The policy is like that because they don't want to worry about someone finding and using the card. If you leave your card someplace, even if you get it back, it could have been cloned by some unscrupulous person. In my case, I'd order a new card reguardless.

That should be between the card holder and the credit card company NOT the business that found it. If the business takes the card and puts it in a safe place then there's no risk of what you said would happen. (:

#32, last time I left a CC at a store, I bought someone a tank of gas and a TV. The cut-up policy is not a bad idea.

#37 Did you dispute the charges? You might have been charged but I bet (name your price) you didn't actually pay for those items. You're not responsible for any unauthorized charges. And don't forget it's the EMPLOYEE that found the card not some random TV/gas thief. :P

#44, yes, I successfully disputed the charges. I think the store employee stole my card. I should have been suspicious when the cashier said "Your card is in the bag."

You are being naïve. Safety trumps inconvenience. The card could have been maxed out by a thief, before the employee found it. Reading and recognizing the name on the card notwithstanding, policies are in place for a purpose. Cutting up the card guarantees it cannot be used again by anyone. Even an unscrupulous store manager! Here's another scenario: "Sir, I found your credit card. Good thing that I chose to disregard policy, and NOT cut up your card huh?" Manager: "No. I dropped that expired card near you on purpose, to see if you would obey the rules. You failed the test. You're fired!!!" Now what?

I like how #28 is leaving the cc at places do you just hand it over and walk away lol. Keep better track of your stuff. Honestly think about how often the cashier asks for I'd or even checks the signature. If my card got cut before some jerk found and used it I would glad.

As stated before, you can simply dispute the charges. You are not responsible for unauthorized charges to your card. there really isn't any reason to not wait a day and see if they come back for their card. Immediately cutting it up is just a huge dick move. What's naive is thinking that you're protecting the person. The ONLY reason that policy is there is to protect the company from being blamed for fraudulent charges, simple as that. They are NOT doing this for the customer they are doing it to prevent liability.

Octwo, disputes can often be more of a hassle and take more time than just getting a new card issued. furthermore, if the card is a check card and someone gets the pin and uses it as a debit, the dispute process gets weirder because it's not subject to quite the same credit protections that credit cards offer. Lastly, if it's a prepaid reloadable card (which can be personalized with one's name), then disputes very frequently get turned down if the charges happen prior to the card getting reported lost/stolen. and while you're not wrong about liability also being an issue, what's wrong with a store/company trying to protect itself. it's worth the inconvenience, imo.

28-- I agree with you on holding the card. In my experience, cards have been used by the employee anyway. My mom has had to fire several employees that have copied the numbers from a card, then purchased stuff online. If a less honest employee finds the card, it probably would not be cut up anyway.

If I left my credit card at a business and returned in... say an hour because I realized I didn't have it, I'd be upset if they cut it up VS put it in a safe place where "no thief can use it".

^^^^this is the key point! Not everyone that finds a credit card is going to use it. WOULD YOU PEOPLE??? Are all of you finders/ keepers criminals? There are honest people out there that wouldn't think to risk jail time to scam or getting fired if they're caught stealing. And as I mention earlier, it happens at my job a lot. I bartend and people sign their receipts to tip and some have left their cc in the check presenters. They're happy to know that my job has honest employees that will turn them in and managers that will return it only to the rightful owner. And yes, thanks, I'll keep track of my stuff.

Enslaved, or course not everybody who finds one is going to use it, but there are plenty of people who will and have done so. just like there are honest people, there are also lying, stealing scumbags, too.

In Ireland it's all "chip and pin", there's no signatures. I'm a manager in a café and if we come across a purse or anything, I make sure myself and another member of staff are in view of the security cameras and then we look to see if there's any ID/bank card etc. It happened once where I had to go to the bank to ask them to call the lady who owned the card, because she hadn't come back (people generally come back or phone the shop to ask did they leave it there) and she lived in another town thirty minutes away. Sorry for the long comment.

Okay, I'm talking way too much about this FML but just wanted to point out, as #117 kaka said, a less than honest employee would had hid the fact they found the card and wouldn't have cut it up anyways so why bother destroying it? Policy should be just to turn it in to mgr ASAP and have them deal with it.

I always pay with cash at bars. But a friend of mine left her credit card as "the tab" at a bar and the next day had $400 dollars charged to it. Someone (likely the bartender) used her card to pay for friends. She also had a $100 tip on the receipt and since she was drinking, they didn't really believe her about the dispute.

And you wouldn't be furious if someone had copied down the info from the card, left it there, and then proceeded to max out your credit card? The cutting policy is a hassle, but you really never know. If I left my card lying in a public place, I'd cancel it even if I got it back, just in case.

122 - Cutting it up doesn't stop that same employee from copying down the numbers and using it.

122, if I left it in the store and went right back for it, yeah I'd be mad. And like someone else said, if the numbers have been copied, it can still be maxed out