Sounds like you've never gone to the counter to pay a bill (restuarant, auto et cetera). You just see an employee...hand them your card...sit back down and wait for them to return later and give you your card back. Give me a break...yeah right. Most people today go to the counter and pay their bills (restuarants, gas stations, clothing stores et cetera). I was recently at a Baby GAP while standing about three ailes away from the front counter with some clothes in my hand... A young women (about 21) approach me and said... Sir, I can save you some time and take your credit card and the clothes and ring you up. I followed her to the front counter and there were others there making payment too. However, accordingly to you... I may be offending her by following were back to the payment counter. :eek: :eek: Therefore, for clarification so that you don't misunderstand... I'm assuming that when someone walks away with my credit card and goes to a counter with other paying patrons standing there while I'm still seated or doing whatever with my friends or spouse... My privacy can be compromise by anybody at that payment counter... A payment counter I am not at (in the past). By the way, notice the word payment counter. You know...the ones that have the cash register, credit card machine and the little mints and some scatter brochures on the counter... You know...the ones where other restaurant patrons are standing to pay their bill while others are sitting down waiting for a waitress to return with the credit card. Haven't you seen these types of payment counters? I choose not to sit...I choose to get up out of my seat and go to the payment counter. I don't follow them to the bathroom nor to the kitchen. I dont' give them the evil eye nor tell them why I'm standing in line with others standing in line to pay their bill... I go directly to the payment counter and I wait for them to prepare my bill for me to sign. Mark
Mark, you're definitely over-doing it. Yes you handed a complete stranger your credit card, but after you leave, and after you watched them, they can still charge your credit card again. They still have the information. It doesn't take much to run through another ticket. You're not preventing anything.
That is ridiculous - following a clerk to the counter who is ringing up a purchase at a clothing store is nothing like getting up from your table at a full service restaurant and following the waitress to the waitstand to watch her as she runs your credit card. You have problems.
Only if the food is bad or the service is bad. Doesn't happen often but it does. Hope nobody isn't offended I don't continue using such types of restaurants. It's my choice not to do so (sarcasm). For example, a recent restaurant (1/2 full)...we waited for 1 hr and 45mins to be serve. They then told us they had been busy serving a private party upstairs. We asked them how long will it take? Waiter said about another 45mins. I politely got up and told the waiter that was unacceptable. I then took my pregnant wife and toddler to another restaurant. Yep, I'll never visit that restaurant again. Mark
I agree, they don't even have to run another copy because they have the one that you signed right there. What he is worried about does happen though. My mom once bought something out of town at a vendor in a mall. A few days later someone used her number to order flowers over the net on her account. She did not know till 30 days later when she got the bill and it showed up. Turned out is was the 18 year kid who worked for the vendor who ordered flowers for his girlfriend. So if you are that worried Mark, I suggest you use cash only from here on out. What about checks ? Do you write checks ? Everything one needs is on there from account number to the aba routing number.
Oh believe me, I know it happens. Hell it even happens with the automated gas stations where you just stick in the card for self-service. I bought gasoline on a trip from LA to Las Vegas and I found out 30 days later that I not only bought gas, but I bought 4 tires as well. There was no one to follow. I never went inside the station. I know one thing, if I was a crooked waiter and someone showed so much distrust by following me, I would probably purposely find a way to screw them.
Imagine what is happening to your food on your subsequent visits, if you are following waiters to the credit card scanner. Your advice to protect oneself is well taken by everyone, I'm sure. But, in life, moderation is sometimes called for. BTW---If you waited 1 hour and 45 minutes to be served at a restaurant, you've got way more patience than I have.
Volente_00, I've worked in a restaurant in college one summer and so has my spouse in a different country in college for a few years. I've seen the good and bad...I've heard about the good and bad. Don't assume every person you meet is kind hearted and honest. Crap does happen and will happen. I say let it happen to someone else and not to me although it has happened to me in the past. The issue isn't the copy of the credit card number... The issue is that they have walked away with your credit card to a payment counter with other customers standing at that counter to make payment. In other words, on some occassions, your credit card number is viewable by anyone at the counter that's a little too noisy. Therefore, next time you go to pay for something... Get up and follow the waitress to the payment counter and sign your bill there along with ensuring (if needed) that they aren't being careless with your card. Heck, I've seen many times where the cashier is having casual conversation with a patron with someone's credit card laying down on the counter in view for other patrons to see (read) if they want or on some computer screen viewable to everybody standing in line or walking by the line that's not there to make a payment. I sometimes see how many credit card numbers I can memorize of other patrons just because I can see the info... My max is three credit card numbers memorized. Mark
I'm never the only one at the counter paying his bill...there are others. I just want to be at the counter with others to ensure my credit card is being properly handled... Not put down on some counter while the cashier is having conversations or walks away briefly. I can't monitor such from my seat. As for my patience, my spouse owns that. If it wasn't for her...I would have gotten up and left around the 45min mark. Mark
Life is too short to worry about crooked waiters or identity theft. You worry about it IF it happens, not before. There is very little you can do to prevent it. The good crooks have inside people at the issuing banks and utility companies where you pay bills to every month.