Circling the total on your credit card receipt?

[godzillabox]

Why do people circle the total on their credit card receipts (the merchant’s copy and not their own copy)? Is this supposed to thwart fraud? Even if the customer argued the charge at a later date and the paper slip were produced by the merchant as evidence, what difference would it make if the total were circled or not?

Most of the people I’ve seen do this are (–assumption—>) in their forties or older.

I haven’t found any information about this practice on the net, so perhaps someone here can enlighten me. Do you do this, and why?

I just don’t get it! Is it some sort of good luck voodoo thing? (“I circle this total and by the power of Hjigogoo, it will vanish from my monthly statement…”).

[godzillabox]

@the tangle blanketer

I’ve worked retail my whole life in various types of shops and restaurants and never seen this. Perhaps it’s just your family. There’s no accounting for family, especially in-laws.

I will clarify: I’ve seen it used in retail (book, grocery, furniture, cd) and restaurant (including coffee shops and fine dining) in the last twenty years throughout Maryland, Wilkes-Barre PA, Seattle, Portland Oregon, and Ohio.

Other co-workers have wondered the same thing. Spread from coast to coast, it can’t be regional. Was this some antiquated way of trying to fraud-proof your credit card transaction in the “oldin’ days” of MANUAL IMPRINTING?

There has to be a reason… I’ve seen this for twenty years on now. It’s only now more obvious to me as less and less do it, but those that do must have a reason from days past.

What is that reason?

[NBYodo]

Is it the merchant that does it? Or the customer themselves?

I’ve seen merchants do it, basically to draw attention to the amount that you’re signing for; just to make sure you know.

NB

[Wallenstein]

I’ve seen this too (in the UK).

Maybe it’s a way of confirming that the receipt has had a visual check from the cashier, to ensure it was rung up correctly?

[godzillabox]

The CUSTOMER circles the total on the MERCHANT’S copy of the receipt, not their own.

This, in the day of non-carbon receipts: ie; please sign this copy (they sign, and circle the total), and I present them with a second receipt, the “customer copy” which they then shove into their pocket or purse, most likely in the trash by the day’s end.

[godzillabox]

@e-logic

I’ve seen this too (in the UK).

Maybe it’s a way of confirming that the receipt has had a visual check from the cashier, to ensure it was rung up correctly?

But at that point, the CC has already been swiped and processed, so circling at that point is irregardless to anything.

[garygnu]

@godzillabox

But at that point, the CC has already been swiped and processed, so circling at that point is irregardless to anything.

Don’t use “irregardless;” it’s not a word.
I’ve seen customers do what you’re describing. Some may very well think it protects them from fraud (the evil merchant sneakily changes the amount later :o ), but I think most do it as a mnemonic “I checked the amount before signing” thing.

[Joey_P]

@garygnu

but I think most do it as a mnemonic “I checked the amount before signing” thing.

Not that this has anything to do with that. But at my store we make our cashiers cicle and initial the total for that exact reason… Here’s what they are supposed to do, run the card, circle and initial the total (of our copy) , have customer sign.
Unfortuenatly half our cashiers seem to not be paying attention and just circle out of habit. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to fix a CC total and I’ve looked at the cashier and said “Ya know, you need to pay better attention, you even signed this saying that it was correct”

Then…we had one idiot employee. About once an hour she would pull out all the CC recepits and go through and circle them all at once. We had to pull her off to the side and explain to her that doing that does no good at all, since she’s not actually checking them against anything. This was the same employee that would take all the money at once and check in with the counterfeit marker. “Now Jill, what are you going to do now if one of those is fake? You need to do that while the customer is still here so if it’s fake you can give it back to them”
“Jill, take your finger out of your nose and look at me”
Nevermind, I digress.

[vetbridge]

@garygnu

Don’t use “irregardless;” it’s not a word.

Probably worth a thread of its own, but I think it is a word:

@Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved October 17

1.a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning. Words are composed of one or more morphemes and are either the smallest units susceptible of independent use or consist of two or three such units combined under certain linking conditions, as with the loss of primary accent that distinguishes blackʹbirdʹ from blackʹ birdʹ. Words are usually separated by spaces in writing, and are distinguished phonologically, as by accent, in many languages.

However, it is nonstandard:

@Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved October 17

—Usage note Irregardless is considered nonstandard because of the two negative elements ir- and -less. It was probably formed on the analogy of such words as irrespective, irrelevant, and irreparable. Those who use it, including on occasion educated speakers, may do so from a desire to add emphasis. Irregardless first appeared in the early 20th century and was perhaps popularized by its use in a comic radio program of the 1930s.

More on topic, in my veterinary practice, the receptionist circles the total on the invoice to show that (s)he has in some way confirmed its accuracy.

I am in my 40s and have never circled the total on a CC slip.

[vetbridge]

@Joey P

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had to fix a CC total and I’ve looked at the cashier and said “Ya know, you need to pay better attention, you even signed this saying that it was correct”

I had a friend with a retail establishment where a cashier ran a credit card. Back then, the authorization gave a series of a few letters/numbers that were then written on the slip to show that the purchase was OK.

One cashier turned in a slip for a very large purchase. In the authorization code box she had neatly copied the letters “DECLINED” not realizing what that meant.

[Balthisar]

I do this, but only in restaurants, and only to my own copy of the receipt. Why? It’s a self-check against what I put on the restaurant copy, and it makes it quick and obvious when I check the final charge online. It’s all because of tips. If there were no tips involved, I wouldn’t bother. But for a store? What’s the point?

[fortytwo]

@e-logic

I’ve seen this too (in the UK).

Maybe it’s a way of confirming that the receipt has had a visual check from the cashier, to ensure it was rung up correctly?

I’ve noticed it done on a debit card but I think only for “cashback”. I’m not sure if I’ve spotted it on a cc transaction though.

[Lionne]

@garygnu

I think most do it as a mnemonic “I checked the amount before signing” thing.

At my part-time job at a bookstore, I asked a customer why he circled. That was his reason.

[Yllaria]

I circle the amount on the store copy at a restaurant, if I’m leaving the tip in cash. It’s quicker than putting in a zero tip and totaling up. I quess it could get to be a habit if I ate out more.

[Duckster]

@garygnu

I’ve seen customers do what you’re describing. Some may very well think it protects them from fraud (the evil merchant sneakily changes the amount later :o ), but I think most do it as a mnemonic “I checked the amount before signing” thing.

I always circle the total for exactly the reason given. It’s my mnemonic. No more. No less.

[Nanoda]

I don’t circle it myself, but I do appreciate when it’s done for me.

CC receipts are non-standard, and it’s sometimes a few seconds before I can find the total to make sure that the amount I’m signing for is the amount I thought I was signing for. (Sometimes if it’s well hidden and I’m burning valuable seconds, the cashier will helpfully point out the line I’m supposed to be signing on. :rolleyes: )

I can see circling it out of habit once you find it.