prasha11

It happened to me at OD buying 10x500 VR way back. I refused the CSR (CC fraud dept.) to answer any ID questions on phone in a public place. She said we need to verify you. I said I have DL and cashier can verify my ID with the pic, she asked me to give back the phone to cashier and asked her to verify with my ID and run the charge.
I think because the cashier at rite aid got the scolding she will not do it again to anybody, she learned a lesson! corpotate should have trained her. Hope she will not repeat

goblue77

Yes the T&C clearly states that. It is the CC company's job to decide, not her. Why doesnt thr hipaa law applicable in this matter? Is it far fetched for someone to buy expensive medicine and have her call for the same reason? She doesn't even have to be specific either, I believe her simply mentioning that im buying medication would be violating my hipaa rights.

maksimfa

100% correct. Most are given less than 10 mins training on gift cards, at some stores, not at all, and only when someone actually buys one.

Great way of handling it.

Give you a scenario...

Every few days we would get calls from PD to be on look out for people with stolen cards, or someone suspected of. If we had any doubts, we were instructed to call bank.

Unfortunately yes, in this case, the procedure would of been to...
1. Have cashier ask for ID for the credit card. If no ID, or refused, we would call bank to verify.

Seems she skipped one.

So question for the OP, how much in Gift Cards did you attempt to buy that brought this up?

I can tell you from experience, we very seldom had people buy gift cards. The ones that did on a regular basis, paid in cash, were typically (here in north east) spanish or african american.

If I was a cashier and someone came into my store looking to buy $1k or more of prepaid cards... and whipped out a rewards card, an Amex Platinum, or something else... automatically the radar goes up for fraud. Ask for ID immediately.

Yes, right now with more prepaid cards it is more common, however from day 1, cashiers are taught to be on look out for stolen cards.

Guess what, because if that card was stolen, it is the store that got stuck holding the back, not the customer or the thief.

That is why the posts here are golden rules. Always be polite, de-esculate immediately from first interaction any fears cashier may have that you are trying to scam something, and always be polite.

In 9 out of 10 times that when I worked at Staples we had someone argue after asking for ID or verification, they were actually stolen cards. In some cases, we stalled them long enough for cops to come. The moment a customer got irate with a cashier, manager called the police (in cases where it was about identity verification, or card approvals).

So yes, it does suck that it happened to the OP... but... look at it from the eyes of a common person, not the .5% who really milks the rewards system with MS.

To most... they can't justify buying a prepaid unless you are cleaning money, or hiding money.

Store gift cards, sure.... but $500 and up? lol. Who are we kidding?

That is why, much like getting pulled over... you want to be as LEAST Memorable as you can.

flyertalk77

I'm still not sure what the store employee could accomplish by calling the CC company.
If the card hasn't been reported stolen, the charge will go through whether it's used by the rightful owner or a crook. And if it is reported stolen, it will not go through.

They should simply deny the service/sale if a buyer is suspicious.

HMPS

....And others who were doing their MS at those RAs.

prasha11

sometimes the terminals get a message to call 1800 -- for verbal authorization, because the terminal malfunctioning or the charge is too high.
she called without running the charge. Cashiers should not be required/eager to be crime prevention agents!

itchyfeet123

HIPAA is irrelevant because you weren't by anything medically related. The counterfactual of what the cashier would have done had you in fact bought $10k of medicine is just speculation.

It doesn't matter whose "job" it is; the fact is that in this case the CC company had every right to know what you purchased and therefore the cashier wasn't sharing privileged information.

The fact that you were inconvenienced and your future MS threatened does not necessarily mean the employee did anything wrong. As a general rule, when I only hear one side of the story and it makes the narrator look bad, I assume that hearing the other side of the story would only make the first person look worse.

brito11

Doesn't HIPAA privacy rules have exceptions regarding payment?

Also, reading this thread brings up a question I have - is it illegal for the store to write down your DL and address? Or is it not "store policy"? I have read various threads where someone reported that this information was written down, so I was wondering if someone clarify it for me here. Thanks!

healthnut

No, it is not illegal to do so, although it has to be with the proper intent. For example, if you remember when people wrote checks, often stores would take down your driver's license number on the check. This was to make sure that they would get their money due to it being a negotiable instrument. That way, if your check bounced, they would have a way to get ahold of you.

It's privacy regarding your medical records/history/etc. It sets limits on disclosures to protect the patient by requiring the patient's authorization for various things. It has to do with privacy of health condition/records/etc though, so not really at issue here.

quikie

my wife just got a job at Rite Aid and all of their training materials say that anyone purchasing large visa cards is automatically a money launderer and to call the police and she has seen the manager already do it.

prasha11

Manager will soon be gone!

Those who use Credit card to purchase, cannot be 'Money Launderers' because they use no 'cash' no money to laundry may be 'credit Launderer?' that is so funny.....

quikie

I agree with you but this is corporate training materials.

prasha11

I think there is something taken out of context in the manual or wife did not read/understand right, a word 'cash' may be missing somewhere. However I think whoever wrote that statement did not go to a Law School.

I think many cashiers and the posters here do not understand that purchases with a credit card cannot be 'money laundry' for 'money laundry' crime or accusation the purchase must be with '$, green, cash' and not a cash equivalent

healthnut

It doesn't seem to be a policy that would stand up anywhere... even in court.

Slickw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHmvkRoEowc