I am writing this to tell you about my not-so-wonderful trip to Jewel to buy some Shampoo and Starbucks. I decided to register for Pay by Touch because it looked neat. First I had to get my own preferred card (can't use my parent's anymore I guess
) and I got a coupon for free President's Choice cookies. Then I registered for the Pay by Touch. The process takes about 10 minutes. You'll need a voided check or credit/debit card and an attendant to assist you. Technically you have to be 18 but the attendant pulled some ropes for me.
That went fine. I went to the Starbucks counter, the girl never had a customer pay this way so she was as new to this as me, I had to explain that Authorizing...Please Wait meant don't void the transaction! (She obviously had no patience
) After a few attempts all went well. On the way to the self-checkout I picked up those cookies and then after waiting a minute took my turn. The first thing you do for Pay by Touch is scan your finger, that way it knows you're a preferred customer (it has your preferred card on file) and you get the discounts. Well, my finger was very cold and wet from the Frappchino so it never scanned. It never occurred to me that I'd have to scan my actual preferred card now, so the coupon didn't work. This trip for a bottle of shampoo had taken long enough so I figured I'd use the coupon some other time.
I was forced to pay by check at the self-checkout (I had done it once before and it is a HUGE hassle). You have to go to the attendant in charge of the self-checkout lanes to get the check cleared. This check scanning doodad wasn't working so I had to go to customer service and finally got the check cleared. All in all, I'd don't listen to Jewel when they say "No cards, cash, or checks needed" because you definately want a backup. I suppose they could look you up manually but it's easier to just pay by cash or credit/debit if it doesn't work the first time.
