4 ms·

I've been drawing a horizontal line, sometimes with a slight arch, for years now. I almost never get a reaction and when I do, it is at most a laugh or giggle.

by tetrep 9y ago

I've been drawing a horizontal line, sometimes with a slight arch, for years now. I almost never get a reaction and when I do, it is at most a laugh or giggle. Nobody cares (not that they should). Anything I scrawl is (more or less), by fiat, my signature. I'm glad we can finally stop wasting time (and resources, for physical signatures). This is especially fun with e-signatures in California: “Electronic signature” means an electronic sound, symbol, or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=1633&lawCode=CIV https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...

TallGuyShort 9y ago
I've been legibly writing "Fake Name" for years now, and no merchant has ever called me on it.
letsgetphysITal 9y ago
I write "Check I.D.". Merchants have typically been good at asking for some, especially the older ones. Teens and trainees tend to mumble and just process it anyway. The thought process is that my UK drivers license has my picture, full name, and signature. The merchant looks at the ID and sees my photo next to my name, checks it with the name on the card to see if they match, then checks the signature against that on the ID. Unless a thief has the same name as me, they can't use the card as either the photo or the name won't match. The signature doesn't matter as it will be caught in fraud alerting / rejected by the bank.
- kstrauser 9y ago
  One problem with this is that your credit card isn't technically valid unless it's signed with your actual signature. Piss off the wrong clerk who's having a bad day, and it would be completely within their right to deny the sale (or car or hotel rental).
  - letsgetphysITal 9y ago
    I understand that, and it's a risk I'm willing to take. I'd rather find out that a person is an ass before I give them my money than after. There's always another store, another car dealer, another hotel, another vehicle rental chain. It's likely that the after-sales service will match, or be worse than, the pre-sales service. I'd rather not give them my money at all than have to fight for recompense after the fact.
    - kstrauser 9y ago
      I don't think that's a reasonable attitude. Ignoring the signature line, even if common, puts a company at much greater risk of eating any fraud committed with it. If an unsigned stolen credit card is recovered, its owner has a very easy claim against any stores that accepted the thief's signature: "obviously they didn't check the back of the card, now did they?" It feels a little entitled to insist that a merchant who wouldn't accept an unsigned card is a bad vendor giving bad service.
      - letsgetphysITal 9y ago
        An opinion doesn't need to be reasonable. I'm aware it's not the correct way to do things, but it provides me and my money with a little more protection IMHO. No card thief will hand over a card with "Check I.D." written in the signature strip to a clerk, just in case it's one that will ask. If the clerk does as asked, they verify everything is in order. If they process it anyway, it falls back to the remainder of the fraud protections available; heuristic monitoring at the bank / card processor, regularly checking bank statements etc. One thing I'd like to challenge is that the card isn't valid unless it is signed; Technically the valid signatures for my cards are "Check I.D."; the act of signing makes the card valid, just as if you sign a contract with "Mickey Mouse" you are still contractually bound by its terms. You are treated as assuming the persona of "Mickey Mouse" or "Check I.D." while signing; it's the act that is important. Just don't tell the card thief that ;)
Bartweiss 9y ago
My usual credit card signature is a zig-zag scrawl because I hate electronic pens. I've been asked to re-sign exactly once, for a $5 purchase - when I made an effort to sign correctly!

by tetrep 9y ago

TallGuyShort 9y ago

I've been legibly writing "Fake Name" for years now, and no merchant has ever called me on it.

letsgetphysITal 9y ago

I write "Check I.D.". Merchants have typically been good at asking for some, especially the older ones. Teens and trainees tend to mumble and just process it anyway. The thought process is that my UK drivers license has my picture, full name, and signature. The merchant looks at the ID and sees my photo next to my name, checks it with the name on the card to see if they match, then checks the signature against that on the ID. Unless a thief has the same name as me, they can't use the card as either the photo or the name won't match. The signature doesn't matter as it will be caught in fraud alerting / rejected by the bank.

kstrauser 9y ago
One problem with this is that your credit card isn't technically valid unless it's signed with your actual signature. Piss off the wrong clerk who's having a bad day, and it would be completely within their right to deny the sale (or car or hotel rental).
- letsgetphysITal 9y ago
  I understand that, and it's a risk I'm willing to take. I'd rather find out that a person is an ass before I give them my money than after. There's always another store, another car dealer, another hotel, another vehicle rental chain. It's likely that the after-sales service will match, or be worse than, the pre-sales service. I'd rather not give them my money at all than have to fight for recompense after the fact.
  - kstrauser 9y ago
    I don't think that's a reasonable attitude. Ignoring the signature line, even if common, puts a company at much greater risk of eating any fraud committed with it. If an unsigned stolen credit card is recovered, its owner has a very easy claim against any stores that accepted the thief's signature: "obviously they didn't check the back of the card, now did they?" It feels a little entitled to insist that a merchant who wouldn't accept an unsigned card is a bad vendor giving bad service.
    - letsgetphysITal 9y ago
      An opinion doesn't need to be reasonable. I'm aware it's not the correct way to do things, but it provides me and my money with a little more protection IMHO. No card thief will hand over a card with "Check I.D." written in the signature strip to a clerk, just in case it's one that will ask. If the clerk does as asked, they verify everything is in order. If they process it anyway, it falls back to the remainder of the fraud protections available; heuristic monitoring at the bank / card processor, regularly checking bank statements etc. One thing I'd like to challenge is that the card isn't valid unless it is signed; Technically the valid signatures for my cards are "Check I.D."; the act of signing makes the card valid, just as if you sign a contract with "Mickey Mouse" you are still contractually bound by its terms. You are treated as assuming the persona of "Mickey Mouse" or "Check I.D." while signing; it's the act that is important. Just don't tell the card thief that ;)

Bartweiss 9y ago

My usual credit card signature is a zig-zag scrawl because I hate electronic pens. I've been asked to re-sign exactly once, for a $5 purchase - when I made an effort to sign correctly!