September 2023 by marshmallow moons
Every time I stop in this convenience store in my neighborhood, something seems off. Twice in a year of two, I have stopped and my card remains locked in the card reader. Each time I have gone into the store to notify that I am unable to retrieve my card. This time I was 11:15 to 11:30 am Sunday, 8/20/2023. I was on pump 9 in a black Fiat 500. When I went in to the store the first time several other customers were reporting the same issue. Several out side had also reported the same issue having to wait after checking twice when the first response was given it would release and did not. On the second request after waiting what most would consider an adequate expectation time, I went in the to notify the card had still not released. The older unkempt woman interjected to the store clerk I needed to be patient. I'm usually a patient person although I am a former Bank Card of America employee who was employed as a fraud investigator. This type of issue with card readers is a common one in obtaining fraudulent access to the barcode information and chips. It is also a method that some employees who are tasked with clearing receipts at opening, midday, and end of day use to shut down any other sales on the pumps as a cut off indicator. This is not a good business practice because it puts the consumer card at risk and could potentially cause damage to the cards data. Also, it seemed to be following a pattern which may have been associated with clearing each pump record. When I reported this the second time, the clerk laughed out loud as if it was a joke. The two store employees obviously considered the concern of the customers unimportant. I would caution anyone using this location to be cautious due to this issue that does not appear to be unintentional.
