Has your signature ever been denied

[Guinevere]

I was signing my second purchase at Walmart tonight, and laughing about how my signatures never look the same.  Often, they are radically different.  Sometime, I have my dh's card and I sign for him, or the other way around. I can do a pretty good imitation of his signature because it's mostly a scribble, lol, but he can't come even remotely close to mine.  I have never been denied a purchase.  Why not?  Have any of you?

[OneStepAtATime]

You could literally draw a squiggle and it would be accepted by those electronic purchasing systems.  It would not matter.  There is no signature comparison software running at those places so they have no clue what your signature should look like and unless there is an issue they will not compare the signature on a DL to what you write on the electronic pay pad.

[rebcoola]

Never and my 9yr old signs at the coffee shop for me all the time and doesn't even remember to write my name usually.

[Arcadia]

The cashiers never look at the signature but they do look at my DMV ID at some stores. The only cashier that has bothered to check the signature on my credit card was at a mall that is frequent by tourists.

 

The thing is the credit card company does not have your signature on file unlike for your checking account. So credit card transactions go through regardless of how you sign.

Edited January 3, 2018 by Arcadia

[Guinevere]

So why bother with the signature?

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Makes it a legal transaction?

[Crimson Wife]

Reminds me of this NSFW but hilarious story.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

They're not approving your signature.  They're just keeping a record of it, in case there's ever a problem with a transaction.  I've had my young daughter sign her name instead of me, and it's not been a problem.

 

[Tap]

Signatures are only used to show who signed for an item if there is a complaint.  Credit card companies use the signature to show who signed for the purchase.  it doesn't actually compare your signatures to other signatures.  If you file a complaint and the credit card company thought there was fraud on your part, they could pull the signatures to see if there was indeed a different looking signature used. This is a wishy-washy method of identification, but at least it is something. 

 

We have to do this in pharmacy sometimes,  Someone will say they didn't get a medicine, so we pull the logs.  Then we compare the alleged phony signature to on we have on file for several previous picked prescriptions, that they are not disputing.  Even for people who write a squiggle, there is a certain consistency that is identifiable when you see multiple signatures side by side. 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2018 by Tap

[LucyStoner]

Not at a point of sale.  I did receive a letter from the local election office explaining my absentee ballot had been counted but my signature didn't especially match my card, signatures can change over time and I should consider filing a new signature card to avoid trouble with ballot counting in the future.  I did, just in case.  

[LucyStoner]

Also, my signature is pretty consistent day to day, month to month.  The one the election office had was from 1998 when I first registered to vote and was undoubtedly significantly changed.  

[eternalsummer]

I draw a squiggle.

[Frances]

Not at a point of sale. I did receive a letter from the local election office explaining my absentee ballot had been counted but my signature didn't especially match my card, signatures can change over time and I should consider filing a new signature card to avoid trouble with ballot counting in the future. I did, just in case.

We only have vote by mail here, and my husband and I both had this happen at different times. However, ours weren’t counted until we submitted new signature cards.

[Laura Corin]

No signing here.  Cheques aren't accepted in shops, and cards are all chip and pin.

 

 

[Roadrunner]

Once almost at the bank. I was asked to sign again. I blame the pretty cursive I was teaching my kids. I spent so much time perfecting my signature and then the bank looked at me funny, so I am back to the original. :)

[J-rap]

Never.  I don't even bother to sign my name on those electronic machines -- I just write my first initial and a line.  On paper though, I do think my signature changes a lot.  I'm always writing it in a hurry and I think that's part of it.  But, it's never been questioned.  Sometimes my kids sign for me, and sometimes I sign for my mother.  It's never questioned.

 

 

 

 

[Elizabeth86]

No, my dh used to draw pictures. :lol:

[SparklyUnicorn]

Nope

 

When I worked as a cashier we were instructed to look at signatures, but I thought it was pretty stupid because I never knew what I was supposed to be looking for.

 

 

[shawthorne44]

When I was 14, we had trouble coming back from a Mexican vacation because of my signature.  It was on the Mexican side.  They said I 'didn't spell my last name right'.   So, therefore my parents must have been kidnapping me from a nice Mexican family.   My maiden name is long, so I would do a squiggle after the first four letters.  Apparently, my being a redhead and therefore a highly desirable child had something to do with it.  The fact that my parents were pissed at me seemed to convince them that they were my parents.  

 

 

[Annie G]

I was in Houston in the fall at a quilt convention and many of the vendors were using iPads to make sales. Most of them just drew a line where the signature was supposed to go instead of asking me to sign. I asked one vendor about that and he said there's no signature verification so it's faster if he just draws a line instead of getting the customer to do it. (He was right- in a super crowded situation it's much faster because I can be putting my card away instead of signing)

 

My signature gets more vague as I get older and if I'm in  hurry so it probably doesn't resemble the signature I have on file at my bank anyway. 

[Ravin]

Cashiers aren't qualified to evaluate signatures. They usually don't even see them when you sign on an electronic pad. They are collected for records only, and you could sign "Mickey Mouse" or misspell your own name or write X and it would all be accepted. As others have mentioned, it becomes part of the record in case of disputed transactions, which is why many stores only ask for a signature on purchases over a certain amount.

[Wheres Toto]

No and I sign dh's signature all the time depositing checks at our bank.  It bears a vague resemblance to his actual signature but I think if you looked at them side by side, it's pretty easy to tell the difference.    When doing an electronic signature, I definitely do the first letter or two and then just scribble.  It's not that easy to make small letters with your finger on a small screen.

 

I did have someone mention my credit card wasn't signed a few times, usually when it was a new card.  They had me sign in right there and a couple times they made a big deal out of it like they would get in trouble for taking it without a signature on it.   This was in smaller stores that still had you sign a paper receipt.  I thought it was stupid and told them if they were concerned they could look at my drivers license which was signed.  Or any of the dozen other things I had in my wallet that were signed.  

 

Target turned down my Target card a few times right at Christmas because it was "unusual account activity".   It wasn't any more than I usually buy, at a store 5 miles from my address on file, and no big electronics or jewelry purchases.  I had to go to the desk and have them call in to clear it up.  Very very annoying.

[TravelingChris]

No, nobody ever checks.  I can't sign regularly in the small spaces that stores have.  My name is too long and the small spaces are very hard on arthritic hands.  So I know my signature doesn't look like anything at all.  It isn't the same either since it depends how stiff my fingers are that day.

[shawthorne44]

I just remembered one from a work buddy.   They bought a house and the person complained that she couldn't read all the letters in his signature.   It was consistent, she just didn't like it.   

[luuknam]

I did have someone mention my credit card wasn't signed a few times, usually when it was a new card.  They had me sign in right there and a couple times they made a big deal out of it like they would get in trouble for taking it without a signature on it. 

 

 

Yes, this... one time I had this happen a couple of weeks before the card was going to expire... I'd had it for *years* unsigned without issue, but they made me sign it right then and there (and it was a card I used all the time too, the debit card from my primary bank account). 

[porque]

A few years ago when i saw a dad let his 2 year old scribble a signature I figured that it probably didn't matter much!

[zimom]

I remember the story from my grandparents long, long ago.  The bank called to let them know that someone must have stolen my grandfather's checks and signed his name.   They went down to their bank to check out the problem....  It was my grandfather's signature, the problem was they had only been seeing my grandmother signing HIS name for so long.  They asked her to start adding Mrs. in front of his name from then on.  

[scoutingmom]

I just remembered one from a work buddy. They bought a house and the person complained that she couldn't read all the letters in his signature. It was consistent, she just didn't like it.

My signature is such that you can't read all the letters. A perfectly cursive signature is easier to forge.

 

 

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[mellifera33]

I was not allowed to make my purchase at Target once because my signature didn't match the signature on my card. This was about 15 years ago, when you still signed the paper receipt. I probably could have had the manager called and made a scene, but I was on my lunch break and in a hurry, so I just huffed "WHATEVER" and stormed out.  :laugh:

[AmandaVT]

I drew Christmas trees on the signature thingies in the week before Christmas this year and I usually sign with a smiley face at my local coffee shop. :-)

[unsinkable]

Yes, at a national park gift shop.

 

The cashier said something like, "No, no, no. Nuh-uh. Not even close" as she compared my signature on the receipt with the one on the back of my card. But she said that series of words about 5 times....getting more and more indignant.

 

I don't remember what we did...if my husband paid or if I said forget it. But I do remember what she said bc my kids heard her and they kept repeating it the entire vacation. Instead of answering in the negative, they say, "No, no, no. nuh-uh. Not even close." :lol:

 

Another time, they heard a mom telling a kid to, "Eat your macaroni" at a restaurant so many times they made up a song called Eat Your Macaroni.

 

They specialize in how to make an annoying situation more annoying.

[Baseball mom]

Took ds to dmv. Gave them my paper work and had my signature.  The DMV lady told me I needed to SIGN the form.  I said I did.  She told me that wasn't a signature.  I told her that was the signature on my bank stuff and my drivers license.  She huffed and processed papers.

BTW it is my full name, all letters legible. Just not correct cursive..

[LucyStoner]

We only have vote by mail here, and my husband and I both had this happen at different times. However, ours weren’t counted until we submitted new signature cards.

We are in an all mail in state too. Though before the switch, I still voted by mail since absentee balloting was available to all for any reason. I don't care for polling places.

[shawthorne44]

I remember the story from my grandparents long, long ago.  The bank called to let them know that someone must have stolen my grandfather's checks and signed his name.   They went down to their bank to check out the problem....  It was my grandfather's signature, the problem was they had only been seeing my grandmother signing HIS name for so long.  They asked her to start adding Mrs. in front of his name from then on.  

 

I just remembered one.  

My parents had sold their high mileage excellent condition car.   Mom was the only one home when the final exchange happened, and on the title she signed for Dad too.   A couple of weeks later a different person called because he didn't believe the signature.   The person that bought the car had rolled back the miles and then resold it to the person that called.  Mom chatted with the person that called after she said that the sale was legit, and that is how the mileage rollback was discovered.  In this case, though, the signature was off.  

[Arcadia]

Visa would stop needing signatures in April

 

From Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-12/visa-nixes-need-for-chip-card-signatures-in-victory-for-wal-mart

“Visa Inc. will stop requiring signatures for purchases made in North America using chip-card technology, a significant win for big brick-and-mortar retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that could help them cut the cost of accepting plastic.

 

The move takes effect in April for more than 2.5 million merchant locations with terminals equipped to read so-called EMV-chip cards, San Francisco-based Visa said Friday in a statement. Roughly a quarter of transactions on its payments network currently require a signature.

...

Merchants have campaigned for years to ditch signatures because those sales are routed through systems with fees more than double those for transactions using personal identification numbers, or PINs. Visa is the last of the major U.S. payments networks to ease the signature requirement. Mastercard Inc., American Express Co. and Discover Financial Services announced similar measures in recent months.â€

 

AMEX would stop signature requirement globally in April http://www.businesstravelnews.com/Payment-Expense/Amex-to-Eliminate-Signature-Authorization-Requirement-for-All-Card-Transactions

“Beginning in April 2018, American Express will no longer require Amex-accepting merchants globally to collect signatures for any purchases at the point of sale. Merchants, however, can continue to ask for signatures if they choose. Merchants must also continue to collect signatures should a law in a particular jurisdiction require them to do so, according to Amexâ€

[luuknam]

Btw, this reminded me of the day that I got home and my husband told me he wanted to transition to being female. Later that day, we went to some department store, and bought a purse, and when my spouse went to pay for it, the cashier looked at the name on the credit card, and lectured my spouse that this time, she'd take it, but that next time, her husband would have to be there. Um, okay then. This was without make-up, pre-meds, etc... Oh, and I was standing right there too, with our baby. But apparently the cashier must have thought I was a friend or something. Obviously, she accepted the signature, despite thinking it was the wrong person. 

[rocassie]

Never for a purchase.  However at the border I have been required to sign my name 10 times in a row, and then they compared it against my signature on my passport.  I don't think they were NOT accepting it, but rather verifying my identity.  

[Amber in SJ]

Our charter school recently moved all the attendance records to digital, so instead of a piece of paper, I have to sign on a tablet or, in a pinch, a phone.  

 

After that happened, I got an email saying one of my signatures didn't match previous ones and could I verify the attendance.  Of course it isn't going to match.  When I try to put my way too long official name with my finger on a tiny little screen it looks like I am having a stroke.  

 

My parents' health insurance had this weird privacy policy that every month they had to sign and/ or re-sign whatever forms that allows the office to give medical information to family members.  When we started feeling like something was very wrong in at the end of December, my mom signed the form saying the doctor could give info about tests, etc. to my dad, my older sister & me. In January I was there taking care of her but all of a sudden I couldn't call to make appointments or get info, so she had to sign again.  By February she was in a wheelchair and had a very difficult time paying attention but on February 1st, I was trying to sign her in to an appointment & make her next radiation appointment and the receptionist said I couldn't do it & handed me a clipboard of forms for my mother to sign.  At this point my mom was not even aware of her surroundings & could not have held a pen.  I looked at the receptionist, and signed my mother's name on all the papers & handed them back.  Seriously.  

 

Amber in SJ

[elegantlion]

Not for a purchase. In fact today a friend signed my name on my card for lunch, no one cared. I , however, had to re-sign when I took my GRE this summer. Your signature had to match the signature on your ID. My driver's license is a few years old and I've changed my signature a bit since then, so I had to redo it. She didn't doubt me, but apparently the testing facility's records get scrutinized. 

[Tsuga]

I was signing my second purchase at Walmart tonight, and laughing about how my signatures never look the same.  Often, they are radically different.  Sometime, I have my dh's card and I sign for him, or the other way around. I can do a pretty good imitation of his signature because it's mostly a scribble, lol, but he can't come even remotely close to mine.  I have never been denied a purchase.  Why not?  Have any of you?

 

Never for a purchase. I know people who let their kids sign. I signed left-handed, which is drastically different even where the pen goes, for like three years, and nothing.

 

I have occasionally had clerks ask for my photo ID because I write "PLEASE CHECK ID" on the back of my card. 90% of the time it's at Starbucks, never retail or grocery or a restaurant. So if you plan to steal my credit card don't go to Starbucks, is the message here.

 

I know one relative who was forced to sign the back of the card at a store because the card technically isn't valid until signed. That was bizarre but she said oddly comforting. "At least someone is paying attention." :shrug:

[Carrie12345]

Ooh!

When I was in middle school, I got detention. Again.  Yup, I was a regular.  (Two of my teachers gave detention for missed homework, and I was not a homework doer.)  I probably forged my mom's signature every 3rd time or so to reduce the grief I'd get at home.  One day, I guess I did a lazy job, and the teacher did accuse me of forgery.  I got all indignant and told him it was my father's signature.  My mom's name is Dawn and my fathers name is Don.  (This is true.) It worked!

 

Ah, the early 90s, before helicoptering really took off!