Protecting Merchants
June 15th, 2009
Given the economy we are in money is tight and everyone is cutting expenses. We eat in more and avoid trips to the cleaners; hard times bring people right back to the basics. When in such an economy we have to look over expenses and look for ways to cut down the budget. An imprinter and sales slip would be the ways for the people actually processing the transactions. Many people would ask why imprinters and sales slips are important to merchants. Well, the answer is simple; a lot of charge backs could be avoided if these merchants have imprinters at all there locations. It would also be helpful to know how and when to use the imprinters.
A painful truth
Here is a true story that will prove this point. A hotel in a major resort is now fighting an illicit $1400 chargeback and doesn’t have anything to back them up. The cardholder and his wife checked in for a weekend that included, expensive dinners, and spa visits everything one could ask for, for a relaxing weekend.
The hotel clerk had to key in the information on the account because the magnetic strip was unable to be read. The cardholder then signed the check in sheet and went on his way to have his weekend with his wife. All charges on the account were signed by the wife. After leaving the resort the cardholder argued his $1400 charge.
The hotel had no card imprint, no entry of the CVV (cardholder verification value) on the keyed transaction. Also the signature was illegible on the sheet and every other charge signed for by the cardholder’s wife. Even worse, the cardholder and wife could not be exposed on the check in video because the wife was not in the frame and the cardholder never showed his face.
This could have had a simple outcome if the hotel had taken an imprint of the card and also providing a prompt for entry for the CVV. The hotel did have one imprinter, but unfortunately it had been broken for some time and no one took the proper procedures to take it fixed. There has been a card brand rule that has been the unchanged for years and years. That is the when requested, the merchant shall provide a readable copy of the imprint of the card.
Merchant Safeguards
Merchants must use every option they have to protect their rights. It is even more important for them now because of the economy. There are so many cases of fraud that are increasing due to the hard times. Some CardWare clients are making big mistakes. They are getting rid of the imprinter plate from their kits because they feel it is unnecessary.
If the processors fail to provide the merchants with imprints, the merchants could then hold the processors responsible for the charge back due to the lack of imprints. An imprinter has one job and that is to prove the card was there during the actual transaction.
MLS protection
Ask merchants to show you their imprinters; don’t short your sale by not using an imprinter. As an MLS you should also not let your processor to expose you to possible lawsuits because your merchants weren’t given the suitable gear for their protection.
Providing an imprinter is the right thing to do. You wouldn’t send a printer without the terminal to a new merchant would you? Of course you wouldn’t. So do yourself the favor and use an imprinter and avoid many hassles that come along with not using one.
