# the young store-gal keeping your credit card, or cutting it up in front of your face - true? or TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 22, 2015, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328 "2015-02-22T07:43:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/21 "2015-02-22T21:24:17Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > 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? ) Where are you shopping that your clerks need to call a supervisor to accept US currency? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/22 "2015-02-22T22:13:03Z")
> [@Mr.Slant](#): > > Where are you shopping that your clerks need to call a supervisor to accept US currency? They screw up the register or close the drawer too soon or … Did not say that the store needed a supervisor to accept cash, just that the newbie’s screw it up often… :smack: Or I screw up and give too much $ or looking to get back a five & change instead of 4 ones & change when I should know they can’t do that. Best register people = “Quick Trip” and the worst around here is Wall\*Mart… YMMV ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/23 "2015-02-22T22:59:39Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > 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. This post is full of incorrect factual claims. As a general rule, the card is the property of the issuer, not the customer using it. As cited above, there are circumstances which would result in the cashier being told to retain the card. These are much more rare now than a couple decades ago, to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/24 "2015-02-23T01:00:54Z")
And, for the record, ATMs [that have the capacity] will also keep dead or hot cards. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/25 "2015-02-23T01:23:08Z")
tl;dr There used to be a “pick up” order that the issuer would put on a card. When someone tried to run the card, the machine would say “pick up” or “hold”. The way the issuer ensured that the card would be grabbed was by paying $50 for each such card sent to them. I always wondered if someone had stopped paying (a good way to get a pick-up issued) and then went into a small shop with a half-dozen cards, could they sell the cards to the merchant for $20 each? ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/26 "2015-02-23T01:35:41Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Guys, I’m telling ya’, 1987 I worked at Exxon, and we most certainly did take peoples credit cards if the register told us to do so. Worked at Macy\*s, 1986. American Express (over the phone for a credit confirmation code) had me hold the card. They instructed the store security to pick it up from me. I got $75 about 6 weeks later. Customer left asap. I worked in Electronics, transactions of $2K+ weren’t unusual . ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/27 "2015-02-23T01:35:54Z")
As a cashier, I withheld two cards in the 1980s, and was rewarded both times with a $50 check. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/28 "2015-02-23T01:48:05Z")
> [@campp](#): > > As a cashier, I withheld two cards in the 1980s, and was rewarded both times with a $50 check. I also got $50 for sending back a card. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/29 "2015-02-23T02:17:22Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > Guys, I’m telling ya’, 1987 I worked at Exxon, and we most certainly did take peoples credit cards if the register told us to do so. Yes. I had this happen to me when I was 19. I was young and irresponsible, and the clerk cut my Amex card in half right in front of me. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/30 "2015-02-23T02:31:34Z")
I completely forgot about the cash rewards for those things. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/31 "2015-02-23T02:46:28Z")
The only two places I ever worked that dealt with credit cards was a jewelry supply shop in Albuquerque and a residence hall at the East West Center at the University of Hawaii. If a credit card was ever refused, we just handed it back and said we couldn’t take it. There was never a notice of “Hold that card!” ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/32 "2015-02-23T02:58:49Z")
When I worked retail, there was a difference between a simple transaction decline and a hold card request. Most ofthe time, it was a simple decline the ttransaction. They get there card back on a decline. Hold the card was rare. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/33 "2015-02-23T03:57:08Z")
Most of the time I use a credit card, I’m swiping it myself on a terminal on my side of the counter. Is there still a concept of “hold card” that could pop up? Would the cashier ask to see my card, and then keep it? Or does that just not happen on that type of terminal? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/34 "2015-02-23T14:48:19Z")
**boytyperanma** – are you now in agreement that your earlier declaration was in error? > [@boytyperanma](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/35 "2015-02-23T17:28:35Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > **boytyperanma** – are you now in agreement that your earlier declaration was in error? I’m not sure he/she ([ha!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranma_%C2%BD)) is coming back to this thread. Partly to help you get closure (but mostly to pile on with my own anecdote), c. 1994, I was instructed by a credit card company to collect a customer’s credit card and cut it up. He protested that it was a mistake, and I promised keep it up for a few days so he could work it out with the issuer. I never saw him again, and I did cut it up after a couple of weeks. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/36 "2015-02-23T18:20:07Z")
> [@Shakes](#): > > 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. I vaguely remember there was a printout of bad numbers you had to compare the card to – in the days before registers were sophisticated enough and you had to swipe the card through the imprinter thingie. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/37 "2015-02-23T18:21:44Z")
I did have a store in NYC attempt to confiscate my card in the 1980’s. I was in Conran’s, a huge home furnishings store that used to be in CitiCorp Center. I was purchasing some shelving and had made two other purchases elsewhere during the day. When the cashier ran my card, she had trouble and had to put it through at least three times. I was nowhere near my limit (thousands of dollars away from it), always paid my bills, blah blah. The cashier got some sort of message and attempted to keep my card. She got incredibly smug. I have no idea what the message was about, but I got loud and got my card back. When I got home and called my issuing bank I was told that it was probably caused by her keying in my card number repeatedly for transaction after transaction, one right after the other, instead of waiting for the transaction to go through. I had to wait 24 hours to use my card again. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/38 "2015-02-23T18:38:21Z")
> [@campp](#): > > As a cashier, I withheld two cards in the 1980s, and was rewarded both times with a $50 check. Late 70s I was a cashier in one of those new-fangled self-serve gas stations. Several times I was told to keep the card, but I passed on the $50 as not worth the potential hassle. I just told the customer the card was declined. I worked night-shift, so it was prepay. ---
**Author:** ![LurkerInNJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed655f/32.png) [@LurkerInNJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkerInNJ)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/39 "2015-02-23T18:45:58Z")
> [@boytyperanma](#): > > The credit card regardless of it’s status is your property. The credit card belongs to the issuer, not to you. It remains their property. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2015, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328/40 "2015-02-23T19:09:46Z")
IIRC, our machine said to ‘Call Center’ when something was fishy. Only one time when I got that message was I told to cut up the card. The other times they talked to the customer and everything was hunky dory. Those were because the card was all of a sudden being used frequently and far from home. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-young-store-gal-keeping-your-credit-card-or-cutting-it-up-in-front-of-your-face-true-or-tv/713328.md?page=3)