Public Service Announcement- Credit Cards

Dear Shoppers.
When you are making a purchase and your credit card doesn't work, even though you claim to have used it already that day, there could be several reasons:
1) You credit card company has flagged it because of suspicious activity. Most likey they are doing this to protect you from potential fraud. This is a good thing, don't get angry at the poor cashier, phone your credit card company.
2) Although you have made a recent payment it may not have been applied to your card yet. If it has been more than a couple business days, call your credit card company, perhaps the payment was mis-directed. If you paid it the previous day, or the day before and you didn't call them to let them know so they could (possibly) apply it to your account, then you need to use another method of payment. (on a side note you should try not to be in the top 25% of your limit, it affects your credit rating.) Please don't get mad at the cashier, it's not their fault.
3) You are overlimit. There could be several reasons for this; you are over your limit because you have spent it all, and you haven't made a payment. You need to make one. Or you have charges pending, and they've posted. This is a little confusing and it's a pain in the butt to explain, but I'll try. For example when you pay at the pump for gas your card is authorized for say, $100 (this may or may not vary) this authorized amount then takes up $100 of room on your card. Then you pump your gas and it comes to $50, which is charged to your account, but the original $100 is still pending, so the whole transaction has taken $150 of space on your card. However, depending on how the books are done at a place, or how quickly everything is balanced later, they $100 pending could be removed right away, or up to 10 days later. If this is the case and you have pending charges, call your credit card company and they can search your pending charges and your posted charges and see if any match, then they might be able to remove the pending ones, thereby freeing up some room. In any case, don't get mad at the cashier. Also this is a good reason to not use the top 25% of your limit, then you always have some breathing room.
4) You are 2 months overdue and your card has been suspended. Make a payment. And as always, don't get mad at the cashier.
5) Your card is expired, you may or may not have a new one, which you should activate, if you don't have one, call your credit card company. Don't get mad at the cashier.
6) You haven't used your card in a while and it's been blocked, for your protection. Call your credit card company, they may be able to re-activate it. Oh yeah, don't get mad at the cashier.
7) The credit card companies systems are down. Call them to see what's up, use a different method of payment, and don't get mad at the cashier.
8) The store's systems are down, don't get mad at the cashier.
9) The cashier has made a mistake. Breathe, try again, and don't get mad at the cashier.
10) Your magnetic strip is de-magnetized, you need a new card, call your credit card company, and pay with a different method. If this happens make sure that there is no magnets in your wallet/ purse. Store your cards alternating, ie one up and one down so that the magnetic strips aren't touching. Or get a anti-static sleeve for your card. (according to myth busters, cards don't de-magnitze easily) Oh, don't get mad at the cashier.
11) Your card is old and worn out. You need another method of payment, and don't get mad at the cashier.

So you can see that there are several reasons why a credit card may not be working, many of these reasons aren't your fault. Don't be embarrassed, the cashier sees this a lot and don't think that you are poor. There is no reason for you to go into a tirade and tell the cashier, in detail, your payment history, this is none of their business, and there isn't anything they can do. Think of the cashier as the messenger, don't kill him/ her, it's likey not their fault.

Love,
TweedleDea.

PS. I worked for a credit card company in Canada, and this is true for that company, they may or may not be industry standards. But the underlying theme is the same, there are many things that can happen to a credit card, but don't get mad at the cashier!