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I suppose this best goes here...

I have a question for you guys. There's one place nearby that sells Games Workshop stuff. So, I went there to get my Tau codex. I also had him order me a DE codex. I went to pay, and he scans my card and tells me it's declined. I know this isn't true. I can easily buy three quarters of his inventory, and maybe even afford the last quarter as well. My card is pretty scratched. I work in a weld shop. Steel dust gets EVERYWHERE. So, I tell this fellow that it just can't read it, and that he needs to manually type it in. So he takes my card, scans it again, and stares at me in a way I perceived as a "hard stare" and repeats "declined." As I'm opening my mouth to let him know that I'm about to climb over the counter and throttle him if he doesn't manually punch my card in, my friend says "I got it" and whips out some cash. So, that problem stopped there. This guy did not end up getting throttled. But my question is this...

Do you guys think I should go ahead and buy my stuff off the internet since this guy made it clear he has no interest in my money (which is odd, considering how expensive of a hobby this is, and that I'm new so I need an entire army and paints), or should I give the lazy another shot to earn my moolah?

Do the basic rules for business etiquette not apply in hobby stores like they do in every other business?

If you want to buy something, surely he has to comply? Seems a bit weird. Maybe you could withdraw cash and pay him with that. Buying on the 'net is fine but i for one hate the wait. Once i bought something from Russia and it took over 40 days to get here. That being said, you can find some great bargains on ebay and other sites.

Did you ask if he was the owner?

If he wasn't, I would have complained to the owner.

If he was, I would have told him that I wouldn't be shopping their anymore.


Seems pretty simple.

One perk to buying in store is the ability to then play at that store. No owner likes someone coming in to play that never spends a dime.

One perk to buying online is you will save a ton of money, but will need some patience. If you don't like waiting stick to sellers in the country you live in.

I unno, calm down and repeat that because it's so scratched he may need to enter it manually. It seems he may have been suspicious that the card was stolen (which a quick ID check would have cleared up but what evs).

Maybe he thinks you have an attitude problem and doesn't want you in his shop,

That was Just Plain Bad customer service. Even when I worked in fast food, if the credit card didn't swipe we would enter the numbers manually. It was slow and a pain, but that was What You Did because the company wants the money.

Definitely tell the owner. Even if the goomba behind the register doesn't care, I guarantee the owner does.

marielle wrote:Maybe he thinks you have an attitude problem and doesn't want you in his shop,

Have to agree with this.

PlagueJester, your post comes off with a heavy sprinkling of "Internet Tough Guy" and if you act that way in real life then you will likely find a lot of hurdles thrown your way in day-to-day interactions.

Perhaps if you know that your card's magnetic strip is scratched as a result of your occupation you could throw that information out to the merchant ahead of time. Something like, "Hey, this might not scan because my card is a bit worn so if it is declined would you mind punching it in manually?" That may work a lot better than putting on your Mean Guy Face and staring daggers at the game store clerk who is not at fault for the state of your card.

Getting a new card might also be an option so you don't have to go throttling every merchant who has the misfortune of waiting on you.

Provided his actions and bad customer service was unprovoked, a lot depends on if he is the owner or not.

If you plan to game at the store give him another go and talk to the owner about the bad customer service.

If he is the owner then he is free to treat customers as badly as he likes.

That is of course until he goes out of business and blames the global economy for his woes.

Regardless of being the owner or not, everyone is entiled to have a bad day from time to time. Thats just life.

Give the shop another go and if that is the way things are normally, shop online.

I find it a bit odd your friend found it necessary to step in and offer cash before you could convince the guy to enter it manually - which means one of you was probably being unreasonably harsh.

Considering your post...I think that it was perhaps most likely you.

Then again, some people in stores are just pissy - there's one employee at my local store who just does not seem to like me for some reason (and I've only been there, like, 4 times and never talked to him enough to give a bad impression). Last time I was there and made a purchase, I tell the guy to have a great day, and all he replies back with is a very deadpan "yeah..." and moves on, so I know what it's like to be a discouraged customer, but since this was (apparently) your first issue with the guy, and assuming you really didn't give him any reason to be a jerk to you, I say you're overreacting - just shrug it off and go back next time, pretend it never happened, and then see how the guy acts.

If he keeps it up, have a talk with the owner or take your business elsewhere.

PlagueJester wrote:I suppose this best goes here...

I have a question for you guys. There's one place nearby that sells Games Workshop stuff. So, I went there to get my Tau codex. I also had him order me a DE codex. I went to pay, and he scans my card and tells me it's declined. I know this isn't true. I can easily buy three quarters of his inventory, and maybe even afford the last quarter as well. My card is pretty scratched. I work in a weld shop. Steel dust gets EVERYWHERE. So, I tell this fellow that it just can't read it, and that he needs to manually type it in. So he takes my card, scans it again, and stares at me in a way I perceived as a "hard stare" and repeats "declined." As I'm opening my mouth to let him know that I'm about to climb over the counter and throttle him if he doesn't manually punch my card in, my friend says "I got it" and whips out some cash. So, that problem stopped there. This guy did not end up getting throttled. But my question is this

I've worked in retail for a while, and I've never even heard of 'manually entering a card' unless you mean doing a hard swipe in one of those paper stencil click-clack things?

Also having worked in retail, you get a LOT of denial when it comes to cards being declined. "No, that can't be right! Check it again! No, AGAIN!" Sometimes people are genuinely surprised, other times they're just embarrased, but only very very rarely are they actually right.

Also, it may depend on the reader but 'Declined' only comes up when the transaction is actually declined. Usually it's due to a lack of funds, but sometimes it's due to a communication error or some other problem. If the card won't read because it's damaged, it simply won't swipe at all, it'll stay on the "please swipe card" screen, or you'll get a "card read" error.

You can't blame the guy, IMO.

marielle wrote:Maybe he thinks you have an attitude problem and doesn't want you in his shop,

What exactly in the OP lets you think he has an attitude problem ?

Dude goes to pay with his card. Employee scans card. Card payment is declined. Dude suggests to enter the card's information manually. Employee scans card again and stares at dude while repeating "Declined" like an obstructive bureaucrat.

What on earth has Jester done wrong ?

Seems like awful service, the kind that says "I don't want your money" which I'm always most delighted to oblige.
People have their bad days, true. As a customer however I couldn't care less ; I shouldn't have to be on the receiving end of the cashier's mood problems.

Kaldor wrote:
I've worked in retail for a while, and I've never even heard of 'manually entering a card' unless you mean doing a hard swipe in one of those paper stencil click-clack things?

There are numbers on the card, and every Credit Card terminal has a keyboard.

Kaldor wrote:

I've worked in retail for a while, and I've never even heard of 'manually entering a card' unless you mean doing a hard swipe in one of those paper stencil click-clack things?

Also having worked in retail, you get a LOT of denial when it comes to cards being declined. "No, that can't be right! Check it again! No, AGAIN!" Sometimes people are genuinely surprised, other times they're just embarrased, but only very very rarely are they actually right.

Also, it may depend on the reader but 'Declined' only comes up when the transaction is actually declined. Usually it's due to a lack of funds, but sometimes it's due to a communication error or some other problem. If the card won't read because it's damaged, it simply won't swipe at all, it'll stay on the "please swipe card" screen, or you'll get a "card read" error.

You can't blame the guy, IMO.

THIS. Everything Kaldor says is 100% true.

'Declined' is not the same as 'can't swipe cuz it's scratched'. I have worked with credit card software and in support of callcenter servers and those little swipey things... punching in would have had no difference if it was actually DECLINED.

If it was declined, it was not the cashier's fault and manually punching it in (which no one ever does anywhere) wouldn't have worked. It may have meant their system was down, or the bank screwed up, but declined is declined. And there is plenty of valid reasons to be skeptical of people using suspicious cards because if the charge becomes contested the store will probably be forced to eat it.

On the other hand, the OPs reaction and post shows he has poor judgement and a temper problem and lacks social skills if he was literally going to commit a felony over buying toy soldiers. People like that ooze anger and bad attitude and are generally unpleasant to be around... Oh yeah, you can buy out thier entire inventory Mr. Monopoly with your top hat and cane, no one cares. Most people with jobs and any amount of savings can do that but why would we? To prove a point about a credit card being declined?

Highly skeptical about the OPs description of the situation, next time bring cash since many small businesses have older or not up to date CC stuff and CC transactions harm small businesses. Be a pal since you have so much money and pay in cash and save that owner 3%

Hyd wrote:

marielle wrote:Maybe he thinks you have an attitude problem and doesn't want you in his shop,

What exactly in the OP lets you think he has an attitude problem ?

I'm guessing it was this part

PlagueJester wrote: As I'm opening my mouth to let him know that I'm about to climb over the counter and throttle him if he doesn't manually punch my card in...

Because this is such a perfectly normal course of action when one is told that one's credit card is denied.

well, one time my card got declined but I knew I had the cash, it was just because something was wrong with their machine (had some sort of 3rd party machine) so it didnt scan properly... maybe that was the same in your case?

BewareOfTom wrote:well, one time my card got declined but I knew I had the cash, it was just because something was wrong with their machine (had some sort of 3rd party machine) so it didnt scan properly... maybe that was the same in your case?

Sounds like a perfectly reasonable explanation that does not require throttling to solve.

Ma55ter_fett wrote:

Hyd wrote:

marielle wrote:Maybe he thinks you have an attitude problem and doesn't want you in his shop,

What exactly in the OP lets you think he has an attitude problem ?

I'm guessing it was this part

PlagueJester wrote: As I'm opening my mouth to let him know that I'm about to climb over the counter and throttle him if he doesn't manually punch my card in...

Because this is such a perfectly normal course of action when one is told that one's credit card is denied.

Also, this:

PlagueJester wrote: I can easily buy three quarters of his inventory, and maybe even afford the last quarter as well.

as well as

PlagueJester wrote:...my friend says "I got it" and whips out some cash.

If your friend's reacting in that way, in such an automatic and seemingly knowing fashion, you may want to take a step back and think about how you where really acting.

nkelsch wrote:If it was declined, it was not the cashier's fault and manually punching it in (which no one ever does anywhere) wouldn't have worked.

FWIW some places still do - the bar I frequent, for example, will when my card screws up. It costs them a little extra on the transaction, but it's enough to keep my business. The employee may have been forbidden from punching in cards manually because they do make less money on the transaction. There's another store I frequent that's like that.

(something about me demagnetizes my card once every 6 months or so...)

yeah, depends how old the card is too, coulda just been worn out

It is unreasonable to get angry or agressive with the cashier... This is a good article:

http://confessionsofcashier.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-didnt-my-credit-card-work.html

Why Didn't My Credit Card Work?
Over half of our customers use credit cards to buy their stuff. Many times those credit cards will decline.

The register will only tell us the most basic reasons it declined, such as 'insufficient funds' or something like that.

Why is it that when a customer's credit card declines, they demand to know the exact reason it declined?

Once a card declines, I hear many of these phrases from customers:

"What's wrong with your machine?"
"But I just deposited $100 in there earlier!"
"Declined? No, that's impossible. Try it again."
"There's nothing wrong with my card, you must have done something wrong."

And my personal favorite:

"Give me my card back, you don't know what you're doing."

Sometimes we even get a message on the screen that says for us to destroy the card, which usually means it was reported lost or stolen. Whenever it tells me to destroy the card, the customer that has it always looks like a hardened criminal, so I end up just giving it back to them to avoid me getting kicked in the throat.

As for everyone else, I don't know why your card doesn't work. My register doesn't give me your daily bank statement every time I run it. Don't give me a problem about it, just leave quietly, call your bank and find out yourself what's wrong with your card. Maybe you bought too much midget porn and didn't realize it.

Demagnitized cards and damaged cards which won't swipe do not return a DECLINED code.

For those that think I was being hostile, perhaps you should read my post. It's a GREAT place to start before commenting. Really. If you read it, it's pretty much as Hyd said. I told the guy the card was scratched first, and that he'd have to manually enter it. And /then/ he swiped it again.

As for me being denied by lack of funds, it's a bit silly for you to think you know my account better than me. I've been saving for quite some time. I should think $1500 could cover a codex. But hey, maybe they cost more where you're from?

As for the owner vs employee argument, I had made a poor assumption there. Due to the size of the store, I had assumed there wouldn't be employees. I was wrong, and I met the owner today. Great guy. He's getting my business.

And my friend reacted that way because we cover each other like that all the time. He's had less in his pocket than he thought, and I immediately covered it.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

nkelsch wrote:

Demagnitized cards and damaged cards which won't swipe do not return a DECLINED code.

Then he lied about the result.

PlagueJester wrote:For those that think I was being hostile, perhaps you should read my post. It's a GREAT place to start before commenting. Really. If you read it, it's pretty much as Hyd said. I told the guy the card was scratched first, and that he'd have to manually enter it. And /then/ he swiped it again.

As for me being denied by lack of funds, it's a bit silly for you to think you know my account better than me. I've been saving for quite some time. I should think $1500 could cover a codex. But hey, maybe they cost more where you're from?

As for the owner vs employee argument, I had made a poor assumption there. Due to the size of the store, I had assumed there wouldn't be employees. I was wrong, and I met the owner today. Great guy. He's getting my business.

And my friend reacted that way because we cover each other like that all the time. He's had less in his pocket than he thought, and I immediately covered it.




Automatically Appended Next Post:

nkelsch wrote:

Demagnitized cards and damaged cards which won't swipe do not return a DECLINED code.

Then he lied about the result.

Well, we con only go off of wht you said in your OP and what you are saying now.
And IMO you do come of as hostile.



...

PlagueJester wrote:

nkelsch wrote:

Demagnitized cards and damaged cards which won't swipe do not return a DECLINED code.

Then he lied about the result.

uh huh... because he is part of a grand conspiracy to prevent you from spending your millions you rack up at your welding shop.

If you know you are so amazingly right about your line of work damaging your credit card and you need it to spend your lavish monies, maybe you should get a better wallet or a protective sleeve for your platinum card so this type of thing doesn't happen and you don't get dragged to prison throttling cashiers everywhere you go?

Invest in:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012V77Q6?ie=UTF8&tag=giftideas02-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0012V77Q6
or
http://www.idstronghold.com/Secure-Sleeves-for-ID-Payment-Cards-IDSH1003-001-/productinfo/IDSH1003-001/

No, the truth is no one lied, it is not a conspiracy and your card was declined... call your bank and find out why, if anything it was probably just an outage which happens sometimes.

You're right, nkelsch. I have no idea about any of my funding. May I have your number so I can contact you before I buy anything in the future?

PlagueJester wrote:You're right, nkelsch. I have no idea about any of my funding. May I have your number so I can contact you before I buy anything in the future?

You don't have any idea about your funding because you are not tuned into every credit card service, 3rd party, communication line and your own bank at all times... So you actually *DON'T* have a clue at any time what is going on with your money because in the electronic age we are in right now you can't be aware of every outage world wide at all times which may cause your bank to not be able to authorize a charge...

I can't imagine why anyone would think the OP has an attitude problem. Oh wait. I just read his posts.

I think this thread has come to a good ending point.

Goodnight everybody!

My card has a very moody magnetic strip, and I frequently need to have folks enter it in manually. No big problem, never ran into a place that wouldn't do it if needed. If there is ever a problem reading the strip then it never says "declined" because it wouldn't know where to try to get the money from in order to be declined. If the strip doesn't work, then the process to be declined never starts. If it cannot read it will say "cannot read".

"Declined" doesn't mean that you didn't have the funds in your account to cover the purchase.

"Declined" means that the Point-of-Sale device was unable to verify that you have the funds in your acount to cover the purchase for any number of reasons and therefore was unable to authorize the transaction.

One of the reasons usually is "no funds". What has been the most common cause for me (and I have only had a few transactions declined) is that there is a daily "transaction" limit on my account. If I spend more than $1500 a day on the card it would say "declined". Again, it was not a case of me not having the money. It was a case of my bank protecting me in case the card was stolen. Turns out I didn't have to strangle the poor guy at the furniture store though because he couldn't fix my declined card. I was able to call my bank, they verified that it was really me spending almost $2000 on a couch, raised my limit for the day and saved the poor salesman from death. The safety protocol prevented the POS device from verifying that I had the funds and to authorize the transaction.

There are plenty of reasons why cards get declined even though funds are there. Communication errors, security protocols, whatever. But since you already aquired an aching for the strangeling and didn't call your bank, you will never know. We will just stick with the "idiot didn't want my money, so he made up a lie instead of actually selling me something" explanation.

tl;dr

Cool story bro.

Get a new card. Stop pestering store clerks.