Paying by card and shop people not showing the price amount on tap terminal thing

[MucozadeOnLucozade]

So we have a local fish and chip shop and everytime I go to pay they type amount into that portable thing you tap card on and hold it out so you can't see amount on the screen.

It really annoys me because if they have made an error you could be tapping out anything!

In this situation do you?

1. Ask them to show you the amount?
2. Be cool about it, they know what they're doing!

@RosettaTheGardenFairy

You've really got me thinking now, maybe I'm being totally daft. Do you get paid into account A and then do your shopping from account B, and transfer between the 2 as and when you need the funds?

Yes. My "main" current account has a few thousand in, and is where my wages go in and standing orders/direct debits come out from. The debit card never leaves the house.

I go out with 2 cards.

One a credit card for supermarkets, clothes shops, petrol, DIY shops etc, for bigger purchases and which isn't contactless, so needs a PIN and I only use it in reputable places where I can see the till prices etc. I earn points on it and pay it off in full monthly so costs me nothing and I get protection if a firm goes bankrupt or refuses to refund faulty goods where the cost is over £100.

The other is a debit card with a different bank (Monzo) for small purchases on contactless which I use for street markets, takeaways, small shops with cheap card readers, bars, etc. There's never more than £50 on it and I top it up when I've spent a bit to get it back to £50. I get notifications pinged to my mobile when I use it, almost instantaneously, it usually pings whilst I'm still at the counter, so I can see immediately what they've charged if they're using a hand held without a screen or where the numbers are too small (I don't always have my reading glasses out).

Works well overall, just have to get into the habit of choosing the right card out of the two. The Monzo app shows your balance so prompts you to do a transfer if it's getting low.

it is a contactless card,
i was relieved that Covid came and i had an excuse Not to pass my card over

I always ask for a receipt (yes, I'm that person) especially if I haven't seen the amount. But it's perfectly fine to ask to see the amount.

Years ago my card was declined because the sales assistant had tried to charge me something like £2600 instead of £26. It was lucky I didn't have to nigh in my account for it to go through.

I went to buy some medication once and instead if entering £8.90, the pharmacy assistant entered £89,000. I didn't even notice and just put in my pin before realising it was the wrong amount..
Luckily I didn't have £89k sitting on my bank account and it was declined.
But it was a lesson learned and I always check now

Okay so what's your response sentence? I might just snatch it out their hands and tut.

Anyone remember this?

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/veggie-burger-york-kebab-refund-b2276455.html

All SumUp readers have a display that shows the amount.

Either the retailer has placed it in a way that you can’t see the screen or are using a system such as Square or an integrated point of sale where the till display should be visible

It’s surprising how many people just pay without looking at what is being charged. Especially as I’m charging people as trader at an event, and they won’t necessarily be able to contact us afterwards

We do have contact details on the receipt email/text - which people also decline

If it’s a young child being allowed to pay themselves then I’ll make a point of asking / telling them to read the display - they don’t care as long as they are getting their thing and the excitement of paying, but it’s a habit to get them started on

It's the Square card readers

How do you know they're not looking at it, are you not turning the device forward facing for them to see?

I either hold it in my hand held out to them, with the display facing them, and when connectivity is tricky may have a preferred spot that it works best, and may ask the customer to lean in to that spot

A sale is secured, tell them the total & type it in…….

Some are waving their card while the screen is showing ‘connecting’, many are talking to someone while taking the card out and waving it
Few actually look

I always ask for the total and I always ask for a receipt. Even in M&S when I use my Sparks card and an email is generated I still ask for a receipt. For example a couple of weeks ago I selected 3 pieces of fish for £12 together with several other items. I glanced down at receipt and the discount on the fish wasn’t there. As I was able to query this and get it sorted there and then there wasn’t a problem. However, if I only noticed it later at home while looking at my emails I wouldn’t have taken a bus journey to query it. As for the finger over the total I wouldn’t accept that. Just say “I can’t see the total”.

It’s surprising how many people just pay without looking at what is being charged

I'm amazed how many people will sign something because they're asked to and just do it without reading what they're signing! Seen it many times. For example, taking out credit "sign here, initial here, here and here" and people have no idea what they've agreed to! And tick here to accept Ts and Cs... many people just blindly tick the box to continue and may find those Ts and Cs could trip them up later.

Its not rude to read what you're signing up to and it's not rude to check the amount you're tapping your card to pay. People can and do make mistakes, we're all human.

I remember going to the dentist and they asked me to sign something... I stood reading the writing first which wasn't much and receptionist got irritated.

That's really scary! I think people forget its up to £100 on the tap now? I think it used to be £20.

I changed mine to 80. I thought if my card was stolen they'd try and get as many 100 purchases as possible so I dropped the tap limit to something better for me (my shopping is usually 60/70)

I could inky do a change with one card, sadly the other bank didn't have the option.

I use a card machine at work and it doesn't show the total after the amount has been put in - just says to tap your card. It also doesn't print a customer receipt if chip and pin is used. Comments have been made but it is down to the terminal supplier.

But surely, if you are using chip and pin then it says how much you going to pay?

… and if you’re using Apple Pay / Google pay, the limit is your bank account

For most app based card readers the display will show, but the Square card reader doesn’t have a display - but the operator should in theory be showing their tablet / phones display

For POS point of sale systems it depends on the system and the equipment. The theory can be that the card reader has no display or a minimal status display with a till connected - and the till display should be made viewable

Very proud of myself today... Went to the zoo and bought snacks and got the device waved in my face back to front so couldn't see the total. I told her firmly but politely to show me the amount and she did without fuss. So I have broken the ice with this all so hopefully will be easier.

Yep me too. Always ask for a receipt.

Omg had this again today, in a pet shop! Was £6 something and she just shoved the device in my face to tap without showing the amount. I tutted loudly and grabbed the device out her hand and made a point of LOOKING at the amount. She apologised.

You could ask for the receipt and check it before you leave the shop.

But then if it's wrong on receipt you have hassle of sorting it out! It is quicker to spend two seconds to see the screen. I don't get why the cashiers are so secret about it.