customer takes out their card and shoves it in my face
I push the machine towards them
they look at me like I’m an idiot
I ask them to swipe their card/insert it
they look at me like I’m dumber than before and say in a very rude tone ” It’s a VISA”
I can clearly see that you dumb bitch you just shoved it in my face!! with a loud obnoxious sigh they swipe it through so quickly that the card reader cant process it, I ask them to do it again slower, to fast again, I ask them to do it slower, TO FAST AGAIN, why cant you fucking slow down, its not that fucking hard!!! they glare at me like its my fault. I swipe their card for them, they sign and off they go to. This must happen at least 5 times a day.
—learn to use the machine or pay with cash
This article appears in Dec 24-30, 2009.
Perhaps it’s YOUR job to fuck around with the machine, eh? How many times does this have to happen before YOU get a clue, CSR. Holy cow!
The reason many places have the customer swipe their own cards is to protect themselves from any complaint such as theft (card switching) or misuse or forgetting the card or whatever. However they should have a clear sign stating either “We swipe the card” or “Customer swipe their own card” to avoid any confusion.
Bang on BT. People don’t realize that it’s there to protect them. Chip cards are to be inserted by the card holder, and should be swiped by the card holder as well. Protects the customer as well as the store.
the thing is some of these foul fucks have bigger issues to deal with than taking an extra 0.8 seconds out of their busy days to swipe a little more slowly
Those “foul fucks” are customers. Is it too much to assist them in parting with their money? If you have a problem with that GET OUT OF RETAIL
And so, OP, when everyone does all this themselves (“for their own protection” (snicker))…what exactly is your job again? bag boy?
In fact, nothing gives me more pleasure than using the new “self” checkouts that do away with the unsmiling and miserable visages of till-wallas…
Like the ABM that keep us from having to deal with flunky tellers…
i am not talking about a civil transaction of funds from buyer and seller i am talking about people that are angry with their lives and feel that it’s necessary too drag you down in their misery; two completely different things; did a short stint in retail and i know the difference between legitimate interac/credit problems and asshole like behavior
I pay with cash most times… was behind a man the other day at a store who swiped his debit card 8 times and every time it said debit canceled so he ended up paying by visa and the card worked fine.
Bon then you have the people who take five minutes to count it out to the last penny, LOL. $1.25, 30, 35, 45, 50, 75, 80, 85, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99.
Hay Kay: why don’t all CSRs just pull their drawers down, bend over and let the customer stick their collective dicks up their asses.
People working in customer service are people too, you know. I know you think they’re shit on your shoe, but some are actually intelligent human beings who have to put up with an enormous amount of shit. And yes, they’re allowed to bitch about it too.
No no, Kitty. Kay has spoken. If you don’t like some aspect of your job, get a new one. It’s just that simple. Especially right now, especially in this city. Right? Right?
Swipe – LOL
It’s a stupid bitch, kitty. It’s like a Tim Horton’s worker complaining about having to make coffee. Why so defensive? Is this YOUR bitch? Nowhere did I say the CSR ought to get fucked by the customer… did you READ this bitch? Going on about how fucked a customer is in expecting the CSR to assist them in parting with their money…? I argue that’s EXACTLY what the CSR’s job is. The smiling, the bagging, the name tag and “have a nice day” are all just fluff that leads to the TRANSACTION yet the transaction is what this CSR has a problem with. My advice is sound and involves no dick, I’m sure, to your disappointment.
Why do you say I think CSR’s are “shit on my shoe”? Admit it. You’re just another sheep who ought to think the worst of kay… because… who the fuck knows? Try for an original thought and have a nice day.
Actually, kay, the credit card companies and banks expect you to swipe it yourself, and most companies will train their employees to make the customer swipe it. Customers are capable of doing this. It’s not unreasonable to expect somebody in this day in age to swipe a debit card reasonably and listen to direction.
The reason for it? It’s S-A-F-E-R. A surprising amount of all credit/debit card fraud is perpetrated by the CSRs who take your payments.
Regardless of who is doing what there is just absolutely no need to be rude. It is my personal belief that people who treat workers in the service industry with disrepect are inately unhappy and perhaps experiencing blatent disrespect in their own lives. Sad, sad people.
Since customers are required to swipe their own ATM cards when purchasing, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be capable of swiping their own credit cards to make a purchase. Seems like both parties were making an issue out of a non-issue!
ah… I hate it when people fast over and over again as well.
All cranky cause they haven’t eaten anything…
I love how kay thinks she’s always right when she’s usually wrong. It makes for great laughs and a reinforcement that she’s just dumb.
Exactally – i think you should demand to swipe your own card. How do you think people get your stripe info – it’s in their hand and takes a split second to run it through a second reader and get your info . It’s for your own protection is correct. And if you don’t like “CSR’S” – stop attending to their business and using their services . Really man . Learn to swipe your own card and help prevent yourself from being a victim of fraud.
I’m ambivalent… I partly think that customer service is exactly that, Customer Service, unless the person is way-over-the-top rude. I also feel that you should be able to at least bite back a bit (Oh, Yes it IS a VISA, you are in GRADE TWO Reading, GOOD FOR YOU!!)
If the person is being reasonably cooperative, albeit condescending in this case, TRY to thank yourself that you aren’t that kind of asshole and do your job, suck it up, and go home and kick the cat, since shit flows downhill (JUST KIDDING).
Lots of people feel better about themselves by being rude to service personnel, or feel that they don’t need to lower themselves to be nice to a peon, I don’t know; either way I have had my share of buttheads be rude solely because they can. Life goes on, just don;t become one of them.
even the bank has me swipe my own card at the teller.
A whole five times a day? wow. Maybe you should swipe the card… isn’t that why they pay you the big bucks?
What’s with all this, “it’s your job” business.
The point is that it is not, in fact, our job. The machines are set up so that customers can easily and safely do it theirselves.
Cash employees get spoken to in the most condescending manner simply because they know how to do their job (i.e. after you’ve nearly stabbed my in the eye with your card and I ask you to please swipe it stripe in and you just stare at me and then spit out, “it’s a visa”. I’m well aware) . I’m not saying this is true about all of us. But it is for quite a few.
Paperback Writer – not all stores are set up for self-swiping of cards so don’t say it’s not the clerk’s responsability. But really, if you are in customer service shouldn’t you be able to politely tell the customer how it’s supposed to work at your cash? Its not like the next customer knows that you had to explain it to a customer 30mins earlier and that poor you is annoyed for the 2nd time of the day.
What’s next? you want us to swipe the UPC code too, and bag the items?
Hey, that’s a great idea.
And you can concentrate on what, sweeping up? Pilfering?
i think the original point of all this is: chill people when interacting with clerks period; there is rarely a reason to act like a fucking asshole; being a clerk(never again) i”ll do a purely personal breakdown of customers in a retail store: 10% very nice; pleasant and extremely polite;50% not bad ; not rude but basically indifferent;40% either complete bastards or bitches; morons who you wonder how they get through life or a combination thereof
When a customer presents a credit for payment, the CSR should be the one swiping the card and then holding onto the card until the customer has signed the receipt to compare signatures. The customer shouldn’t be swiping their own credit card, unless it has a paypass ability or the retailer has a chip reader, then the customers’ pin is the same as a compared signature. To the CSR who wrote this original bitch: suck it up and do your gd job.
i’m thinking if you addressed the swipee as customer service representive they would say; ah no dude i just work here so i can buy weed and shit
There are a surprising number of people out there who get offended/snippy when you hold onto their credit card to check the signature.
People are never satisfied, no matter what you do, so just hunker down, stay calm and friendly, and get them out as fast as you can.
I have been working in retail for six and a half years. I can only remember about a handful of incidences where customers have been snippy with me for comparing their credit card signature or asking them for identification if their signature has worn off the back of their card. Lots of the time, the customer has actually written “ASK FOR ID” on the back of the card and are grateful when you do. I’d rather deal with a cranky customer than have it come back on my ass for having let someone use a stolen credit card.
I have ‘ask for ID’ on the back of my card. I’d say about 5% of retail employees have actually asked.