(no subject)

[plonq]

I thought I would be able to avoid work-related stupidity over the holiday long weekend, but I accidentally activated my corporate credit card today.  Technically this isn't work-related stupidity as much as it is American Express related stupidity, but here's a brief transcript (paraphrased slightly for brevity) of the transaction.

[ring][ring]
AE: THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING AMERICAN EXPRESS.  (Could the have made that any louder?)
AE: (en français) La même chose. (and something about pressing "2")
AE: THIS CALL WILL BE RECORDED FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE PURPOSES.
AE: YOU MUST HAVE YOUR OLD CARD AND NEW CARD PRESENT IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS PROCESS.
ME: (Hangs up and toddles off to fetch the old card.)

[ring][ring]
AE: REDUX
AE: TO BEGIN THE ACTIVATION PROCESS, ENTER THE 15-DIGIT CLIENT NUMBER ON YOUR CARD.
ME: [beep][beep].. etc.
AE: PLEASE ENTER YOUR MOTHER'S 4-DIGIT BIRTH DATE.  FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOUR MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY IS JANUARY 24TH THEN YOU WILL ENTER 0104.
ME: [beep][beep][beep][beep]
AE: [long pause] THANK YOU.  YOUR CARD IS NOW ACTIVE.

...

Wait a minute.  Which part of this call were they recording, and for that matter, at what point in the process did I need the old card?  Maybe they were just covering all of their bases in case the procedure ever changed. Why stop at asking for a card that you don't need, though.

"IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS PROCESS YOU WILL NEED A WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF VOODOO."
"IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS PROCESS YOU WILL NEED A CURRENT, BINARY PRINTOUT OF YOUR FULL GENOME."

Comments

[anthony-lion.livejournal.com]

The request for the old card is a flaw in the system...

Only those who need to activate a replacement card because they lost the old card should ever get that message... (They will also be asked to enter the 15-digit number of the old card)


:-)

[tzisorey.livejournal.com]

they can record the anger with which you press the buttons on your phone, and use it against you ;)

But honestly - AmEx *IS* voodoo. I'll stick with Visa. It works more places.

[pierrekrahn.livejournal.com]

It's all you need!

[pierrekrahn.livejournal.com]

Why do they need to know your mother's birth date? Also, do they already have it in their database to compare it to whatever you input?

[tzisorey.livejournal.com]

Actually... despite having seen people with AmEx, and having been offered it repeatedly myself - I'm hard pressed to name more than 2-3 places that actually accept it (not including online stores) - and all of those charge 5% extra for the privelidge :)

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Alas, it's a company-issued card, so I had little say in the matter.

[plonq.livejournal.com]

Why do they need to know your mother's birth date?

It's a security check to make sure that some random yutz isn't trying to activate my card. If you ever decide to engage in identify fraud, make sure you find out the person's mother's maiden name, and that will get you past about 90% of the security checks.