wrote:
On 24/02/2012 21:20, Adam H. Kerman wrote:
Stephen wrote:
On 24-Feb-12 09:01, d wrote:
On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:13:13 -0700 Robert wrote:
d wrote:

He must be one of those bloody annoying people who insist on paying
for a 2.50 sandwich with a credit card and causing a huge queue of
****ed off hungry customers behind him.

That may have been true 10 years ago. Current terminals handle credit
card transactions far faster than cash and in most cases, don't even
require a signature if the value is under a certain threshold.

Hand cash over - walk out. If you can do that faster with a credit
card then I'd be interesting in hearing your technique.

In the US (and Canada, IIRC), sales tax is not included in the posted
price, so a customer doesn't know how much cash to hand over until the
total is computed by the cash register. Then, either the customer has
to count out the correct payment or the cashier has to count out the
correct change for a large bill.

Swiping a card is faster--much faster if the transaction total is under
the merchant's "floor", i.e. doesn't require a signature/PIN.

What credit card transaction requires a PIN? Those are strictly for
debit card transactions.

I regularly used my PIN on credit card transactions here in London.

I have no idea if a PIN would be required if you swiped it at a
US retail terminal.

d wrote:

Hand cash over - walk out. If you can do that faster with a credit
card then I'd be interesting in hearing your technique.

Except it doesn't work that way. What usually happens is that customer stands
there with a blank look until all items are rung and total is available.
Customer then proceeds to fumble through wallet/purse, looking for correct
number of notes, and that last coin or two that they know is there somewhere.
Cashier eventually takes cash, recounts it and enters amount tendered in
register. Cashier then spends 30 seconds trying to figure the appropriate number
of each bill and coin to make up the amount shown on the display. Cashier hands
change back to customer who proceeds to count it, eventually giving up on the
higher math involved and drops change on floor. Eventually customer collects
things and self and moves out of the way.

Contrast that with customer paying by card, who within certain parameters,
doesn't care what the total is, pulls card out while cashier is ringing order
and hands card to cashier as soon as order is totaled. Cashier swipes card,
hands card and receipt back to customer who proceeds on his or her way.

"Adam H. Kerman" wrote:

What credit card transaction requires a PIN? Those are strictly for
debit card transactions.

Usenet is a global medium. The way things work in the US is not necesarily the
way they work in other countries.

Robert Neville wrote:
"Adam H. Kerman" wrote:

What credit card transaction requires a PIN? Those are strictly for
debit card transactions.

Usenet is a global medium. The way things work in the US is not necesarily the
way they work in other countries.

What's universal on Usenet is that you are required to retain quotes
necessary for context, unless of course, you intend to troll.

You just created a straw man. Is bad debating technique part of
your national culture?

Adam H. Kerman wrote on 24 February 2012 21:35:07 ...
Richard wrote:
Adam H. wrote on 24 February 2012 21:20:08 ...
Stephen wrote:
On 24-Feb-12 09:01, d wrote:
On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:13:13 -0700 Robert wrote:
d wrote:

He must be one of those bloody annoying people who insist on paying
for a 2.50 sandwich with a credit card and causing a huge queue of
****ed off hungry customers behind him.

That may have been true 10 years ago. Current terminals handle credit
card transactions far faster than cash and in most cases, don't even
require a signature if the value is under a certain threshold.

Hand cash over - walk out. If you can do that faster with a credit
card then I'd be interesting in hearing your technique.

In the US (and Canada, IIRC), sales tax is not included in the posted
price, so a customer doesn't know how much cash to hand over until the
total is computed by the cash register. Then, either the customer has
to count out the correct payment or the cashier has to count out the
correct change for a large bill.

Swiping a card is faster--much faster if the transaction total is under
the merchant's "floor", i.e. doesn't require a signature/PIN.

What credit card transaction requires a PIN? Those are strictly for
debit card transactions.

If you're continuing the cross-posting to uk.transport.london, you might
at least attempt to define which country you're claiming to talk about,
because it certainly isn't the UK.

It was a followup to Stephen Sprunk's article, in which he described
the United States. You might read my remarks in context.

The context is a thread that has evolved from one that had Oyster (the
London transport smartcard) in the title, and uk.transport.london in the
distribution. Hence is liable to have some UK readership. If you just
want to talk to a US audience about your local card systems, please
don't cross-post to uk transport newsgroups.
--
Richard J.
(to email me, swap 'uk' and 'yon' in address)

Robert Neville writes:
Hand cash over - walk out. If you can do that faster with a credit
card then I'd be interesting in hearing your technique.

Except it doesn't work that way. What usually happens is that
customer stands there with a blank look until all items are rung and
total is available. Customer then proceeds to fumble through
wallet/purse, looking for correct number of notes, and that last
coin or two that they know is there somewhere. Cashier eventually
takes cash, recounts it and enters amount tendered in
register. Cashier then spends 30 seconds trying to figure the
appropriate number of each bill and coin to make up the amount shown
on the display. Cashier hands change back to customer who proceeds
to count it, eventually giving up on the higher math involved and
drops change on floor. Eventually customer collects things and self
and moves out of the way.

Contrast that with customer paying by card, who within certain
parameters, doesn't care what the total is, pulls card out while
cashier is ringing order and hands card to cashier as soon as order
is totaled. Cashier swipes card, hands card and receipt back to
customer who proceeds on his or her way.

Er, if it's the _same_ customer we're talking about, it's not going to
work that way. He's going to stand there with a blank look until all
items are rung and total is available, then slowwwwly pull out his
wallet, and fumble around looking for his card (even though he used it
5 minutes earlier), then drop it on the floor, forget his PIN, call
his wife and ask her, type it in wrong several times, and then argue
with the cashier for 30 minutes after his card is rejected. If it
_isn't_ rejected, he'll stand there blocking the line while he
slowwwwly fumbles around putting his card back in his wallet, dropping
the wallet on the ground, slowwwwly picking it up... and _then_ start
collecting his purchases...

-miles

--
The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.
--Albert Einstein

Richard J. wrote:
Adam H. Kerman wrote on 24 February 2012 21:35:07 ...
Richard wrote:
Adam H. wrote on 24 February 2012 21:20:08 ...
Stephen wrote:
On 24-Feb-12 09:01, d wrote:
Robert wrote:
wrote:

He must be one of those bloody annoying people who insist on paying
for a 2.50 sandwich with a credit card and causing a huge queue of
****ed off hungry customers behind him.

That may have been true 10 years ago. Current terminals handle credit
card transactions far faster than cash and in most cases, don't even
require a signature if the value is under a certain threshold.

Hand cash over - walk out. If you can do that faster with a credit
card then I'd be interesting in hearing your technique.

In the US (and Canada, IIRC), sales tax is not included in the posted
price, so a customer doesn't know how much cash to hand over until the
total is computed by the cash register. Then, either the customer has
to count out the correct payment or the cashier has to count out the
correct change for a large bill.

Swiping a card is faster--much faster if the transaction total is under
the merchant's "floor", i.e. doesn't require a signature/PIN.

What credit card transaction requires a PIN? Those are strictly for
debit card transactions.

If you're continuing the cross-posting to uk.transport.london, you might
at least attempt to define which country you're claiming to talk about,
because it certainly isn't the UK.

It was a followup to Stephen Sprunk's article, in which he described
the United States. You might read my remarks in context.

The context is a thread . . .

Let me stop you there. The context is in the two paragraphs I quoted
from Stephen Sprunk's article immediately ahead of my followup. If
you raise your eyeballs a tiny bit, you'll notice it.

The fact that you are in a different country from me doesn't change the
need to read remarks in context.

On 24-Feb-12 18:05, Robert Neville wrote:
d wrote:
Hand cash over - walk out. If you can do that faster with a credit
card then I'd be interesting in hearing your technique.

Except it doesn't work that way. What usually happens is that customer
stands there with a blank look until all items are rung and total is
available. Customer then proceeds to fumble through wallet/purse,
looking for correct number of notes, and that last coin or two that
they know is there somewhere. Cashier eventually takes cash, recounts
it and enters amount tendered in register. Cashier then spends 30
seconds trying to figure the appropriate number of each bill and coin
to make up the amount shown on the display. Cashier hands change back
to customer who proceeds to count it, eventually giving up on the
higher math involved and drops change on floor. Eventually customer
collects things and self and moves out of the way.

Contrast that with customer paying by card, who within certain
parameters, doesn't care what the total is, pulls card out while
cashier is ringing order and hands card to cashier as soon as order is
totaled. Cashier swipes card, hands card and receipt back to customer
who proceeds on his or her way.

High-volume merchants are moving to systems that allow the customer to
swipe his own card while the cashier is ringing up the purchases. When
the total appears, they push a button to accept; within seconds
(instantly, if below the merchant's "floor") the receipt prints and he's
on his way.

S

--
Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein
CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the
K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking

On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 21:20:08 +0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
wrote:

Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 24-Feb-12 09:01, d wrote:
On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:13:13 -0700 Robert Neville wrote:
wrote:

He must be one of those bloody annoying people who insist on paying
for a 2.50 sandwich with a credit card and causing a huge queue of
****ed off hungry customers behind him.

That may have been true 10 years ago. Current terminals handle credit
card transactions far faster than cash and in most cases, don't even
require a signature if the value is under a certain threshold.

Hand cash over - walk out. If you can do that faster with a credit
card then I'd be interesting in hearing your technique.

In the US (and Canada, IIRC), sales tax is not included in the posted
price, so a customer doesn't know how much cash to hand over until the
total is computed by the cash register. Then, either the customer has
to count out the correct payment or the cashier has to count out the
correct change for a large bill.

Swiping a card is faster--much faster if the transaction total is under
the merchant's "floor", i.e. doesn't require a signature/PIN.

What credit card transaction requires a PIN? Those are strictly for
debit card transactions.

In Canada my new Visa requires a PIN if used in certain readers. I
suspect if I enabled a PIN my American Express Card would also.

Clark Morris

Clark F Morris wrote:
"Adam H. Kerman" wrote:
Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 24-Feb-12 09:01, d wrote:
On Fri, 24 Feb 2012 07:13:13 -0700 Robert Neville wrote:
wrote:

He must be one of those bloody annoying people who insist on paying
for a 2.50 sandwich with a credit card and causing a huge queue of
****ed off hungry customers behind him.

That may have been true 10 years ago. Current terminals handle credit
card transactions far faster than cash and in most cases, don't even
require a signature if the value is under a certain threshold.

Hand cash over - walk out. If you can do that faster with a credit
card then I'd be interesting in hearing your technique.

In the US (and Canada, IIRC), sales tax is not included in the posted
price, so a customer doesn't know how much cash to hand over until the
total is computed by the cash register. Then, either the customer has
to count out the correct payment or the cashier has to count out the
correct change for a large bill.

Swiping a card is faster--much faster if the transaction total is under
the merchant's "floor", i.e. doesn't require a signature/PIN.

What credit card transaction requires a PIN? Those are strictly for
debit card transactions.

In Canada my new Visa requires a PIN if used in certain readers. I
suspect if I enabled a PIN my American Express Card would also.

Interesting. Thanks.