How To Voice Authorize In-Store Credit Card Purchases When A Card’s Stripe Is Worn Out

WHEN A WORN-OUT CREDIT CARD DOESN’T WORK

It happens. You use your credit card so frequently that the magnetic stripe wears out and the card no longer works.

Once you find out, you will telephone your credit card company and ask the agent to have another card mailed out to you. That’s no problem, and the agent will, likely, tell you that your replacement credit card will arrive in seven to ten days.

Yet, what if it is your only card (or the card with the lowest interest rate) and you want to continue using it until the new one arrives? 

When you want to make a purchase at a store and yet your credit card is not working because the card is worn and needs replacement, you have an option for completing the transaction.

Rather than “swiping” your credit card, the merchant can attempt a manual entry of your credit card information.

You may have already experienced such a transaction wherein the merchant has had to key in your credit card number in order to get the purchase to go through during card reader glitches. The good news is that, even if that manual method doesn’t work, you can still complete the purchase through a process called voice authorization.

VOICE AUTHORIZATION

A “voice authorized” purchase requires that the merchant converse over the phone with an agent of the credit card company in order to complete the transaction.

During that conversation he or she will confirm that a) you want to purchase an item or service, b) the merchant or service provider wants to sell it to you,  c) the merchant is legitimate, d) you have shown ID and the merchant confirms that you appear to be who you say you are, and e) the cost of the item(s) (so that the agent can determine that it is less than what remains in your available credit).

Not all merchants will agree to make this call, and some store clerks may not have access to a phone that has the capability to make outgoing calls.

However, should you carry a cell phone, you can dial the number yourself and orchestrate the call. Here’s the right way to do it.

THE RIGHT WAY TO DO VOICE AUTHORIZATION

Call your credit card company, as you normally, would using the service phone number on your card, however, when you get an agent on the line, do not access the account as you normally would (by providing other verification like the last four digits of your social security number).

You do not want to access the account as a customer, so do not give your customer information.

Instead, tell the agent:

“I am having trouble making a purchase in the amount of $______ and I will be handing my cell phone over to the merchant so he (or she) can voice authorize this purchase.”

There is a special access level for merchants so they can complete transactions via voice authorizations, and that’s the level you want. 

If the merchant did run your card through, and said he didn’t receive approval, then also tell the agent:

“The merchant swiped my card through the card reader in an attempt to authorize this purchase, but did not receive approval. He may have swiped the card more than once. Please verify that those swipes were not approved as purchases.”

Then hand your cell phone to the clerk.

PREPARE TO SHOW PHOTO ID

The clerk must provide details about the store you are in, and details about the purchase. He or she is also supposed to ask you to produce a photo ID to verify your identity, so have something available. Regardless, the whole transaction process should take  less than a minute.

However, should your card have been “swiped” a couple of times before you decided to turn to voice authorization, and should it turn out that those swipes of your credit card that “didn’t work” actually did “go through” so that they generated approved authorizations on your credit card, the process may take longer to straighten out.

However, since hanging authorizations can eat up available credit, they must be voided as soon as possible after they occur, so take the time to do it. It still should not take very long, maybe five minutes at the most.

SUMMARY

In summary, compared to normal credit card transactions, making a purchase through a voice authorization can be a somewhat primitive and time-consuming process.

However, if you and the merchant want a sale to happen, a voice authorization may, at times, be your only option.

(Please note that there is also a voice authorization process that you can use when you are having difficulty getting a purchase to transact over the Internet. That process is a bit different from the in-store method and will get a separate post. )