I feel like I’ve seen this (meme? trope? etc) happen a handful of times in movies / TV shows I’ve seen in the past - is that really the way it works?
I suppose there’s three scenarios at work here…
your account is closed (i.e. your Chase credit card is no longer valid, because you got pissed at them, closed all your accounts, and switched to Bank of America last year), and you’re still trying to use the old card
your Chase card ending in 5555 you reported as lost/stolen a couple of hours ago, and now you’re (whoops!) trying to use that card because it turned up in your spare pair of pants
your Chase limit is $15,000… you’re up to the hilt at $14,970, and now you found that $300 suit that fits just right
I’m just trying to figure out which one of these scenarios would “fit” into what I’ve seen happen a few times in the past “on TV, or in the movies”?
Does the “I’m gonna grab these scissors from down here on the shelf and cut up this card” really ever happen anymore? Did it ever? Maybe I watch too many movies from the 70’s and 80’s.
I don’t know if it’s a thing anymore, but when I was a cashier back in the 80’s, if the register told you to hold their card, you had to hold their card. And you cut it too. But I think the intention of cutting it was to assure the guy whose card you’re taking that you’re not just some scammer wanting to spend money on his card. I really don’t think the cutting thing was intended as some sort of passive aggressive maneuver as they would have you believe on TV.
But it seems like now a days, if Chase wants one of their cards out of service, all they would have to do is assign one of their cubicle monkeys to punch in the appropriate keys on a keyboard and turn the sucker off.
I’d have to say, that’s a TV/movie trope…I’ve had some version of your scenarios happen at least once in the last 20 years, and all I’ve gotten is a slow blink, “Your card doesn’t work,” and I sheepishly extend alternative remuneration.
But I know exactly what you describe and it’s flashed through my mind at those moments! :o
Under no circumstance should that happen nor any in the past.
The credit card regardless of it’s status is your property. A cashier has no valid reason to treat it as anything other than your property. They are not law enforcement officers, they do not get to determine lawful possession. A cashiers job is to run run the card and verify it is being used in accordance of the card issuers rules.
If the card is lost, stolen, fake, invalid, over limit or any other status beyond ‘accepted’ the cashier declines the transaction and gives you back the card. It would even be questionable grounds to hold the card until law enforcement arrives.
I suppose if you had a store issued card that specifies the physical card can be confiscated at any time and the cashier was given the authority to do so they could take it and cut it up. I’ve never seen it.
If it has a visa, master card, discover or amercan express logo on it, no cashier should ever consider taking scissors to it.
What happened to me was one bank sold their credit card portfolio to another bank. The new bank just told us to keep using our old cards until they expire. One day I was at a record shop, handed my card to the cashier, the cashier ran it through the machine, and then called someone on the phone. She then took a pair of scissors out and said “I’m sorry, they told me I have to cut this up and you should call your bank for information.”
I went home and called the bank and they said “Duh. I don’t see a problem.” A few days later I got a letter from the bank that said something like “you may have experienced an inconvenience in using your Old Bank credit card. In transferring the accounts from the Old Bank system to the New Bank system, we may have inadvertently marked some cards as expired. Please immediately discontinue using your Old Bank credit card. A New Bank credit card should be arriving in the mail shortly. To show you how much we value your business, we will waive your next annual fee and apply a $20 credit to your next statement.”
I understand that their used to be a bounty paid to merchants for retrieving these credit cards.
And this is why I always carry at least two credit cards issued by two separate banks.
Now days, they’d be happy to let you charge a modest amount over your credit limit. Most cards have a “hard” limit and a soft “limit.” They only disclose the soft limit to the customer, but they don’t cut you off until you reach the hard limit.
If you have a standard credit card (silver, gold, platinum), it probably has an over-the-limit fee which they will be more than happy to collect.
If you have an elite card (Visa Signature or World Mastercard), then one of the perks is being able to exceed your limit. Notice they refer to your limit as the “revolving limit” (that’s the soft limit). If you exceed the revolving limit, there is no fee, but your minimum payment on your next statement is increased by the amount you exceeded your revolving limit. But even with these credit cards, there is a hard limit they won’t let you exceed.
Some credit cards have advertised “no pre-set limit.” Notice the weasel word “pre-set.” That is not the same as “no limit.” That just means that they will re-evaluate your limit before each purchase.
It happens. I don’t believe it happens as much today as in the past but it still happens. I was behind a person who had this issue last week at a gas station.
Another person chiming it to say it did happen. I think the terminal said ‘capture card’ or ‘keep card’ or in some cases told us to call in and give them a code*. On top of that we had some envelopes to send them in and I recall there being a $5 reward for sending them in.
Also, our rules stated, IIRC, that you weren’t required to keep the card, they just really really wanted you to, but you shouldn’t do it if you felt threatened in any way.
Lastly, I think the reason you never see this any more is because nowadays everyone’s terminals are connected to their servers so they can just shut the card off and that’s that. Back in the 80’s and early 90’s when a good half the people used a knuckle buster you could still take your stolen/over the limit/unpaid whatever card that you know isn’t good to a place with a manual imprinter and it would work just fine.
*Whenever I got the code to call in I’d usually ask the customer if they just wanted me to try another card since sometimes there was something that needed to be done and the card would go through but sometimes they would tell me to keep the card.
Chicago, 25 years ago, huge yuppie-clientele liquor store. I never had to do it, but several coworkers did. They savored every millisecond of the experience.
I have a ridiculous limit on mine at over 80k and I asked specifically to make a limit of 3k but they never did it. would take me 30 years to pay off 80k lol.
Page 28 and 38 of the Visa Merchant Agreement detail picking up a user’s card. I assume MC and Amex have similar rules. I’m surprised they still offer a reward.
Plastic is more convenient and safer in my opinion, but to each their own. I always carry around at least three cards (one business, two personal), because I miss an expiry, there’s a fraud alert, or it just doesn’t work for no discernible reason. I’ve never had the scenario in the OP happen to me, but I have had an ATM card swallowed by a machine once when I forgot to authorize it first. (It was a brand new card to replace an expiring one.) had to wait several days for replacement.
Never know when you’ll have a power outage and need to pay for dinner. I always try to have two cards and $100 on me any time I’m going out. That much money will cover a multitude of emergencies… cab back to the house, cheap hotel… it’ll keep me safe 99% of the time until friends or family can resolve my challenges.
Pickpockets & thugs pretty much leave me & the wife alone.
Many clerks are not able to make a cash sale and have to call a supervisor. ( Why do they put the newest & dumbest on the registers as their first job? )
I have only been to one yard sale that had a CC machine. Cash or you have to steal it & I am going to watch you now…