Categories: uncategorized
Date: 29 April 2006 18:32:29
Hands up who here has a signature that is exactly the same every time. No, nor me.
One of mr b's jobs for today was to go and buy a new mobile phone for the business. We worked out exactly what sort of usage there will be, and went on the internet to look at tariffs and pick the appropriate package. It would, of course, be wrong of me to let you know which site we looked at to choose the Phone 4 Us, in the same way Chris wouldn't want to identify too Easily the web hosting company which has caused the wibsite such problems recently.
After looking at the website and choosing the tariff, mr birdie went into town, as we have a local branch of that store which I won't name but where you can buy the right Phone 4 U, and he wanted to look at the handsets available in person rather than online.
He was greeted by a salesperson, and explained that he knew which tariff he wanted, and needed to look at handsets. The salesperson said (and I'm not joking here) "Is that the right tariff for you?" (That should probably be "the right tariff 4u"). Mr b looked blankly at him and said "yes."
So he was handed over to someone else, and all was going swimmingly until he came to sign the direct debit mandate for the contract. Like many medical-type people, mr b spends a significant portion of his working day signing forms. His signature looks like the trail of an inebriated spider making its way home from an ink party. However, that's not exactly unusual, is it? He signed the form, but when comparing the signature on the form with the one on the back of his debit card, the salesperson was not happy that it was the same. Apparently if there is any difference it's not good enough and has to be re-done. To prevent fraud, donchaknow. So, then, while the salesperson filled out a second form, mr b was given a sheet of blank paper, and told to sit down and practice his signature!
So, to prevent fraud, you check peoples signatures, and if they're not good enough, you sit them down, with a piece of paper and the sample signature which you will be using to check the signature on the form, and get them to practice it. Yeah.... "Sorry but this signature is not the same as the one on the card. But it's okay, you can sit down and practice it for a while and when you get it right, we'll let you take the phone." That's a brilliant security system. Debit card thieves must be wetting themselves with fear at having to get through that.
This evening we'll be looking at the website again. If it allows mr b to purchase the phone over the web (as I suspect it will) without any hint of having to prove he is who he says he is, a very strongly worded letter will be winging its way to their customer service department on the subject of their ludicrous system.
I've said it before, and no doubt I'll say it again: Gah.