Desert Messenger

February 15, 2017 www.DesertMessenger.com 7 Credit card signature is all the ID needed SUMMER VOLUNTEERS NEEDED At the Yankee Fork Gold Dredge in the Beautiful Mountains of Idaho Earn up to $1,200/mo per couple! Free campground with free showers and laundry. Fishing, Off-Road Trails, Wildlife, Rafting, Hiking For more info contact: Rich Allen 208-316-7555 richallen88@gmail.com Located on the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River 23 miles from Stanley Check out our website: www.YankeeForkDredge.com Our Facebook Page: www.Facebook.com/YankeeForkGoldDredge Electrical • Plumbing • Furnaces Refrigerators • Vintage Towables Water Heaters • LPG/propane RV Appliance Repair • BLM Certified • Licensed • Insured 928-916-3500 MARK'S RV Mobile Recreational Vehicle Service 21 Years in Quartzsite! NEW LOCATION at 625 N. Central Blvd. (Hwy. 95) Mark & Susie Taylor-Beauchamp Call for appointment! Bicycle Repair • Appt. Only 585 N. Central Quartzsite Open Mon-Fri 8-5 928-927-8787 Johnny DelPino, Owner BEST AUTO RV & TRUCK REPAIR SERVICE YOU CAN DEPEND ON! We sell U-HAUL BOXES When you pay for merchandise with a Visa card, MasterCard, or Ameri- can Express any store that accepts these cards should accept yours too, no questions asked. It's part of the deal that merchants agree to when they become participating mem- bers. (Discover is different and says its merchants are free to request ID and may require it in some cases.) They must check your signature and the card - electronically or by telephone - to be sure it's valid. Once the answer comes up yes, they can go ahead and charge. They can't ask you for any further identifi cation - not a license plate number, Social Security number, proof of address, phone number or picture ID. Your personal ID isn't needed be- cause Visa, MasterCard, and Ameri- can Express all guarantee payment on cards that have been properly checked. If the issuer mistakenly au- thorizes a sale on a bad card, it should make good. MasterCard says that merchants receive instant settlement. Unfortunately, not all merchants play by the rules. Some, apparently, haven't read them. In one case, a MasterCard was used to purchase gas. Both the clerk and the manager insisted on taking the man's license plate number, even though he told them it wasn't nec- essary. When the man wrote to the MasterCard complaining about the incident, he got a letter back suggest- ing that the merchant was within his rights. "It is the merchant's choice to verify or not verify the card holder." the executive specialist wrote. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, says a spokesman for MasterCard head- quarters in New York. The contract that MasterCard merchants sign specifi cally prevents them from ask- ing for personal ID. The card holder's signature on the back of the card is the only ID neces- sary - even if the merchant has some reason to be suspicious. "Basically, this clerk was hassling this card holder," the representative said. You can be asked for ID only if you offer a card that isn't signed on the back. Then the merchant can ask for identifi cation and require you to sign the card immediately. A merchant can ask for your ad- dress when you order by telephone. There it's used to authorize the card, absent a signature. What You Can Do MasterCard wants to hear about merchants who break their rules. Send the name and address and an account of what happened to Mas- terCard International, c/o Radio City Station, P. O. Box 1288, New York, NY 10101. The merchant's bank will get a stiff letter, order- ing it to investigate and bring the offending store into line - or pay a $2,000 fi ne. Visa enforces the same rules as MasterCard. "When we hear about a violation, we ask the bank that signed the merchant to get together with the merchant and see that the practice is stopped," Visa represen- tative states. To report a merchant, send a letter to the bank that issued your Visa card. American Express also prohibits merchants from asking for IDs. "All a merchant is supposed to do is take an imprint, make sure the signature matches and swipe the card through the terminal, to get authorization." Another Rule Ignored - Must Purchase so Much to use Card Another rule that merchants of- ten ignore: They don't let you use a credit card unless your purchases exceed a certain minimum, like $25. That, too, is prohibited. A store may ignore you when you protest - but now you've got their number. You can report them and let their banks force them back into line. But American Express does allow the store to set a minimum pur- chase, as long as the same minimum extends to other cards the merchant takes. (If the store also takes Mas- terCard and Visa, there's effectively no minimum for anyone.) When merchants violate the policies described here, report them to Visa, MasterCard, and American Express • Visa USA Consumer Relations P.O. Box 8999 San Francisco, CA 94128 +1-800-VISA-911 (customer assis- tance) • MasterCard Worldwide Public Relations 2000 Purchase Street Purchase, NY 10577 Call collect from anywhere globally: +1-636-722-7111 or toll-free from the United States: +1-800-627- 8372 (+1 800 MASTERCARD) • American Express Customer Service PO Box 297812 Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33329-7812 1-800-528-4800 (US) or 1-336- 393-1111 (International Collect)

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