Credit Card taken

whitecrook · 1 May 2008 at 18:36

Hi all

Well I went to pay for soem fuel to day with my credit card, and the woman told me the machine was telling her to take the card from me, and I had to pay with other means. This did seem slightly strange at the time, never the less I didn't take the card back from her (she took it from the machine)

I got in phoned the CC company and they said that she shouldn't have done that, that there is no issue with my card and asked me if I had reported it to the police.

I then phoned the nearby police station and the very unhelpful guy on the end of the phone said, that actually shop staff can under certain conditions take and keep your card, but he coulnd't tell me where It states this or what the conditions are.

He also said that this was not a police matter and I should phone my card company. I told him I already did that and they told me otherwise (i.e no one should take your card)

Anyway - anyone have any thoughts on this, and where can I find out the rules and regs regarding people taking your card from you?

Thanks all

JIM_BOB7813 · 1 May 2008 at 18:39

AFAIK yeh, shops can take your card if it's marked as stolen (or expired?), because it's not your card, it belongs to Mastercard or your bank, if they are authorised to do so.
But if your CC company say it shouldn't have happened, then it sounds a bit dodgy to me!

edit: or are they allowed to cut it up? not take it?

Glaucus · 1 May 2008 at 18:44

If the CC company has said it's fine and they shouldn't of taken it. I would phone up another police station and report it.

zain · 1 May 2008 at 18:48

Report and cancel your card.

weringo · 1 May 2008 at 18:50

Why did you let them keep your card when you knew there was nothing wrong with it?

Azagoth · 1 May 2008 at 18:54

So someone stole your card from right in front of you and you just let them? :confused:

Heliospherez · 1 May 2008 at 18:55

Phone CC company and cancel. She shouldn't have kept your card and had no right to (unless you said it was OK to do so). She may have cut it up, but if she was wrong, you could complain.

Then return to the shop and find the person who served you along with the manager/supervisor & ask exactly what the 'machine' displayed.

Tell her you phoned the CC company and they stated there was nothing wrong, and you want an explanation as you have since cancelled the card and have had to waste time and energy getting it sorted.

It may be a case of 'till worker can't be bothered to ring in items and wants to get home early' - in which case, she needs to be told she's been found out.

whitecrook · 1 May 2008 at 19:12

Well the first thing I did was report what had happened to the CC company so they are sending one out after cancellign the old one etc.

I can't be bothered creating a load of hassle for myself by reporting it to another police station, all I would like is a link / some info and the clarification of my rights if such a situation was to arise again. Now, If that was to happen again, I would demand my card, back and let them call the police if need be.

One thing is for sure now. That is where I used to buy 95% of my fuel from. I can safely say I shall never visit that garage again. Ever.

Steeps · 1 May 2008 at 19:19

Some shops give rewards to staff confiscating cards, maybe she's waiting for you to report it stolen so she can cash in?

Duke · 1 May 2008 at 19:23

Why didn't you ask for the card back anyway?

eggnoodle · 1 May 2008 at 19:25

Speak to the credit card company whilst in the garage and get your card back from the person who took it so you can destroy it yourself?

whitecrook · 1 May 2008 at 19:36

I''ll maybe pop in tomorrow. It's too far away to just nip back to it.
It's just one of these things, if it's never happened to you before sometimes you can be in a kind of shocked state of mind and not able to rationally think of the best thing to do as one has never had to before. However now that it has happened if it were to happen again I would know how to react..

AtreuS · 1 May 2008 at 19:38

When i worked in retail i seem to remember that you could be asked to verify ( by phone back then ) a card and if the person from the cc company told you to you had to cut the card in two in front of the customer.

As said before the card isnt actually YOUR property... its more like a membership card from the CC company who can do what they want with it. She should not have taken the card without cutting in two in your presence however, assuming the rules have not changed over the years in regards to this situation.

Roland0 · 1 May 2008 at 19:39

If they take it they have to destroy it infront of you.

Substance · 1 May 2008 at 19:40

If it does actually tell the member of staff to retain the card then there is nothing you can do to get your card back,

It only usually says this though when the card is reported as being stolen, i did this once and got £50

AtreuS · 1 May 2008 at 19:41

SuBsTaNcE said:
If it does actually tell the member of staff to retain the card then there is nothing you can do to get your card back,

It only usually says this though when the card is reported as being stolen, i did this once and got £50

Same i did a few.. but you have to cut in in two in front of the customer still dont you? not just take the card and keep it intact.

bushmins · 1 May 2008 at 20:08

If that ever happened to me i would ask to see where it says they must take my card, if they cant show me and wont give the card back id phone the police and wait till they turn up.
Being the No Swearing i can be i probably stand right infront of the counter so no one could pay till the cops turn up.

AtreuS said:
Same i did a few.. but you have to cut in in two in front of the customer still dont you? not just take the card and keep it intact.

Cutting it into 2 wouldnt be enough for me. You can still read the numbers.

Berserker · 1 May 2008 at 20:17

True - it could still be used for an online transaction (unless you're signed up for SecureCode/Verified).

In any event if this happened to me, I'd insist on the card being cut up in accordance with recommended security practices (more than two pieces, at least one cut through the chip), and call the police if they declined, and then also call the CC company straight away to stop the card (I keep the relevant numbers on my mobile).

Vixen · 1 May 2008 at 20:32

I used to work for switch authorisations and also dealt with internal decline queries for RBS/Natwest. A credit or debit card is not your property, it belongs to the bank and as such they can request it be retained if they think it's necessary. Yes, it's possible this woman was trying to scam you, but it's also possible that the terminal did actually ask her to keep the card.

I would assume that these faults don't exist any more, but when chip and pin first came out, RBS and Natwest cards would frequently get an erroneous decline from some terminals, and the message was "decline/retain/advise". It only showed on the declines system though, which very few people had access to, so as far as branch or customer service staff were concerned, nothing had happened and there was no reason at all for the card to be kept. I left the bank a year ago, so it's possible that things have changed in that time, but I'd say at least for RBS that is unlikely.

What I'm trying to say, is that she may well have been genuine, unfortunately you didn't see the retain message on her screen to confirm or deny it.

V-Spec · 1 May 2008 at 20:39

I wouldn't let anyone take my card from me without 100% proof that there is a problem with it, I wouldn't have let it go from out of my sight without calling the CC company first!
sounds like the woman was taking candy from a baby - she could have done anything with it if you didn't get her to prove it..