[drmcnutt]

You're the reason customer service positions can SUCK.

DRM

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by tikki:
Yeah, but the jackass that signed the card pretending to be me doesnt know my real signature, and the best buy sales clerk doesn't either. Because of that, the wallet snatcher is gonna walk out of the store with a bunch of **** charged to my card. The signature is worthless. If anything it just saves some companies' ass.

Put pictures on the cards.

Um, IIRC, YOU are the jackass who's supposed to have put his signature on the back of the card. That is kind of the whole point.

If you haven't, OF COURSE it's not gonna work, since whoever obtains your card can just put in their version.

What am I missing?

-s*

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Face Ache:
I'm worried about ID tags in products.

And I'm worried about the baggage retrieval system they've got at Heathrow.

-s*

[Link]

The signatures .. while nice.. are worthless to an extent..

I can't get myself to sign things the same way twice. rofl.. hardly even near the same style.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Link:
The signatures .. while nice.. are worthless to an extent..

I can't get myself to sign things the same way twice. rofl.. hardly even near the same style.

I couldn't either when I was a kid.

My signature evolved until I was about 23. It's been pretty much static since then.

Oh, and biometrics don't work.

-s*

[Eriamjh]

I was a cashier once. I never accepted blank cards. People who tried to sign the cards right there were asked to see ID. If they complained, I would tell them, "You just signed the card here. If it is not really yours, the signature will match anyway."

If a credit card company requires your signature for approval, any purchases without that signature or an incorrect one are not yours. You should not be liable even for the $50 fee they claim you could be liable for.

It would all be easier if we switched to PINs for CC transactions. Unless you have it written down in your wallet, no one can use your card unless they know it. And how about letting us make it more than 4 digits?

I understand your frustration about being the only one asked for ID. But if it wasn't the same cashier who rang you up as the other three customers, then you cannot complain. As far as store policy goes, one was enforcing it, another was not.

And consider this: what if you just showed her your ID and went home and played your game. Wouldn't you be less upset?

[iWrite]

No offense, dude, but you sound like the kind of person that if you'd handed her a $100 bill and she used a marker to check to make sure that it was real and not counterfeit you'd have gotten pissed at her for that too.

Did it ever occur to you that maybe they knew the other people and not you? Or that they were in the COMPUTER because of previous purchases?

Like me? They KNOW me so they don't ask for a license. Furthermore, they have my personal name in the computer database from previous purchases.

[tikki]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Um, IIRC, YOU are the jackass who's supposed to have put his signature on the back of the card. That is kind of the whole point.

You know, you are a real dick.

It is not hard to fake a signature, but keep on arguing if it makes you feel better.

[Spheric Harlot]

(double post - sorry)

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by tikki:
You know, you are a real dick.

It is not hard to fake a signature, but keep on arguing if it makes you feel better.

You're probably right that many signatures aren't that hard to fake.

HOWEVER: It *IS* an additional safeguard against abuse, and for it to make any difference, your own signature HAS TO BE ON THE ****ING CARD.

If you don't see that, then please feel free to keep calling me a dick for pointing it out, because it's obviously not my problem.

(and the term "jackass" came from your post - as in, "the jackass who put his signature on the card". Now, WTF you would even give that jackass the chance to do so, when it should be *your* signature on there, is completely beyond me. Though that is your choice, of course.)

-s*

[tikki]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
You're probably right that many signatures aren't that hard to fake.

HOWEVER: It *IS* an additional safeguard against abuse, and for it to make any difference, your own signature HAS TO BE ON THE ****ING CARD.

It's a bullshit safeguard. It doesn't work at all, because a) it is not enforced whatsoever and b) it is easy to forge.

If you don't see that, then please feel free to keep calling me a dick for pointing it out, because it's obviously not my problem.

I am not calling you a dick for pointing it out. I am calling you a dick for your whole demeanor.

...Now, WTF you would even give that jackass the chance to do so, when it should be *your* signature on there, is completely beyond me. Though that is your choice, of course.)

Again *your* signature doesn't mean dick.

[agentz]

Signatures do provide a modicum of protection when using cards for purchases - it is highly subjective but it does have its benefits. I had my debit card cloned a while back and someone ran up a bill on it (fortunately only a couple of hundred quid). The person who had the cloned card was found with the copy receipts and it was patently not my signature on them which helped the police when the case came to court.

Here in the UK there is currently a lot of discussion about using chip and pin credit card systems - the old safeguard of what you have and what you know. Quite a good safeguard IMO - not perfect but then what is? Several European countries are already enforcing the requirement to enter a PIN when using credit or debit cards to make purchases - the purchase PIN doesn't have to be the same as the PIN you'd use to withdraw cash from an ATM either.

Recently (around here at any rate) I've been asked if I minded being fingerprinted when making card transactions above a small value - last time was in Jessops when I was buying a new camera (few hundred pounds) - after the card had been swiped, my signature checked and my ID checked (local government photo ID in this case) I was asked to use an inkpad to leave a thumb-print on the top of the store copy of the receipt. I don't mind this in the slightest as its providing an easier means of prosection in cases of card fraud - the prints aren't stored on a database or anything they're only held as long as the store retains its copy receipts (which can vary from store to store).

I actually wish more stores would double check ID when processing card purchases - probably a pain in the ass if you're only spending a couple of quid on a debit card but certainly worth it for more substantial purchases. I think I'd get hacked off quite quickly if I was asked for photo ID every time I went to the supermarket to buy a packet of cigs but hey - most of the time anyway I do that and I'm still wearing my work ID badge.

[driven]

Originally posted by agentz:

I actually wish more stores would double check ID when processing card purchases - probably a pain in the ass if you're only spending a couple of quid on a debit card but certainly worth it for more substantial purchases. I think I'd get hacked off quite quickly if I was asked for photo ID every time I went to the supermarket to buy a packet of cigs but hey - most of the time anyway I do that and I'm still wearing my work ID badge. [/B]

Agentz, I agree with you. In the USA though you'd never get the fingerprint part past the civil libertarians though. There would be the fear that some rougue store would use a copy of their fingerprints to frame them or something.
(Sorry ... tired and bitter tonight .... don't hold it against me in the morning.)

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by tikki:
It's a bullshit safeguard. It doesn't work at all, because a) it is not enforced whatsoever and b) it is easy to forge.

*sigh*

a) AFAICT, this thread got started because it IS enforced. And while I rarely use my credit card, I am *regularly* checked for ID (and comparison of signatures on the card and on the ID) when using my debit card without a PIN - which is often.
If your experience has been different, that's bad, and you should probably give the shop attendants hell for it. Others' experience obviously varies.
If you don't actually have your signature on the card, then YOU are part of the reason that the safeguard doesn't work.

b) Signatures are not *that* easy to forge - at least, not necessarily. (Cipher will now pipe in with his "give me 15 minutes practice and I can fool anyone" story. )
And agentz has just made another good case for them.

I am not calling you a dick for pointing it out. I am calling you a dick for your whole demeanor.

Well, I *was* having a bad day.

What I honestly can't decide is whether my tone was a little scathing or whether you're just being prissy.

I don't know.

If the former - sorry; bad hair day.

Again *your* signature doesn't mean dick.

What does *my* signature have to do with the sense in having an additional safeguard?
Are you referring to my post to MacZealot?
Are you disputing my claim that signatures don't change much once you've reached the mid-twenties? That's not ageism or arrogance, Justin, that's just plain fact.

If you want, you can just leave your CC unsigned until you've found your own signature.

-s*