Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucla-cs.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ukma!psuvm.bitnet!psuvax1!burdvax!sdcrdcf!ucla-cs!wales From: wales@ucla-cs.UUCP Newsgroups: net.consumers Subject: Credit card carbons ("No, you can't have them") Message-ID: <8529@ucla-cs.ARPA> Date: Sun, 26-Jan-86 00:28:31 EST Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.8529 Posted: Sun Jan 26 00:28:31 1986 Date-Received: Tue, 28-Jan-86 05:30:03 EST Reply-To: wales@ucla-cs.UUCP (Rich Wales) Distribution: net Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department Lines: 33 When I had my car washed this afternoon, I paid for the wash with a credit card. Like a good, conscientious consumer, I asked the cashier if I could please have the carbons (so I could tear them up, so no one could find them in the trash and use my card number fraudulently). He said no, I couldn't have them -- and then pointed to a pre-printed notice on the credit slip, just above the signature space, which said: DEALER IS REQUIRED TO RETAIN CARBON SHEET AS AN ACCOUNTING RECORD. The credit slip was printed by Chevron. It didn't seem to matter that I had in fact used my Mastercard to pay for the car wash. What in the WORLD is going on here?? The only explanation I can think of is that maybe the credit slip had only two parts -- my copy and the one the dealer sends in to the company -- requiring the dealer to keep the carbon in place of a (nonexistent) merchant copy. Given the recent big push toward letting the consumer take the carbons, designing slips so that the carbon gets torn in half automatically, or introducing carbonless forms, this seems like an incredibly bad public- relations move on the part of Chevron, whatever the explanation. Any comments? -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 213-825-5683 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024 // USA ARPA: wales@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU -or- wales@UCLA-LOCUS.ARPA UUCP: ...!(ucbvax,ihnp4)!ucla-cs!wales