Scary moment when my credit card went missing!

I work as a cashier and I've "misplaced" a credit card before. Really
I just set it on a part of the counter I don't normally set anything
(just to the left of the register) When it was pointed out that the
card was missing a few seconds of looking in the usual places I would
put it turned up nothing, then a second later I found it to the left
of the register and gave it back. No harm no foul.

At least you realized you didn't get your card back. I wonder how many
people drive off without theirs.

You just can't be too careful anymore. You never know when an employee
might "forget" to give a customer their card back. I'm not saying
that's what happened, mind you.

At the store where I work one of the cashiers didn't give a customer
their card back and used it herself. Of course, she was caught. What
an idiot.

And you're right. Someone could have grabbed it and taken off with it.

I would have been livid. Where you did not raise your voice, the
entire neighborhood might have been able to hear me. Most companies
train their employees to take the card, do the transaction and give it
back, never letting the card leave their hand. I would be willing to
bet McDonald's has a system like that in place also. The woman should
have apologized. That is pretty inexcuseable.

I'd hate to read the letter if you happened to lose a child in your
care. Now that's high drama! Use cash. Why do people use credit
cards for little teeny, tiny purchases? Cash works just fine. I
know, you get POINTS, but whatever, use cash. Life is much simpler
when you do.

This is gonna sound awful, I know. But I have yet to use a credit card
for fast food.

Yes, you are right to feel it was mishandled. I'm sure if the person
realized it was so upsetting, they'd have apologized and this wouldn't
be an issue.

I doubt they took the card someplace and charged up a ton of stuff. I
just think it was placed near the register and took awhile to find.

I may have actually stopped in and spoke with the manager to bring it
to their attention if it was such a big ordeal to me.

I was wondering the other day if they accept CCs at the drive through.
Obviously they do.

The thought kind of scared me. Handing my card to one of these
people, and them going who knows where to swipe it. French fries and
onion rings flying around, bells going off, people tripping over each
other.

I resolved I wouldn't even try to use a CC at the drive through. Your
letter makes me think I was right. I'm glad you got it back.

This is another reason I never use the drive-thru. I don't want
someone walking away with my card at a fast food establishment.

This seems like a valid concern to me (regardless of whether or not
she should have talked to the manager right then and there). My
friend wasn't given her card back when she went through the
drive-through window at Sonic only she didn't catch it right away.
She ended up having credit card fraud on that account due to this
incident. So much so that Sonic paid her money (a decent amount) to
compensate for their employee taking her card. It's a very serious
situation that should be brought to the attention of the company. I'm
not saying this cashier was trying to steal her card to commit credit
card fraud with it, but it is a possibility.

I think your concerns are valid. I'd be more than a little freaked out
if I handed someone my credit card and suddenly it went missing, if
only for a few minutes.

I agree talking to a manager at the time of the incident would've been
the best option, mostly because he/she can do something right there
(like talk to the employees about the proper way to handle credit
cards). On that note, I also want to point something else out. In
your letter, you only reference your local McDonalds. Corporate
doesn't know which McDonalds is your local one. It might be best to
rewrite the letter referencing which McDonalds you are speaking of.

But on the whole, I agree the employee didn't handle the situation
correctly. I'm glad they were able to find your card, though. It
would've been much worse if they didn't.

You state that you came home instead of immediately notifying the
manager about the incident, "because it was easier" for you.

But the fact of the matter is that it's NOT the appropriate way to
handle the situation. Given that not all stores are corporate owned,
you should ALWAYS start with the site manager. You didn't even give
this store the opportunity to handle the situation right then and
there when there was the best opportunity to resolve it for you.

Furthermore, you don't even provide any names or locations so that
your complaint can be followed up. It will likely result in no action
being taken at all because they aren't going to take the time to
research it to try and figure out where you went and who you dealt
with.

Again, that wouldn't have been an issue had you immediately notified
the manager.

PFB is not supposed to be seen as a first line of defense. PFB is
where you go when nothing else has worked.

I understand being tired, I understand wanting to go home and just eat
and relax, but you have just as much of an obligation as a consumer as
the restaurant has to you as a retailer. If you weren't bothered
enough by it to take action then and there, what's the point of
writing a letter to corporate?

I'm glad you got your credit card back. I can understand your anxiety
about losing it and I agree that a simple "oh I'm sorry it's right
here" would be all it would take to make you feel a bit more at ease
with it.

I, for one, would panic if my 'credit card' was missing! The only
credit card I use for fast food purchases is the one that is tied to
my bank account.

Yes, my bank might not hold me responsible for any unauthorized
charges (although I think my CU only protects me after the first $50),
but if someone has taken my card for the purposes of skimming (running
my card through a hand-held machine that reads the info), they could
have my account emptied before I realize it.

Any checks I have or pending bill payments would bounce. The bank
would most like reverse any NSF fees, but what about each individual
company? There would be THEIR NSF fees, late charges, etc. They may
even revoke my ability to pay by check/online anymore, forcing me to
buy money orders each month. I would have to contact each an every
one of these companies, fax them proof of fraudulent activity on my
account, etc. Since I can't make these kinds of calls from my job,
I'd have to take a day off of work.

Granted, it most likely would all work out in the end, but who wants
to go through all that if they don't have to???

...it's dangerous to have a credit card/debit card that directly pulls
from your account.

I appreciate that some people don't want/can't handle credit. And
that's OK. But the downside is that you put your bank account is
serious risk.

For those people, I advocate having two accounts. One that's used
ONLY to feed the debit card. Another that you use for other things.
That way, you won't bounce any checks due to a stolen debit card.

On the other hand, it's way too easy for someone to steal your
checking account number. These days, you can write "electronic"
checks with nothing more than a routing number and account number.
Anyone that you hand a legit check to has enough information to rob
you blind.

And THAT is what's really scary.

Which is why I try to only use a credit card. I pay it off each
month. I rarely use checks, unless I absolutely must.

This is exactly why I was concerned. I appreciate your comments!

Did you go in and talk to the manager of the place? If you wanted the
manager to do something, you should have went in and talked to him and
explained the situation, it would save time.