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I only sign paper at restaurants. If a signature is needed at a retail store, I usually sign a digital pad.
by clintonb 9y ago
I only sign paper at restaurants. If a signature is needed at a retail store, I usually sign a digital pad.
- wycy 9y agoStill seems slower than entering a pin on a number pad.
- mattnewton 9y agoAlso why are scribbles equatable here, they are very subjective to verify.
- ghaff 9y agoIncreasingly you sign (or in my case scrawl a wiggly line) a pad but I still sign paper fairly regularly. One of the issues with PIN in the US is likely that you'd have needed a whole new workflow and mobile devices at sit-down restaurants. It would arguably be a better system to move to settling up at the table, but it would still be a big and expensive change.
- smelendez 9y agoYou needed new devices anyway to switch to chip, but I think it is a cultural issue with tipping. Some people really like that the server doesn't know how much you tipped until you leave.
- ghaff 9y agoYeah, that may be part of it. It's not really rational but I don't especially like someone waiting for me to enter a tip amount into a keypad. I imagine others feel similarly. The US isn't unique in having tips but in the UK, for example, they tend to put 10% onto the bill automatically. ADDED: And you needed new devices but not mobile systems to bring to the table.
- nicoburns 9y agoHowever the US is unique in not paying waiting staff minimum wage, which makes tips a whole other thing.
- bdamm 9y agoOther countries have already done this (e.g. Canada). So it's really only about the money and not about the culture.
- paulie_a 9y agoIn reality you don't even need to sign the paper. You will still get charged and the signature is irrelevant