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Card reader glitched at a food truck and I looked like a crook
I was at a taco truck downtown last Friday night, trying to pay for my order with my debit card. The guy hands me his Square reader and I tap it, but it says declined. I try again, still declined. I check my banking app on my phone and see three pending charges for the same $12.50 taco order. The truck guy is staring at me like I'm trying to scam him, the line behind me is getting impatient. I had to call my bank right there on the sidewalk while holding up the whole line, and it took 15 minutes to sort out. The rep said it was a merchant side timeout issue and the pending charges would drop off in 3 days. Has anyone else had a chip reader or tap-to-pay just fail like that and end up with duplicate holds?
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ryan_ellis16d ago
phoenix29 nailed it when they said "nobody trusts each other anymore when the machine glitches." That's EXACTLY the problem. I actually read this article last week about how Square readers have a known bug with timeout errors that cause duplicate holds, and vendors don't even know about it half the time. So you end up looking like YOU'RE the issue when really it's their equipment. The worst part is those pending charges take DAYS to fall off, so you're out money and looking shady at the same time.
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phoenix2916d ago
Phones and card readers are making everything more complicated than it needs to be. People think tech is supposed to make life faster but half the time it just creates new problems. Seen it at fairs and farmers markets too, readers timing out or double charging everyone. Vendors get defensive because they think you're trying to cheat them. Nobody trusts each other anymore when the machine glitches. We traded one kind of headache for another.
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