Right on the heels of proclaiming my exemplary honesty and forthrightness, from the heights of my elevated equine, Val found herself in a predicament at the Backroads Save A Lot.
I wheeled up to the checkout, to be not-greeted by a surly Young Checker. She had dark hair, perhaps in her early 20s, wearing the standard red polo shirt uniform. Before I could start putting my groceries on the conveyor, a manager walked past, and handed her a list of something.
I'm never in a hurry. I didn't mind the wait. You'd think she might have said, "Excuse me a minute, I need to look at this." But she didn't. She rang up my items and put them in the cart. Then told me the total: $62.78.
I put my debit card in the mounted card-reader. It asked if I wanted cash back. Yes. I wanted $20, to give Hick for paying his own money to buy The Pony lunch twice last week, and deliver it to him on his route. We have our standard weekly cash allowance, and an amount for incidental expenses, but I don't have an extra $20 on hand to dole out. Well. I DO, but it's locked in one of the three basement safes, and not for random spending.
I'm pretty meticulous about which moneys are used for what. So Hick's replacement $20 would come out of our general checking account, but I sure wasn't driving to the bank to take it out of the ATM. So getting cash-back is the easiest way. Save A Lot allows a maximum of $25 cash back, and you must hit the button for $10, $20, or $25.
Anyhoo... I punched in $20, then entered my PIN, and when the thingy beeped and said to remove my card, I did.
Young Checker said, "Would you like to run that again?"
NOT-HEAVEN, NO! Why do people word things that way? Just tell me I need to do it! Don't ask if I want to. Because I'm just enough of a smart-rumpus in my old age to tell you the truth!
Anyhoo... I said, "Why, is there a problem?"
"It didn't go through."
Huh. I didn' hear anything saying it didn't go through. No weird sound. But I guess maybe it showed something on her register that I was not PRIVY to. I put my card in again. Same scenario. $20 cash back. PIN. Remove card when prompted.
"It says Amount Exceeded."
"What does that even mean?"
"It says Amount Exceeded."
"That can't be right. I have plenty of money in that account. Does that mean for the cash back? Since I entered it twice, and it's over the $25 limit? Or does it mean I don't have funds in my account? Because I have way over $82.78."
"I don't know. It just says Amount Exceeded."
"Well, I guess I'll have to pay cash, then. It's not what I WANT to do. But since you can't tell me what's going on..."
I'm sure the guy waiting behind me was rolling his eyes, assuming I was trying to scam my way into free groceries by using a card for a closed account.
I'm pretty sure my bank account has more money in it than that. When I balanced the checkbook with the automated bank line last month, it had five figures. I'm so confident that I have more than $82.78, I would wager my entire casino bankroll of 30 years, plus my stashed $8,600 jackpot! Not that I'm a betting woman, of course...
Anyhoo... good thing I carry a wad of cash in my shirt pocket, because I don't take my purse inside. So no checkbook, no credit card. My cash wad isn't nearly as fat as Hick's, but I always have enough to cover what I'm planning to buy. Ever since I forgot my debit card one time when shopping at Walmart years ago, and had to send The Pony trotting to the parking lot for my purse.
Anyhoo... I was NOT happy with this situation. I think I should have gotten an explanation of WHAT was causing my amount to be exceeded. Or a chance to run it through without putting in the cash back.
Now I'm worried that maybe Young Cashier was scamming me! SAYING it didn't go through, then pocketing my cash payment. Plus the $20 cash back that was on the card! I'm calling the automated bank line over the next few days, to see if that charge went through. I still have my receipt. My card worked fine at Country Mart the next day. For an amount over $82.78. And according to the bank line, our balance is still what it should be.
Funny (PECULIAR, not ha-ha) that this is very close to the amount that Hick came out ahead on his drywall transaction. Even Steven is EVEN-ing the wrong person! We are not a family package deal.
Everytime we get ripped off I will ask HeWho what he has been up to! Like you I truly believe that things even out in the end. And like you, I am not happy to be on the recieveing end of HIS comeuppance!
ReplyDeleteI am also on the losing side of The Pony's $100 and $40 wins, both on $2 scratchers that I BOUGHT for him! Even Steven needs to distinguish the recipient of his good fortune from the buyer of the tickets!
DeleteI've read where the cashier can sometimes ring up "cash back" and pocket the money. If someone questions it they just say it must have been a computer mistake.
ReplyDeleteDid the cashier say "it says amt exceeded? I always thought the card reader would tell you if it was not accepted.
YES! The cashier kept telling me that. Nothing more, nothing less. That card reader thingy never did anything unusual. You'd think it would make a BLEEP BLOP BLOOP or some other noise if there was a problem. Yet it only did the REMOVE CARD sound like usual. I didn't notice a message on it, but I usually don't look once I've put in my PIN and it says PROCESSING.
DeleteStill no record on my bank account of that transaction being processed. I'm going to check it until the end of the week. I have the receipt showing I paid CASH, and the cashier's name is on it!
I used my card right after that at Dairy Queen, for a Honey BBQ Chicken Basket. You know, for research purposes! It worked just fine, but that was only for $6.82. Which I'm also sure I had in the account!
Good that your bank balance is just what it should be, but keep an eye on it anyway. Save a Lot probably has a problem with the card reader.
ReplyDeleteI will check my transactions every day for a week, just in case. I went in Save A Lot today for some Chunky Chicken Soup for an ailing Hick, and there was a handwritten sign on the door saying they could not process EBT payments. That's like electronic food stamps, using a card. So maybe there IS a problem with their card reader.
DeleteResearch on your card or that honey BBQ chicken? Sounds yummy.
ReplyDeleteKeep an eye on your balance. Someone in Switzerland tried to charge six grand worth of toys from FAO Schwartz on my card.
Research on the card. I am quite familiar with the qualities the Honey BBQ Chicken has to offer!
DeleteOh my gosh! I can't even attract a big-time scammer. I'm the $20 victim (allegedly). Still nothing showing up missing in my account. Except $60 for shoes that Hick forgot to give me a receipt for.
You could call the customer service number on the back of your card to see if anything showed on their end. They are able to you if they received any type of transaction hitting on that debit/credit card. Explain to them what happened and ask what the "Amount Exceeded" means.
ReplyDeleteYes, that would be the logical thing to do. But I'm too lazy to wait 20 minutes or longer to talk to a live person, because I'm sure ALL LINES WILL BE BUSY, and my call will be taken as soon as a rep becomes available, while I listen to some horrendous music or advertising. Just like when I tried to get our credit card issue resolved, which I never did.
DeleteI'll just call the automated number and listen to the recent transactions, since the card worked at Country Mart the next day, for an amount over the Amount Exceeded amount. I'm pretty sure it was the cash-back option that got done twice when she made me repeat it. Even though I never got cash back.