# credit card purchases--sometimes you sign , sometimes not

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-purchases-sometimes-you-sign-sometimes-not/269563>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 16, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-purchases-sometimes-you-sign-sometimes-not/269563 "2004-10-16T18:18:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-purchases-sometimes-you-sign-sometimes-not/269563/21 "2004-10-18T16:50:25Z")

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> [@Roches](#):
>
> (Not that they actually _check_ the signature, of course.)

I don’t see how you **can** meaningfully check the signature on those electronic-pad things – it always comes out looking a lot different from my normal signature.

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**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-purchases-sometimes-you-sign-sometimes-not/269563/22 "2004-10-18T18:16:01Z")

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> [@caphis](#):
>
> For the past 2 years or so, I’ve signed EVERYTHING with “This card is stolen.”
> 
> No one has ever questioned it. Then again, I’d say about 99% of the time, no one even looks at it.

Gee that’s worse than me! I started off picking a new semi-celebrity every time. Tommy Heinsohn, Abraham Maslow, Paul O’Neill, etc. I’m trying to see how silly I can get: Donald Duck, The food was underdone, Go Sox, etc.

I got stopped one time. I bought the first two Harry Potter books, and signed as A Dumbledore. The person behind the desk asked for my ID. I gave it over, he looked it up and down, looked at me, compared it to my signature, and then rang it through without a fuss.

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**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\
**Post date:** [October 18, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/credit-card-purchases-sometimes-you-sign-sometimes-not/269563/23 "2004-10-18T21:25:19Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> While traveling in Florida, I ran into an over-zealous WalMart worker when I handed her my husband’s credit card. She refused to accept the card since it was in his name. Fortunately, he was nearby and could conclude the transaction.

This happened to my wife at a Toys-R-Us in CA. Her signature was on the back of the card, but my name was on the front, so they wouldn’t let her sign it. I ended up signing the sheet they ran up on her card, but the funny thing was, they never asked for any ID from me; I could have been anybody. :rolleyes:

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