For the last two years, I’ve worked at a supermarket as a cashier. I started at a company known as “Grand Union” which went bankrupt, and the store I worked in was bought by “Stop and Shop”. Very little changed except we got brand new cash registers, scanning equiptment, etc.
The thing that confuses me is even though the machines were replaced when the store changed over, we still had a problem with the credit card machines. Middle aged to older credit/ATM cards require a plastic bag to be tightly wrapped around the magnetic strip on the card in order for it to swipe through the machine. This problem isn’t found with any other local store we (or the customers who complain about this) know of, yet it seems to follow us around regardless of new equiptment.
When asked (and we get asked a lot) why the plastic bag works, we all just give some sort of half assed explanation about electromagnets. To be honest, no one knows why it works and we just like throwing scientific jargon at the customers. Anyone know why 1)Plastic bags help old credit cards and 2)Why only our store seems needs it?
Well, you must be from the Long Island/NY area…Grand Union (I used to call it Grand Onion…but…well, nevermind)
I know that the Target in Commack has that problem…
I can think of only two plausible explanations:
(a) The magnetic strip is dirty, and some dirt rubs off and gets on some vital part that must be clean (even thought it works by magnetics, you don’t want dirt)
(b) The magnetic strip must was pressed down from being used so many times, and the plastic bag moves the magnetic strip into position (by the slightest distance). I know my dad’s card needs to have two layers of the plastic bag, and he uses the card for everything
Coles near us will often put sticky tape on the magnetic strip of cards which are giving a “bad read” message - surprisingly, it very often fixes the problem.
From what I am told it means the card is warped or worn down.
When you “swipe” the card, the reader picks up information on the magnetic stripe on the back. (Obviously.) The reader depends on the stripe moving past at more or less the same speed and distance.
With a warped or worn card the stripe can be tilted relative to the reader or may move away from or closer to the reader as it moves. Usually it can handle this small amount of variation but with a badly worn card or a sensitive reader it may be enough to throw it off.
Wrapping a plastic bag or, as I have usually seen done, a piece of paper around the card makes it a bit “thicker” and a tighter fit in the reader. This keeps the stripe at a more consistant angle and distance from the reader which (usually) lets it scan properly.
(Vague cite: This is how a friend of mine who worked for an outfit who made the scanners explained it to me a few years ago. I’ll try to get up with him for a more detailed explaination but he has since moved to England and is a bit difficult to get in touch with now.)