Itโs a classic uncomfortable situation: At the end of a successful date or dinner out with family, you hand your credit card to your waiter, only for him to come back a few minutes later with a pained look on his face.
โIโm afraid your cardโs been rejected,โ he says. โDo you have another one?โ
From a personal finance perspective, the main thing youโll need to do is call the customer service number on the back of your card.
โCall your issuer, because until you talk to them you wonโt know why it was rejected,โ says Gerri Detweiler, Credit.com personal finance expert. โIt could be that it was flagged for unusual activity, or you didnโt realize it was expired, or your spouse used it and you didnโt know it.โ
Hereโs the thing, though: Trying to conduct this business at the dinner table is going to make an uncomfortable situation even worse.
โThe best thing to do is to excuse yourself from the table,โ says Jodi R.R. Smith, president of Boston-based etiquette consultancy Mannersmith. โThe most human reaction is to be embarrassed, but you donโt want to get upset and start yelling at the waiter.โ
Once youโve stepped outside, that will give you a moment to call your bank at the customer service number on the back of the card. If it is indeed a simple case of your account being flagged for unusual activity, Detweiler says the bank can probably fix the problem and reactivate the card on the spot, provided youโre able to answer the security questions associated with your account.
At that point, says Smith, you should return to your table and explain the problem to your companion โwithout a lot of detailโ and then quickly move on to another topic of conversation. โYou never want to end dinner on a downer,โ she says.
If the problem canโt be resolved with a simple phone call โ say, the card is damaged or the account is indeed overdrawn โ then Smith says you should ask the waiter if thereโs an ATM nearby that you can use to withdraw the necessary cash to cover the bill. And in the nightmare scenario of truly having no liquid assets to cover the bill on the spot, you might have to see if an IOU is possible.
โIn nicer establishments you can say โHere, take my license, Iโll come back first thing tomorrow with the money,โ says Smith. โItโs better than asking the people that youโre supposed to be taking out to dinner if they can lend you money.โ
Of course, if the waitstaff and management arenโt keen on letting you leave without paying, you donโt have much of a choice but to ask your companion to cover the meal. That may be awkward, but not as awkward as having the restaurant call the police on you.
However the situation is resolved, youโve hopefully learned your lesson: Next time youโre going out on a dinner date, bring some cash in case your plastic fails you.
Image: raymondgilford.com, via Flickr
You Might Also Like
April 9, 2024
Credit Cards
October 21, 2020
Credit Cards
August 3, 2020
Credit Cards