So, I’m shopping-impaired. I suck at finding clothes. When shopping for my 12 year old, I tend to settle for “it covers the essentials and sorta fits” and really, she’s not too fussy.
Our (former) nanny really enjoys shopping.
Moon Unit starts middle school in a couple of weeks and I want her to have some cute outfits. A step above the sort of things I find. My child also has a challenging body shape (slight potbelly, long-waisted, short-legged) which makes it tough to find things that fit her properly without looking ridiculous. Junior-size stuff doesn’t fit her well because she really still has a kid’s physique, also.
So, I had this great idea to ask the nanny to take her shopping. For this, I’ll want to provide the nanny with my credit card.
Any pitfalls we should anticipate? I mean, I can’t remember when the last time was that I was asked for any sort of ID while shopping, or when a salesclerk gave more than a cursory glance at the name on the card; the nanny being female, that shouldn’t raise any immediate red flags.
Should I provide a note saying I’ve explicitly authorized her to use the card for the day? maybe with a copy of my driver’s license?
I don’t know if a store would be comfortable (or even permitted) to charge a card in someone else’s name. A better idea would be to go to the bank, get a Visa-logo “gift card” that contains the shopping budget, and give that to the nanny for her trip.
I am also shopping-impaired. The worst part of the entire year was the back-to-school shopping with my two daughters! I hated it, but what I really, really hated was that after I schlepped them around to multiple malls and spent lotso money - they’d come back after a week of school and want all new clothes because what they’d bought wasn’t what everyone else was wearing. My recommendation: don’t go shopping until after the first week of school.
And the nanny with a gift card with your budgeted amount is definitely the way to go! Wish I’d had a nanny.
What century are you living in? What retailer has ever questioned your card or signature? If it ever happened once, you got a trainee, and if more than once, you need your wandering eye checked.
Well, my thinking is that I’ll simply give her my card and have her sign my name. As in, the retailer would never know it wasn’t her card she was using; such a note would simply be CYA in case someone did question something.
The Visa gift-card option is certainly something we could do, though I loathe that they charge fees for those. I’d rather go to the bank and get pure cash, if it came to that. I just hate for someone to be carrying around scads of cash when a credit card is less bulky and offers some protection against theft etc.
If your nanny has a credit card of her own, you can write her a check for the amount of purchase. She will have the cash from you before the bill comes in. That is how most employers reimburse employees.
Most banks will issue you an additonal card or a sub account. I have done this before. Just call up the bank that issued you the credit card. Explain you have a nanny and you’d like to give her use on a credit card and would like to work something out where she gets a card under her name, but you will pay for it.
This is easy to work out with most banks, you can say I want a $500 limit on it. The bank will then issue the account and slap $500 off the credit card off your other account. Be warned that banks are lowering credit card limits like crazy now and you may find them cutting the limit more than you thought.
Amex will definately do this if you have that credit card.
BTW if you do this, try to get a supervisor right away, because the customer service rep will be lost but the supervisor will know what to do.
Side note: that’s illegal, and you can have the merchant fined $500 for doing so by reporting them to Visa/MC/Amex. 3 strikes, and they lose their merchant status.
Believe me, it works. I’ve had many a conversation with merchants who’ve asked me for picture ID.
The whole idea of me using a credit card is that the card company guarantees payment to the merchant, even if it’s a fraudulent charge (their only requirement is that they need to validate that the signature is there). In return, they may not ask for any corroborating identification to prove I’m me.
Almost every time I use my VISA in person, the store wants verification by comparing my signature on the receipt to that on the card. Probably because their merchant agreement requires it and if they don’t, the store has to eat the charge if it’s false. I do draw the line when asked for my driver’s license because that’s illegal, as already pointed out.
And the online merchants I use also require a bank reference. In other words, when completing an online charge, I’m redirected to a verification sites established by my bank to verify the purchase.
This is not true. Merchants do not want to hire trained graphologists as cashiers. The merchant agreement requires that the card be signed and that there be a signature on the receipt. They are absolutely not responsible for comparing the signatures according to the merchant agreement. If the store follows the required acceptance procedures laid out in the card service agreement, then fraud is typically absorbed by the credit card issuer and not the merchant.
I am actually happy to show my picture ID when asked for my Visa card , because I know it prevents theft of the card. It takes me 15 seconds to show it. What is the big deal? I can see that could be against policy but it’s against the law too? Is that in all states?
Isn’t there a bank that puts your picture on your card now? I’m pretty sure there is so that must be legal.
Yeah, that’d certainly be easiest in many ways. The downside, however, is that if she carries a balance on her credit card, then she’s paying interest on the stuff she buys for me, as well as her own balance. Admittedly it’s not likely to be a huge amount (300-400 dollars), but I really want to make sure she’s not out of pocket. I’m already worried about her trying to argue me out of compensating her for tomorrow (I want to either pay her money, or have her buy an outfit for her own daughter).
My tentative plan for the moment is to rush out to the bank first thing in the morning, and get whatever the daily ATM limit is in cash (say 300 bucks) and then have her take the card as well, preferably to use it if she shops at Kohl’s where the card-swiping machine isn’t all that near the cashier.
You might want to be careful. I think they can cancel your card for breaking your contract if you are caught. Please check the legalese on the credit contract you signed first. IANAL, but my mother’s card was cancelled, with balance due immediately, when she sent my sister out with a signed letter saying that my sister was permitted to use the card. It was against the contract, and VISA got punitive damages from arbitration, as well.
In order of preference, I’d go with the $250 gift card. The ones I’ve seen have fees of $3.95 or $5, which is ridiculous when buying a $10 card, but no big deal when buying a $250 card. Then I’d go with cash. If this sort of thing is going to be regular, and the first two strategies weren;t available for some reason, I’d go with issuing an Authorized User credit card on your account. I’d be really reluctant to lend your existing card out.