Why do some stores now ask for your phone number...

[Wesdor]

My favorite response is to ask the clerk for their phone number. Most of the young girls are a bit shocked and don't give it to me. Then they add, just any number will do. Like many others have said, I just make up one is some cases. It isn't the clerks that are making this policy. If you really want to change things, start writing letters to managers and also to the manufacturers.

I work on the west coast part of the year and when they ask me for my zip code, I give them the one out west. That usually gets a smile or even, "where is that", but I've never had a clerk demand a local zip code.

I have a signature on all of my credit cards that says, "see id". I am shocked at the number of clerks that never say anything even after they have looked at the back of my card.

I don't like the idea of going back and filling a basket full of small items. That is just hard on the folks who are working there and trying to do a good job.

 

[rback33]

My favorite response is to ask the clerk for their phone number. Most of the young girls are a bit shocked and don't give it to me. Then they add, just any number will do. Like many others have said, I just make up one is some cases. It isn't the clerks that are making this policy. If you really want to change things, start writing letters to managers and also to the manufacturers.

I work on the west coast part of the year and when they ask me for my zip code, I give them the one out west. That usually gets a smile or even, "where is that", but I've never had a clerk demand a local zip code.

I have a signature on all of my credit cards that says, "see id". I am shocked at the number of clerks that never say anything even after they have looked at the back of my card.

I don't like the idea of going back and filling a basket full of small items. That is just hard on the folks who are working there and trying to do a good job.

Most of the time, if they take my card and see the "ask 4 ID", they do as. 95% of the time the take my id and compare the name on the card to my id, but not the sig. The funniest was the day a young woman took my credit, turned it over to look at the signature, held the signed receipt next to it, handed the card back to me and never said a word. My mouth hit the floor and I laughed all the way to the car. Talk about security.

 

[Dargo]

Although this transaction I was talking about was a cash transaction (thus my real confusion as to why they needed my phone number) I do quite a bit with credit cards; especially with my business. I know for a fact that Bank Of America and Capital One require your signature on the back of their cards. It's part of the credit card holder's agreement. If you don't sign the card, it's not valid.

I say this because my step mother sent me an email telling me to just put "see ID" or CID on the signature line. Both of the banks that I use nearly every day told me that such a practice is simply an email joke. Although the intentions are good, with most every credit card you are required to sign the back of the card for it to be valid. They chalk it up to an internet myth gone wild. So, since I almost always charge over 10k a month on my corporate card, they are all signed by me on the back. According to Capital One, if you don't sign your card and it's stolen, the theif can sign your name and their signature becomes the official signature of record. If things got bad and litigation was needed, it could result in unexpected liabilities and, more likely, more problems since your signature wouldn't match your "official" signature on the back of your card.

 

[PineRidge]

I've been giving them Junkmans phone number for years. Bet he gets a lot of calls from telemarketers out in CT.

 

[AndyM]

If they insist I either leave with all the stuff still sitting on their counter, or I tell them it is 1-(234) 567-8900 and I make sure they understand that the area code is 234! Some of them are smart enough to catch on, some are just idiots. But I make it a point to make it their problem.

Uh, Bob...
234 is my area code. You might be giving out someone's phone number in this area.

 

[DocHeb]

I put "SEE ID" on the back of my MasterCard in ~14 font size, then sign my name (to "validate" the card) in ~6 font (microscopic) size. Never had anyone refuse the card. Of course, only 5% ever look at the back of the card anyway.

 

[AndyM]

I put "SEE ID" on the back of my MasterCard in ~14 font size, then sign my name (to "validate" the card) in ~6 font (microscopic) size. Never had anyone refuse the card. Of course, only 5% ever look at the back of the card anyway.

Most stores hand your card back to you before you sign the receipt, so there's never a signature to compare to.

 

[tallyho8]

What happens if you're one of the po-folks who don't have a phone? No sale?

 

[KennethBrown]

I really enjoy the electronic card readers that you have to use yourself. I have been signing mine with "John Doe, Not Mr. Brown, Who really cares, I'm stealing this stuff, and This card is stolen" for years and no one has ever checked it as bad. The only store that I have been to that checked ID in several years is Ikea in Frisco/N Dallas.

 

[eanjay]

Asking for a phone number is one thing. What gets my goat is when the store prints out the entire credit card number on the receipt and presumably the store copy as well. Just think of all those bit of paper floating around with your card number?

A local supermarket was recently taken to task about that in the press. Their reply was that they would be correcting their checkouts - but it would take time. Not going back there for sure!

EanJay