Credit cards
Apr. 9th, 2006 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
plutherusI have, for quite a while, been amused, and occasionally annoyed, at how people always make you sign credit card statements, but never actually check the signature.
Many years ago, I stopped at a gas station with my friend, Gerald, also in the car. I handed the attendant my credit card then went inside. He pumped the gas, handed it back to my friend, who signed the slip with his own first name. So, on the carbon it simply showed "Gerald" - a far cry from Pat Luther.
Another time, a few years later, while I was working as a traveling consultant, off traveling to another state, I was training another consultant there, at the customer site. Since we had to keep our expenses separate, for two separate expense accounts, when we went to get dinner together we asked for separate checks. We each handed the waiter our company American Express cards. The waiter returned, handed us each our card back. Neither of us noticed that he had handed us each the wrong card.
I got a call from him a week later, when he noticed that my name was on his card. That turned out to be a fun mess to clean up, trying to figure out which expense was which on the card, and for the expense accounts. But, during that week, when I didn't notice I had his card, I signed my own name to everything. Signature on receipt is completely different name than that on the card. During the time I had it, I used it for:
Purchasing 2-3 meals per day.
Purchasing a couple of gifts for friends and family.
Purchasing airline tickets to another state.
Flying to said state and renting a car.
Checking into the hotel.
And not a single time did anyone say anything about how the signature, and the name I gave, were completely unrelated to the name on the card.
Anyway, I recently came across a rather amusing web site recently where someone tried to see how far they could go with their signature before anyone noticed, and thought I'd share: http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit
Many years ago, I stopped at a gas station with my friend, Gerald, also in the car. I handed the attendant my credit card then went inside. He pumped the gas, handed it back to my friend, who signed the slip with his own first name. So, on the carbon it simply showed "Gerald" - a far cry from Pat Luther.
Another time, a few years later, while I was working as a traveling consultant, off traveling to another state, I was training another consultant there, at the customer site. Since we had to keep our expenses separate, for two separate expense accounts, when we went to get dinner together we asked for separate checks. We each handed the waiter our company American Express cards. The waiter returned, handed us each our card back. Neither of us noticed that he had handed us each the wrong card.
I got a call from him a week later, when he noticed that my name was on his card. That turned out to be a fun mess to clean up, trying to figure out which expense was which on the card, and for the expense accounts. But, during that week, when I didn't notice I had his card, I signed my own name to everything. Signature on receipt is completely different name than that on the card. During the time I had it, I used it for:
Purchasing 2-3 meals per day.
Purchasing a couple of gifts for friends and family.
Purchasing airline tickets to another state.
Flying to said state and renting a car.
Checking into the hotel.
And not a single time did anyone say anything about how the signature, and the name I gave, were completely unrelated to the name on the card.
Anyway, I recently came across a rather amusing web site recently where someone tried to see how far they could go with their signature before anyone noticed, and thought I'd share: http://www.zug.com/pranks/credit
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-04-10 04:33 am (UTC)