To send an email about this member of staff?

[TelephoneTroubles]

I’ve just rung my vets to pay an invoice over the phone. The member of staff who answered the phone and took the payment repeated all of my card details out loud as I read them out to her, including the expiry date and the security number on the back. I occasionally have to take card payments over the phone at work, and we are advised not to say the numbers out loud or repeat them back for security reasons. I realise that there is probably nobody in their waiting room at the moment (and you’d have to be pretty speedy with a pen and paper anyway!) but I think it’s definitely something to not get in the habit of, especially when they’re properly open again.

Would it be really twatty to send an email to them pointing out that this isn’t very sensible? I should have said something as she was doing it but I fully admit that I chickened out as I felt awkward and didn’t want to embarrass her or myself. It wouldn’t be a complaint as I’m sure she didn’t even realise she was doing it (one of my colleagues does it and has been asked not to), it would just be saying that it made me a bit uncomfortable.

I think it would indeed be a bit twatty to send an email about it. You sound nice though so I wouldn't say it makes you a twat

@Lonecatwithkitten
the advice from our professional body is no clients inside the building vets/nurses collect animals from the car park.

But are you absolutely 100% sure that every one of the other staff are trustworthy? Do you have any locums/new colleagues that you don't really know? I take card payments over the 'phone and I do not divulge them to any other staff as I have been entrusted with the information by the customer. After it has gone through, I shred my handwritten note (if I've made one).
BTW, to whoever thought you need to give your postcode, you don't actually need the postcode to make the transaction by 'phone. The person keying it in can just pass/skip that query and go onto the next section.

Good grief. Seriously! Has lockdown gone to your head?

Just leave it be and stop trying to get someone into trouble

Yes seriously and no, lockdown has not gone to my head. I’ve made it perfectly clear that I don’t want to get her in to trouble or upset her, which is the main thing that is putting me off sending an email .

You sound nice though so I wouldn't say it makes you a twat

Thank you! I do try and be nice

BTW, to whoever thought you need to give your postcode, you don't actually need the postcode to make the transaction by 'phone. The person keying it in can just pass/skip that query and go onto the next section.

I said that, I had no idea you could skip the postcode bit! That makes it a bit worse I guess, although presumably no harm done today in an empty waiting room.

Yes, you should have queried it at the time but it can be hard to be assertive in these situations. Maybe she was alone, no-one overheard and she doesn't do it normally?

You wouldn't BELIEVE how many people that I serve in the supermarket say their PIN out loud as they put it in!

I'm always telling them to not say it aloud just in case someone may be waiting to pinch their card and then empty their account.

There was a summer school company used to use some classrooms at the school I work at during the holidays. Once I returned to my classroom to find they’d left several scrappy bits of paper with people’s full payment card details on them, obviously written down while on the phone! I did think about using them to book some flights 😂. It’s not as bad as that I suppose!!

I would assume they don’t do it normally. Think you are over thinking this

Yes it would be incredibly twatty if you.

Of you*

I don't think you'd BU to send the email, I used to work as a charity fundraiser and was always taught not to read back card details. And that was in a room where the only people who would overhear were my colleagues.

I liked PP's suggestion of framing as a concern rather than a complaint. I wouldn't sit on the train and read out my own credit card details via the phone to a carriage full of randoms (whether or not it looked like anyone was writing them down!) so why would I be ok with another person reading them out to (potentially) a room full of random people? I know the risk today is minimal because of lockdown but it's a bad habit to get into - best practice should be followed at all times.

"I'd assume they don't do it normally"

That's quite the assumption! And if you're trained to do something in a certain way, you should do it that way every time, not just because you've weighed up the scenario and in your opinion it's ok to do. That's like saying it's OK to run a red light if you can see no-one is trying to cross at the time. It's not something that should come down to a judgement call, for a good data protection policy to work it needs to be followed properly.

I run a small company, OP, and I would be horrified if my staff read out security details aloud. Not just because it's bad practice but because if anyone did take note of the security numbers and manage to commit a fraud it might come back on us.

As for those saying that you can't be certain she wasn't alone, it's not up to the client to guess if there's anyone around, it simply shouldn't happen. It's not about trying to get anyone fired, it's about good practice. If she's doing this with one client, she'll be doing it with others.

OP, I'd send an email expressing concern as a PP has suggested (nicely worded, PP) so that should there be any issues arising you can say you alerted them. In future ask them how much you owe and then do an online transfer.

There was probably no one else there? YABU to complain without knowing this. There’s a lot worse happening in the world right now, give her a break.

No, you shouldn’t!

You have absolutely no idea whether she was sat in an office on her own or at most with a colleague.

You can’t go into a veterinary practice at the moment so no one other staff would be in the building.

@TelephoneTroubles

"Yes seriously and no, lockdown has not gone to my head. I’ve made it perfectly clear that I don’t want to get her in to trouble or upset her, which is the main thing that is putting me off sending an email hmm."

Well don't then. Just get on with your life.

@Footywife thank you for your helpful input.

Just to clarify (and as I said in my original post), I was never going to complain about her. I was just going to say pretty much word for word the message that some very sensible person posted earlier on in the thread. I wasn’t very comfortable with her doing it (probably partly because I have always been told not to do it), but I fully admit that I should have just said something at the time. I don’t think I will email about it, but I will politely say something to her if it happens again. Thank you for your advice everyone!

I have a problem with numbers as in reversing or substituting so I have to read numbers back when cards is given to make sure it is right. Yabu

Unless YOU are the receptionist, this is almost certainly completely irrelevant.

At the practice i work at if i ever need to read out a card number number i will only do it if the room is empty and i always tell the client that, we also don't key in address/post code number.
However if that girl was working anywhere near the pace that me and my team have been working at the last few weeks i would let it go, she will be under so much pressure at the moment, most vet teams are !

I hope our profession is given a clap also tonight , from the dedication i see repeatedly we sure deserve it !

Well I wouldn't email it because she is likely to be the one who picks up the email anyway. The

Pre lockdown I’ve heard my vets receptionist repeat card numbers back to someone on the the phone. I was slightly WTF whilst also realising someone would have to be bloody quickly to get a pen and paper out -whilst holding their dog/cat/gerbil and not having any bag with them because of said pet- to, not only write all the numbers down without forgetting any, but without the receptionist who had all of reception in full view seeing them.

I stopped being concerned. Especially as none of the waiting room had any other details such as full name, address, postcode, date of birth and the security numbers on the back of the card.

An email after the event when you said absolutely nothing comes across as being a bit twatty. You could have just said at the time 'please can you confirm there is no one else in the room with you if you are reading my card details out?'
As you didn't do that I think you should just leave it. Remember for next time to speak up.

@tsmainsqueeze another good point! Thank you (and the other vet on the thread too) for everything you’re doing at the moment.

@Unravellingslowly she read out the security number on the back too, and it was very obvious from the lead up to the conversation that she was going to be doing a telephone transaction. But you are correct, opportunistic criminals are probably unlikely to be lurking on the off chance!

@avroroad Yes I did think that, which has further put me off sending it!

@EllaPaella yes, you’re quite right, I should have done. Internally I was basically going “Ohhh, she’s reading that out. That’s not great. Well maybe just because it’s the long number, she won’t read out the expiry date. Oh. She’s read out the expiry date. Well I’m sure she won’t read out the security code...”
Memo to me for next time!

An email after the event when you said absolutely nothing comes across as being a bit twatty>

No: haven't we all put the phone down and then thought WTF as it dawns on us that something wasn't quite right about a conversation or transaction? Perfectly understandable for a client not to say something in the moment, go away and think about it and then decide it's not on.

Wouldn’t take two seconds if you had your phone out to hit ‘record’ if you thought someone was about to read our card details.