Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 384, Accepting Credit Cards.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 384.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development, in Transcription by CastingWords comprehension checks, cultural notes and a complete transcript of everything we say on this episode.
Our episode today is called Accepting Credit Cards.
It's a dialogue between Danny and Katie, using a lot of vocabulary that we use in business to talk about credit cards and accepting them in a store.
Are you sure we should start accepting credit cards from our customers?
We've always been a cash-only business.
I think we need to for the convenience of our customers.
It won't be as big a nuisance as you think with this new cash register.
The instructions say the merchant has to swipe the cardholder's card at the POS.
What's that?
That stands for point of sale.
For us, that's the cash register.
All you have to do is take the credit card and swipe it through here, making sure that the magnetic strip is facing you.
It's simple.
Do I have to write down the credit card number, the expiration date And the security code on the back?
No, the cash register does that for you automatically.
It will save you a lot of time.
What if the customer goes over his or her credit limit?
In that case, their card is declined and we tell the customer to call the issuing bank.
What if a customer disputes the charges?
The credit card company will investigate and if we have double-charged a customer or made a mistake, we'll have to do a chargeback.
We can do it easily with a cash register.
Everything can be done with this machine.
It's great.
What if it doesn't work?
What if what doesn't work?
What if the cash register breaks down?
Not such a time saver, huh?
But you only have to do that if it breaks down.
And it won't break down very often.
We'll see about that.
Danny and Katie in our dialogue are business owners.
Danny begins by saying, are you sure we should start accepting credit cards from our customers?
We've always been a cash only business.
A cash only business is a business that lets its customers pay only with cash.
They don't take checks from a bank or they don't take credit cards.
There are still many businesses that are cash only.
There are a lot of small restaurants in Los Angeles, for example, where you can only pay cash.
Katie says, I think we need to accept these cards for the convenience of our customers.
It won't be as big a nuisance as you think with this new cash register.
A nuisance, N-U-I-S-A-N-C-E, is something that is annoying or frustrating.
Something that is unpleasant would be a nuisance.
You might say that to a child who is making too much noise.
For example, I don't know, your neighbor's child.
You may say, she's a nuisance.
She screams every day.
Katie says it won't be as big a nuisance as you think with this new cash register.
A cash register is a small machine that you see in stores that calculates or gives you the total amount that you are buying and is used to receive the money.
Cash registers usually have what's called a cash drawer where you can put the dollar bills and 5 bills, and 10 bills and 20 bills, along with coins.
Danny says the instructions say that the merchant has to swipe the cardholder's card at the POS.
What's that?
Danny is looking at the instructions that say that the merchant or the person who is selling something, the company that is selling something, has to swipe the cardholder's card.
The cardholder.
One word is the person who owns the credit card, the person whose name is on the credit card.
To swipe means to take the card and move it through a special machine very quickly.
So the instructions say that the merchant, the seller, has to swipe the cardholder's credit card at the POS.
Katie says POS stands for or means point of sale.
POS is an abbreviation that businesses use to talk about the place where you are actually selling something.
It could be a store.
It could be a restaurant.
Any place where you are selling something.
That is the point of sale, the place where you are selling something.
Katie says for us, that's the cash register.
All you have to do is take the credit card, she says, and swipe it through here, making sure that the magnetic strip is facing you.
The magnetic strip is a long line, usually black rectangular space on the back of the credit card that contains all the electronic information your name, the credit card number and so forth.
To say something is facing you means it is in your direction.
It is something that is... placed so that it is directly in front of you or in your direction.
Face has several different meanings in English.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Danny then asks Katie, Do I have to write down the credit card number, the expiration date and the security code on the back?
The credit card number is the 16 usually numbers for a Visa or a MasterCard that go with that credit card.
Visa numbers always start with 4.
MasterCard numbers always start with 5.
The expiration date is the date that that something is no longer valid or you can no longer use it.
All credit cards have expiration dates, so that after that date you have to get a new card to continue using your account.
The security code is something a little new.
It's something that is on the back of your credit card.
It's usually three numbers that many merchants, especially online businesses, ask for.
It is an additional way of making sure that you didn't steal the credit card number, because the security code is only on the back of the physical card.
Katie says, no, the cash register does that for you automatically.
You don't have to write that information down.
It will save you a lot of time.
Danny says, what if the customer goes over his or her credit limit?
Your credit limit is the maximum amount of money that you are allowed to borrow on your credit card.
The maximum amount of money that the credit card company will give you to spend each month.
Danny is asking what will happen if the customer tries to use a credit card but she is or he is over his or her credit limit.
Katie says in that case, in that situation, their card is declined, meaning the company says no, you can't use it.
They reject it.
Then we tell the customer to call the issuing bank.
The issuing bank is the bank that issues or gives the customer the credit card.
To issue in this case means to give formally or officially to someone.
Danny says, what if the customer disputes the charges?
To dispute... in general means to argue, not to agree, to say that someone else is wrong.
In this case, the customer can dispute the charges, meaning that if you see something on your credit card bill and you don't think that it's right you don't think that you actually bought that You can call the credit card company and say that's not something I bought.
I want to dispute the charge, the amount.
Katie says the credit card company will investigate.
And if we have double charged a customer or made a mistake, we'll have to do a charge back.
To double anything means to do it twice.
So to double charge means that you have charged the credit card twice by mistake, we hope.
If you do that or if there is some other mistake, you will often get what is called in the business world a chargeback.
A chargeback is a refund that you have to give the customer.
Usually credit card companies will also charge the business, the store, money.
For example, if someone steals your credit card and goes and buys something, You can dispute the charge and the business who sold the merchandise the items will have to give you a refund.
Plus, they usually have to pay some additional money to the credit card company.
Credit card companies and banks do not really pay for the fraud, the misuse of credit cards, for example on the Internet.
It's the businesses that pay for it when someone uses a credit card and is not the person who owns that number.
Danny asks, what if it doesn't work?
Katie says, what if what doesn't work?
She's asking what Danny is talking about.
Danny says, what if the cash register breaks down?
To break down means to stop working correctly.
Usually we use that expression phrasal verb when we are talking about a machine of some sort.
Katie says um, i guess you'll have to write down all of the information and process it when the machine is working.
Again, danny says not such a time saver.
Huh, A time saver is something that lets you do something faster.
It saves you time.
It limits the amount of time you have to spend on something.
Danny is saying that the cash register will not be such a or a very good time saver.
Katie says, but you only have to do that if it breaks down.
And it won't break down very often.
Danny has some doubt about that.
He says, we'll see about that.
We use that phrase we'll see about that to show someone, to indicate to someone that you don't believe what the other person has said.
You think that the truth will be found out in the future and it will be different from what that person says.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
I think we need to for the convenience of our customers.
It won't be as big a nuisance as you think with this new cash register.
The instructions say that the merchant has to swipe the cardholder's card at the P.O.S.
What's that?
That stands for point of sale.
For us, that's the cash register.
All you have to do is take the credit card and swipe it through here, making sure that the magnetic strip is facing you.
It's simple.
Do I have to write down the credit card number, the expiration date and the security code on the back?
No, the cash register does that for you automatically.
It'll save you a lot of time.
What if the customer goes over his or her credit limit?
In that case, the card is declined and we tell the customer to call the issuing bank.
What if a customer disputes the charges?
The credit card company will investigate and if we have double-charged a customer or made a mistake, we'll have to do a charge back.
We can do it easily with a cash register.
Everything can be done with this machine.
It's great.
What if it doesn't work?
What if what doesn't work?
What if the cash register breaks down?
Um, I guess you'll have to write down all of the information and process it when the machine is working again.
Not such a time saver, huh?
But you only have to do that if it breaks down, and it won't break down.
Very often.
We'll see about that.
The script for this episode was written by someone who is never a nuisance, Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
