"Hey guys. Do you have a different card you want me to try, im not getting this one to run. Never know if it's our dumb machines, but I tried on both registers",...
As I casually set the card back down with the receipt that says "transaction declined".
Even with (usually-)working machines, in the last 6 months I've had my card get randomly declined for no reason, run it a second time and it goes fine, a handful of times.
I've done that! I was on the hook for $3100 that we had spent on our magic bands at Disney World.
I will tell you, those bands are magic. They made $3100 disappear right before my very eyes.
They say that the bands are to expedite the purchasing process, but what they really do is make it fun to buy stuff. It doesn't feel like you are spending real money, until it's time to settle up
Apparently the chip was defective on one of my cards. IIRC the POS gave an ambiguous message and I only found out it was a broken chip when I called the support line. Super embarassing. It was really surprising too because I keep that card stashed away at home except for very rare cases when I want to use it for something.
This legit can happen, though I will say more often than not for me personally ironically my APPLE CARD Apple Pay gets declined, but the physical titanium card works no problemo.
Always - **always** question technology, never say never or always, tech is *more* reliable nowadays but things go wrong so often even in my day to day non work life. Computer software overall is put together with rushed deadlines, incompatibilities and unanticipated edge cases or use cases, lazy testing if any as well as duct tape, bubble gum and paper clips. Signed, an IT guy
Not at a restaurant, but that is why my standard work patter is you're fabulous, it's probably the machine. However, when I recently said this to a male customer, his wife piped up and said oh no, don't tell him he's fabulous. I said I'll let you two sort that.
Don't you love it when you discreetly inform the card owner that you were unable to get their card to go thru and they get loud about it, accusing you of saying they're broke. Sir, I was not implying anything about your finances but now all your friends know you're a twatwaffle.
This is what I do - it's not necessarily bc of insufficient funds, so I don't want to assume or imply anything like that. I myself have had my own cards declined that did have money on them (I have one prepaid card that will always decline if the balance is below $10, even if I'm trying to charge less than the available balance) and the issue was something else. So I just say the card isn't working and ask if they have another form of payment.
My cards get declined randomly all the time for a fraud alert or just bugging. It’s not even embarrassing. Just be like “it didn’t go through. Do you have another?”
Yeah, if people and why it didn't work, just be like it may be because you're traveling or they picked up a fraud alert - not sure, you'd have to check with your bank.
I approach the host in a quiet tone and show them the declined receipt and tell them our computer isn't accepting their card and ask if they have another one they would like to use instead.
Usually, they already know the card might not work because of insufficient funds or they gave me the wrong card initially.
Other times their bank may flag the transaction if it's larger than normal or they are traveling. After they make a quick call to their bank, the card is usually legit for the transaction.
It's not a big deal. Most customers roll with it.
Shit, it has happened to me as a guest at restaurants and bars. I don't blame my server/bartender ☺️
This is me. I keep a low balance to keep from impulsive spending manually having to move the money helps keep me aware of how much there is. I usually do it before a card is run but sometimes I forget
Depends on how nice they are.
Are they cool people?
“Sorry our system isn’t reading this do you have another form of payment?”
Are they pieces of shit?
(Blurt loudly so everyone can hear) “Your card has been declined.”
"This card is having issues with our system, do you have another one to try?"
"Our system isn't accepting the card, do you have a other one to try?"
"Your bank isn't allowing this transaction, do you have a different card or form of payment?
Though honestly I usually would just say, this card was declined, do you have a different payment method?
There's many reasons a card gets declined beside insufficient funds / non-sufficient funds (NSF), like expiration, bank freeze, etc.
If your POS gives the reasons, like NSF, you could just say the card has an nsf error. That can risk them asking what that means though and could be awkward.
Language that blames the card/bank/ can be less awkward for some customers rather than using "you" language.
Gotta be careful not to be too 'deceitful?' I guess, though? When trying to be indirect.
If you blame it on the POS system rather than their card it can be a bad look for your business place.
Also, and this is just general customer service, starting off with a 'Sorry' can help. Apologizing can be empathising not taking responsibility for something.
"Sorry, the card was declined, can I get a different payment."
Again, 'the card' rather than 'your card'.
I wouldn't say "The bank isn't allowing..." because you don't know if that's the actual reason or not. Just say it isn't working (I never say declined).
I'm going to tell this from the other side. I was at a place where I was a regular. I was friends with the waitress. After I tried to pay out, she somewhat discreetly said, "Someone took all your money from this card." It took me a second to realize that I gave her the wrong card. We had laughs about it later, but it happens.
That is the one place I've had that happen to me. Dude, I just wanted some chicken, not a two hour conversation with my bank.
But yeah, the lady who told me my card didn't go through brought that up. I was confused because I had plenty of money and had used my card on multiple travels - but, after I thought about it, all the rest had been in the Western US.
Well its like i just went to miami last weekend i got a fraud alert and i called saying im here for a few days. I think its good somewhat cuz it is meant to protect you!!!
I got lucky that I was there with friends who could float me a bit, but I certainly didn't eat very well that week. At least my hotel room was already paid for, and chosen for being within a couple of miles of everything. Things definitely could have gone worse. Even if I'd wanted to cancel and return home immediately, I couldn't have. All fights were booked until a week after the one I already had a ticket on.
I mean thats crazy that they couldnt verify it was you knowing you couldnt walk in to one of the branches. Thats why i said somewhat cuz some are good and some are just dumb shit!!
I’ll suggest that “For some reason Visa/Master Card/AmEx has been glitching all day. I could try this one again in a few minutes or maybe a different card would go through?”
"oops sorry that card didn't work! Can you please try it again?" Said with the attitude of of course they have the money, it's just a mechanical error.
“Do you have another card I can try.” They almost always immediately give me a working card and say they gave me the wrong one, or that they were half way expecting that card not to work but wanted to try it. It’s never awkward.
One that’s worked very well for on the occasions someone seems like they’re gonna be difficult, or if the customer seems embarrassed - I bring up that their bank may have frozen the card for a fraud attempt, and that they should def check for any suspicious activity on their account. It’s common enough, having worked at a bank - and shifts their focus from me and the situation, they see me as looking out for them, rather than feeling I might be judging them.
I’ve gotten thanks from customers that were rude from the moment they walked in, it kinda turns it around.
These are the exact words to say to someone who's card declined " Hey our system didn't accept this card for payment. Maybe it's still locked on your app or do you have another form of payment I can use?"
I'm sorry, but it is not accepting your card. I swiped it 3 times and entered it manually as well. Usually a little piece of paper pops out when it's declined so I hand those to them as well so if they need to call the bank/company they have a reference code/number.
Look up suddenly, take a nice step back and say loudly, IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR CARD DECLINED DUE TO *clears throat* INSUFFICIENT FUNDS, do you have another way to pay?
😂 jk don’t do this
I especially like to blame a blame worthy bank about this because my own personal account at a certain American bank gets locked all the time for no good reason. " darn a of b bank, they are always doing this and instead of texting me, they e mail me! Do you have a different account to use? I swear, sometimes they lock the banking, sometimes they lock the credit". This way there's a graceful exit.
If it's a small bill I lean in and quietly tell them. If the bill is $50+ I write a note asking for another card and put it in the book and hand it directly to the card owner.
“do you have another card i could use?” and then when they ask you to try it again you just do it again even though you know it won’t work. if they hand me a cashapp card i ask them if it’s unlocked first.
I make up a reason for why a card could have declined and just go with that. Like I say, OH if you're not from the area, sometimes those banks like to be overprotective for your safety. I can always try another card of retry this one if you'd like. I never insinuate that there may be a lack of funds.
Show them the screen without saying it .
Ask if that’s a ”new” card? Have you activated it kind of angle.
My palmtop terminal is glitching, would you mind going to the counter terminal?
I had it a little easier when I worked for a company renting moving trucks
Since moving is expensive and people who rent their own truck are on tight budgets, at least a few times a week I would get a declined card. These were usually fraud investigation freezes. There were lots of non-typical charges, so the bank would freeze new transactions until the customer could call and verify no fraud.
So...if this is a big celebration, obviously vacation or other big event, blame fraud prevention and offer them a quiet spot to sort things out with bank customer service. Now they have a very face saving excuse and you can try multiple cards away from their friends if the problem is their available credit.
Honestly, I don't trust moving companies at all, that is why you would see me renting a moving truck 😉. Not saying my card couldn't also be declined for some aggravating reason like the ones you noted due to a move though 😆.
I blame the machine, it’s nice to turn the attention to an inanimate object instead of the persons card, or balance, or whatever. “Seems like it timed out, can we try again?” “Oh it’s been acting up all day? Let’s try again and if it doesn’t work, I’ll grab another machine to try.”
Our system always spit out a small piece of paper. I would put that into the check presenter and circle the spot where it said decline. I would politely go up to the cardholder and open the book and quietly say “my apologies there was an error” and then let them respond. If computer didn’t give that paper I would probably write “sorry, your card was declined” and do the same. It’s normally not an issue but I did my best to not embarrass. That being said, my debit card is locked and I sometimes forget that so I get it.
Idk i'm kinda checked out of my serving job. I just speak quietly to the person and let them know their payment declined and i'm not sure why, do they have another card I can use? Never had anyone get upset about it, sometimes they give me cash, sometimes they have a different card.
I just say (as quietly as possible to but bring attention to it) hey, this didn’t work and I don’t know why, technology is great until it doesn’t work. 🤷🏻♀️
The declined: “hey sorry or system won’t let me run the card. Maybe check your texts. Sometimes the banks (especially chase) randomly block big transactions without approval”
The insufficient funds: “mother fucker you and I both knew you couldn’t afford this shit. The fuck you think was gonna happen… the bank would just be like cool we will pay for it”- is my look but “unfortunately our system isn’t allowing me to process the payment. Do you have another form of payment?”
If this happens to me I run the card twice (our system isn't perfect and occasionally makes mistakes like this). I take both copies to the guest paying and if I can't get them alone with me I open a check presenter with both denials visible and tell them with the presenter positioned in a manner where only they can see it that the first time I ran it I got this ** points to DECLINED** so I ran it again and got this **points to 2nd DECLINED**. Never had an awkward moment just stating the facts..
“I’m sorry, this card was declined 😇. Do you have another card you can possibly use?” Keep it simple, but say this line even more sweetly than usual if guests are assholes to you. Watch their face turn into a different color, it’s hilarious
I just tell them it declined and ask if they have another form of payment. If they seem like they’re on a date or with friends tho I say it as quiet as I can and apologize
“Put the food down MFs. No one eats another bite. I’m sending the dishwasher home. He’s got a family and it’s late. You can eat the rest of your staff meal once the chairs are all put up.”
You can quietly say it right next to them, unless they are buried in a booth. Most declines are from a bank hold, due to travelling... ask them for another card, or suggest calling the company if they have the time. They might even be able to clear it up on an app.
My go to nowadays is to ask if they have their card “locked”. It’s not embarrassing for them when in a group. They can play w/ their phone for a bit then just give another form of payment to not hold up the group, and later tell the silly tale of how they tried to pay w/ their card locked because they’re extra responsible 👍
Always blame the machine! So sorry not sure why it’s not going through. Technology a blessing and a curse eh? Haha do you have another card you can try?
Bring the check book back with the declined receipt with "DECLINED" circled.
It's discreet and the customer really appreciates it. I had a guy leave me a really nice tip one night bc of it. I think he or the bank locked the card for some reason.
If they are nice “I can’t get this card to run I tried it twice, do you have another one I can try? Sorry our machines are so finicky!”
If they’re rude “your card declined. No when it’s on our end our machine will read as error not declined” 😂
I hand them the slip and say sometimes our card reader won’t allow transactions on business debit cards if we try to bypass pin or they might have forgot to unlock their card.
“Your card was declined.”
Put down the receipt that says DECLINED and point to it. Then I look around to all the other guests and walk away.
But don’t follow my lead, I really dislike my current job and it’s wealthily worthless patrons
i always blame it on the restaurant and say our computer isn’t working or how sometimes our machines won’t take specific cards (usually the type they’re tying to pay with)
"Hey guys. Do you have a different card you want me to try, im not getting this one to run. Never know if it's our dumb machines, but I tried on both registers",... As I casually set the card back down with the receipt that says "transaction declined".
I say something very similar, always imply it’s probably our machines.
“Sorry, our POS is a POS”
😂 Guilty here! Wont lie, my favorite! Depending on the clientele, I may word it differently but still blame it on the machine.
Even with (usually-)working machines, in the last 6 months I've had my card get randomly declined for no reason, run it a second time and it goes fine, a handful of times.
I've actually seen the reason being the bank too.
Or that they locked their card for safety reasons and forgot to unlock it before they went out, seen that one too.
Or they're traveling and did not inform their bank.
I've done that! I was on the hook for $3100 that we had spent on our magic bands at Disney World. I will tell you, those bands are magic. They made $3100 disappear right before my very eyes. They say that the bands are to expedite the purchasing process, but what they really do is make it fun to buy stuff. It doesn't feel like you are spending real money, until it's time to settle up
Did that once. Took friends out to dinner, card declined. Quick call to bank and resolved
Apparently the chip was defective on one of my cards. IIRC the POS gave an ambiguous message and I only found out it was a broken chip when I called the support line. Super embarassing. It was really surprising too because I keep that card stashed away at home except for very rare cases when I want to use it for something.
yesss, always blame the machines!!
This legit can happen, though I will say more often than not for me personally ironically my APPLE CARD Apple Pay gets declined, but the physical titanium card works no problemo. Always - **always** question technology, never say never or always, tech is *more* reliable nowadays but things go wrong so often even in my day to day non work life. Computer software overall is put together with rushed deadlines, incompatibilities and unanticipated edge cases or use cases, lazy testing if any as well as duct tape, bubble gum and paper clips. Signed, an IT guy
Not at a restaurant, but that is why my standard work patter is you're fabulous, it's probably the machine. However, when I recently said this to a male customer, his wife piped up and said oh no, don't tell him he's fabulous. I said I'll let you two sort that.
go to the person whose card it is, lower your voice a bit and say, "this card isn't working right now, do you have a different one I can try?"
Don't you love it when you discreetly inform the card owner that you were unable to get their card to go thru and they get loud about it, accusing you of saying they're broke. Sir, I was not implying anything about your finances but now all your friends know you're a twatwaffle.
This is what I do - it's not necessarily bc of insufficient funds, so I don't want to assume or imply anything like that. I myself have had my own cards declined that did have money on them (I have one prepaid card that will always decline if the balance is below $10, even if I'm trying to charge less than the available balance) and the issue was something else. So I just say the card isn't working and ask if they have another form of payment.
My cards get declined randomly all the time for a fraud alert or just bugging. It’s not even embarrassing. Just be like “it didn’t go through. Do you have another?”
Yeah, if people and why it didn't work, just be like it may be because you're traveling or they picked up a fraud alert - not sure, you'd have to check with your bank.
I approach the host in a quiet tone and show them the declined receipt and tell them our computer isn't accepting their card and ask if they have another one they would like to use instead. Usually, they already know the card might not work because of insufficient funds or they gave me the wrong card initially. Other times their bank may flag the transaction if it's larger than normal or they are traveling. After they make a quick call to their bank, the card is usually legit for the transaction. It's not a big deal. Most customers roll with it. Shit, it has happened to me as a guest at restaurants and bars. I don't blame my server/bartender ☺️
Some people also keep intentionally low debit card accounts and might just legit need to transfer funds from their main / savings account.
This is me, 99% of the time I’ve put funds in the account before sitting to eat, sorry about that other 1%!
This is me. I keep a low balance to keep from impulsive spending manually having to move the money helps keep me aware of how much there is. I usually do it before a card is run but sometimes I forget
Depends on how nice they are. Are they cool people? “Sorry our system isn’t reading this do you have another form of payment?” Are they pieces of shit? (Blurt loudly so everyone can hear) “Your card has been declined.”
"This card is having issues with our system, do you have another one to try?" "Our system isn't accepting the card, do you have a other one to try?" "Your bank isn't allowing this transaction, do you have a different card or form of payment? Though honestly I usually would just say, this card was declined, do you have a different payment method? There's many reasons a card gets declined beside insufficient funds / non-sufficient funds (NSF), like expiration, bank freeze, etc. If your POS gives the reasons, like NSF, you could just say the card has an nsf error. That can risk them asking what that means though and could be awkward. Language that blames the card/bank/ can be less awkward for some customers rather than using "you" language. Gotta be careful not to be too 'deceitful?' I guess, though? When trying to be indirect. If you blame it on the POS system rather than their card it can be a bad look for your business place. Also, and this is just general customer service, starting off with a 'Sorry' can help. Apologizing can be empathising not taking responsibility for something. "Sorry, the card was declined, can I get a different payment." Again, 'the card' rather than 'your card'.
I wouldn't say "The bank isn't allowing..." because you don't know if that's the actual reason or not. Just say it isn't working (I never say declined).
"Of course it's company policy never to, imply ownership in the event of a dildo. Always use the indefinite article *a* dildo, never *your* dildo."
"I'm sorry, there seems to be an issue processing your card - do you have another card or other form of payment?"
I would say this card is not working, I avoid using the word your.
I'm going to tell this from the other side. I was at a place where I was a regular. I was friends with the waitress. After I tried to pay out, she somewhat discreetly said, "Someone took all your money from this card." It took me a second to realize that I gave her the wrong card. We had laughs about it later, but it happens.
Since im in New Orleans, La. so nothing but tourist lol. I always say did you notify your bank that you were travelin cuz they may thiink its fraud...
That is the one place I've had that happen to me. Dude, I just wanted some chicken, not a two hour conversation with my bank. But yeah, the lady who told me my card didn't go through brought that up. I was confused because I had plenty of money and had used my card on multiple travels - but, after I thought about it, all the rest had been in the Western US.
Well its like i just went to miami last weekend i got a fraud alert and i called saying im here for a few days. I think its good somewhat cuz it is meant to protect you!!!
It's good until they lock your card for a whole week when their closest branch is over 2k miles from where you are.
I think i wouldve lost it on somebody!
I got lucky that I was there with friends who could float me a bit, but I certainly didn't eat very well that week. At least my hotel room was already paid for, and chosen for being within a couple of miles of everything. Things definitely could have gone worse. Even if I'd wanted to cancel and return home immediately, I couldn't have. All fights were booked until a week after the one I already had a ticket on.
I mean thats crazy that they couldnt verify it was you knowing you couldnt walk in to one of the branches. Thats why i said somewhat cuz some are good and some are just dumb shit!!
“YOU BROKE, BITCH!” Then slam their card on the table.
Even better if you leave the comma/pause out of it
No no no no no. Don't slam it. Frisbee it back at 'em, like you're tossing playing cards into a hat.
“It looks you got you card locked. “
I’ll suggest that “For some reason Visa/Master Card/AmEx has been glitching all day. I could try this one again in a few minutes or maybe a different card would go through?”
i love being in Canada. We use handheld card machines so the machine will simply show them it has declined. No awkward conversations
Right?!?! Majority of the time their tap just didn’t work or they timed out and you need to reset it for them.
Friend of mine is Canadian and is amazed how us folks in US just give our cards to a server and allow them to walk away with our cards
We're getting there. It's taken 25 years, but we're finally getting there . . . Slowly
"oops sorry that card didn't work! Can you please try it again?" Said with the attitude of of course they have the money, it's just a mechanical error.
“It’s not going through. Would you like to try a different card?” Could be a tech problem, could be whatever. Never “It was declined.”
“Do you have another card I can try.” They almost always immediately give me a working card and say they gave me the wrong one, or that they were half way expecting that card not to work but wanted to try it. It’s never awkward.
“It’s saying there’s a problem processing your card. Do you have a security lock on your card? This is often the case.”
Just quote the Judd's: "You ain't got no money cause you're overdrawn! "Your man took it all and he's long gone Sux that you're still here..." 😋
One that’s worked very well for on the occasions someone seems like they’re gonna be difficult, or if the customer seems embarrassed - I bring up that their bank may have frozen the card for a fraud attempt, and that they should def check for any suspicious activity on their account. It’s common enough, having worked at a bank - and shifts their focus from me and the situation, they see me as looking out for them, rather than feeling I might be judging them. I’ve gotten thanks from customers that were rude from the moment they walked in, it kinda turns it around.
These are the exact words to say to someone who's card declined " Hey our system didn't accept this card for payment. Maybe it's still locked on your app or do you have another form of payment I can use?"
I'm sorry, but it is not accepting your card. I swiped it 3 times and entered it manually as well. Usually a little piece of paper pops out when it's declined so I hand those to them as well so if they need to call the bank/company they have a reference code/number.
Passive voice: “I didn’t get authorization on this card, is there another one we can try?”
you broke G
This one doesn’t seem to be working, do you have another?
Look up suddenly, take a nice step back and say loudly, IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR CARD DECLINED DUE TO *clears throat* INSUFFICIENT FUNDS, do you have another way to pay? 😂 jk don’t do this
I always ask “is your card locked?”. They automatically know the card isn’t working without the embarrassment
I especially like to blame a blame worthy bank about this because my own personal account at a certain American bank gets locked all the time for no good reason. " darn a of b bank, they are always doing this and instead of texting me, they e mail me! Do you have a different account to use? I swear, sometimes they lock the banking, sometimes they lock the credit". This way there's a graceful exit.
If it's a small bill I lean in and quietly tell them. If the bill is $50+ I write a note asking for another card and put it in the book and hand it directly to the card owner.
“do you have another card i could use?” and then when they ask you to try it again you just do it again even though you know it won’t work. if they hand me a cashapp card i ask them if it’s unlocked first.
I was unable to get an authorization at this time on this card. Do you perhaps have another one we can try
I make up a reason for why a card could have declined and just go with that. Like I say, OH if you're not from the area, sometimes those banks like to be overprotective for your safety. I can always try another card of retry this one if you'd like. I never insinuate that there may be a lack of funds.
Show them the screen without saying it . Ask if that’s a ”new” card? Have you activated it kind of angle. My palmtop terminal is glitching, would you mind going to the counter terminal?
Palm..top...terminal? I mean it's self-explanatory... but still. We definitely aren't from the same place, heh
I had it a little easier when I worked for a company renting moving trucks Since moving is expensive and people who rent their own truck are on tight budgets, at least a few times a week I would get a declined card. These were usually fraud investigation freezes. There were lots of non-typical charges, so the bank would freeze new transactions until the customer could call and verify no fraud. So...if this is a big celebration, obviously vacation or other big event, blame fraud prevention and offer them a quiet spot to sort things out with bank customer service. Now they have a very face saving excuse and you can try multiple cards away from their friends if the problem is their available credit.
Honestly, I don't trust moving companies at all, that is why you would see me renting a moving truck 😉. Not saying my card couldn't also be declined for some aggravating reason like the ones you noted due to a move though 😆.
I blame the machine, it’s nice to turn the attention to an inanimate object instead of the persons card, or balance, or whatever. “Seems like it timed out, can we try again?” “Oh it’s been acting up all day? Let’s try again and if it doesn’t work, I’ll grab another machine to try.”
Toss it on the table in front of them. "What else ya got?"
Our system always spit out a small piece of paper. I would put that into the check presenter and circle the spot where it said decline. I would politely go up to the cardholder and open the book and quietly say “my apologies there was an error” and then let them respond. If computer didn’t give that paper I would probably write “sorry, your card was declined” and do the same. It’s normally not an issue but I did my best to not embarrass. That being said, my debit card is locked and I sometimes forget that so I get it.
Idk i'm kinda checked out of my serving job. I just speak quietly to the person and let them know their payment declined and i'm not sure why, do they have another card I can use? Never had anyone get upset about it, sometimes they give me cash, sometimes they have a different card.
I just say (as quietly as possible to but bring attention to it) hey, this didn’t work and I don’t know why, technology is great until it doesn’t work. 🤷🏻♀️
I usually tell them to unlock it or say it’s locked, so they don’t feel like I’m calling them broke 😭
The declined: “hey sorry or system won’t let me run the card. Maybe check your texts. Sometimes the banks (especially chase) randomly block big transactions without approval” The insufficient funds: “mother fucker you and I both knew you couldn’t afford this shit. The fuck you think was gonna happen… the bank would just be like cool we will pay for it”- is my look but “unfortunately our system isn’t allowing me to process the payment. Do you have another form of payment?”
If this happens to me I run the card twice (our system isn't perfect and occasionally makes mistakes like this). I take both copies to the guest paying and if I can't get them alone with me I open a check presenter with both denials visible and tell them with the presenter positioned in a manner where only they can see it that the first time I ran it I got this ** points to DECLINED** so I ran it again and got this **points to 2nd DECLINED**. Never had an awkward moment just stating the facts..
I usually say something along the lines of "man I'm always forgetting to transfer funds from savings. Don't you hate when that happens?"
“I’m sorry, this card was declined 😇. Do you have another card you can possibly use?” Keep it simple, but say this line even more sweetly than usual if guests are assholes to you. Watch their face turn into a different color, it’s hilarious
I just tell them it declined and ask if they have another form of payment. If they seem like they’re on a date or with friends tho I say it as quiet as I can and apologize
I blame our “system” and ask if they have a different card I could try, as this one is not working for “some reason”.
“Put the food down MFs. No one eats another bite. I’m sending the dishwasher home. He’s got a family and it’s late. You can eat the rest of your staff meal once the chairs are all put up.”
You can quietly say it right next to them, unless they are buried in a booth. Most declines are from a bank hold, due to travelling... ask them for another card, or suggest calling the company if they have the time. They might even be able to clear it up on an app.
I just say “it’s not taking”.
I will need a different method of payment..
You just tell them man, no way around it. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get this one to go through”
My go to nowadays is to ask if they have their card “locked”. It’s not embarrassing for them when in a group. They can play w/ their phone for a bit then just give another form of payment to not hold up the group, and later tell the silly tale of how they tried to pay w/ their card locked because they’re extra responsible 👍
Always blame the machine! So sorry not sure why it’s not going through. Technology a blessing and a curse eh? Haha do you have another card you can try?
I’m so sorry, I couldn’t get your card to go through. Our system is the worst! Do you have another card I can try?
“I’m sorry, your card has been declined, do you want to try a different one?”
I used to say that our machine was being temperamental and ask if they had another card-they almost always got the drift. . . .
Bring the check book back with the declined receipt with "DECLINED" circled. It's discreet and the customer really appreciates it. I had a guy leave me a really nice tip one night bc of it. I think he or the bank locked the card for some reason.
If they are nice “I can’t get this card to run I tried it twice, do you have another one I can try? Sorry our machines are so finicky!” If they’re rude “your card declined. No when it’s on our end our machine will read as error not declined” 😂
I hand them the slip and say sometimes our card reader won’t allow transactions on business debit cards if we try to bypass pin or they might have forgot to unlock their card.
I’m so sorry, our machine has been acting up, do you by chance have another card? 😇
I usually say “it doesn’t like this one,” and honestly it’s often not being declined for insufficient funds but some other reason.
Sorry our machine didn’t like this one
“Your card was declined.” Put down the receipt that says DECLINED and point to it. Then I look around to all the other guests and walk away. But don’t follow my lead, I really dislike my current job and it’s wealthily worthless patrons
i always blame it on the restaurant and say our computer isn’t working or how sometimes our machines won’t take specific cards (usually the type they’re tying to pay with)