang, and left name and address if the wanted it.
Like you, I wouldn't have let them write down my card details, I'm surprised they even asked.

That's what the OP did, read my quote in the post above.

unholyangel

Sagz wrote: »

I'd have given them a mobile number so I could pay over the phone when they rang, and left name and address if the wanted it.
Like you, I wouldn't have let them write down my card details, I'm surprised they even asked.

Tbh after asking to write down my card details and keep them, I wouldn't be trusting them with my card details over the phone either.

I would have suggested a bank transfer by faster payment. Could even do it right there in the restauarant on a smart phone (so restaurant could confirm it had been sent to the correct account) without having to relay any financial details to someone with such a lackadaisical attitude to sensitive financial data.

If you had disputed the bill, its the norm to give your details though (shows you weren't trying to avoid paying) so that part was a reasonable request on their part.

peachyprice

happyandcontented wrote: »

When we went to pay the bill the pub refused to take a cheque (even with a garantee card) (not their policy it seems)

It's not the policy of pretty much any retailer in the country, and the cheque guarantee card is obsolete.

What's the difference between them writing down your card details while you are there and giving them your card details to write down over the phone?

happyandcontented

Money_maker wrote: »

How very unlucky to have the same scenario previously. How exactly did they manage to decimate your account with your card number?

They took the card away on the pretext that the signal was weak by the table. Co incidentally a few days later we had our account accessed and close to a thousand pounds debited buying flights. The bank said that was probably where it had happened. Of course we got it back, but who needs that hassle?

beeg0d wrote: »

What garentee card? the cheque garentee scheme ended on 30 June 2011. so there is no such thing as a garentee card anymore.

I know not answering your question but i thought it important to point that bit out.

I didn't know that.

unholyangel wrote: »

Tbh after asking to write down my card details and keep them, I wouldn't be trusting them with my card details over the phone either.

I would have suggested a bank transfer by faster payment. Could even do it right there in the restauarant on a smart phone (so restaurant could confirm it had been sent to the correct account) without having to relay any financial details to someone with such a lackadaisical attitude to sensitive financial data.

If you had disputed the bill, its the norm to give your details though (shows you weren't trying to avoid paying) so that part was a reasonable request on their part.

That is what I thought. They didn't suggest it but I don't have mobile banking on my phone anyway.

We weren't disputing the bill, and we had written out a cheque for the full amount and left a tip in cash. They just wouldn't take the cheque.

I would have thought it safer to take the cheque,and look at the supporting bank card to check identity than to ask random strangers to be honest enought to leave the correct details.

melanzana

Would have got one of the staff to accompany me to the nearest ATM. In his/her own car!! + a signed receipt after handing over the money.

I realise OP was out in the wilds, but they had to get back to somewhere.

happyandcontented

peachyprice wrote: »

It's not the policy of pretty much any retailer in the country, and the cheque guarantee card is obsolete.

What's the difference between them writing down your card details while you are there and giving them your card details to write down over the phone?

None, which is why I am still not happy with it. I understand that cheques are almost obselete, but it was their payment system that was down, and we were only made aware of that after we had begun our main courses. The pub was approx five miles from the nearest cash machine, so under those circumstances a cheque seemed a reasonable solution to me.

I shop online on secure sites, I only use my card over the phone with trusted, known to me, retailers.

Certainly, they should not be keeping a list of card numbers and security numbers behind the till which is what was suggested.

If I do it over the phone with a company who thinks that is acceptable how do I know where my information will end up? chucked in a bin for anyone to pick up, left lying around for a dishonest staff member to use.