Using a Credit Card Without Raised Numbers (2024)

Wow - what a (costly) pain! We've used Europcar in several countries and have generally been very happy with the cars, the service, and the price. That agent wasn't very resourceful - who hasn't had a clerk hand-write the credit card number on a set of carbon paper credit card slips when the slider machine wasn't working, or hand-enter a card number when a modern electric device wasn't reading the magnetic strip or the chip? Either that person was an unimaginative "rules are rules" drone (probably), or they truly were looking to stick a customer with an inflated price (hopefully not).

I trust you're disputing the 4x credit card charge with your card issuer. If the Europcar agent's manager wasn't available to resolve your situation the day you "canceled" and "rerented" the car, perhaps they can be reached to rectify the situation now. Do you have receipts for the original on-line reservation? Best of luck, and hope your next rental goes well.

Your diagnosis was accurate. The agent was an unimaginative "rules are rules" drone, and so was her manager. Neither one had any interest in addressing the problem. I was polite but my amazement of their 1970's technology was hard to hide.

I'll make a futile attempt to recoup some of the damage. But I'm not too optimistic because they'll probably show me the "fine print".

Thanks for commiserating!

Etoile Foch
Face 8 Avenue Foch
Paris 75016

The taxi driver had a hard time finding it because it's in an underground parking garage.

My shock was partly due to the fact that I had used my "modern" Visa card fifteen minutes earlier in Rick's favorite hotel. Europcar was the only blemish on an otherwise fun-filled vacation.

In case you think only that car company would reject that flat card, you might find it interesting that the very large British railway company that work for does not accept them either.

They are too easy to create fraudulently.

Credit cards with raised numbers are going the way of travelers checks and free airline meals. All my latest cards have that sexy new flat look, since all the info is encoded in the mag strip and that's all that is used anymore. And now that there's a chip too, looking at numbers is so old-fashioned.

However, sometimes here in the States you still see folks with a need to rub numbers so sometimes they will just slide a pen to get the imprint to work. So old school.

Here's a post from 2012, when another traveler had the same problem: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/quot-electronic-quot-credit-cards

The previous batch of credit cards I got when they renewed from various banks were all the flat non-embossed type. Several merchants expressed concern about them when I had to hand the cards to them vs where I completed the transaction without handing the card over, but I never had one refused. Those are all being replaced this year with chip cards and guess what, they all (except for my United Airlines card) have the embossed number again, even Capital One. Guess they got enough complaints.

As far as being easy to fraudulently duplicate, that is a lame excuse for not taking the flat cards, especially if they are the chip versions. And if you are completing the transaction online (I know not really relevant to this specific situation), how will they know if your card is embossed or not?

stan,

No, the card reader is not the issue in these cases. It is a merchant who doesn't believe a credit card that does not have embossed numbers on it is a valid card.

When the manager made it clear that my credit card was worthless, my only option was to cancel the reservation. The price suddenly doubled when she created a new reservation for the exact same car. The final charge on my credit card was twice that amount.

If I’m standing in front of you with a passport, a driver’s license and the credit card I used to make the reservation (on your website), what fraud would I be trying to perpetrate? You can’t outrun the gendarmerie in a Fiat Panda.

JHK

Yes, my Cap One 360 Debit card is one of the flat ones. And still no chip either.

Funny thing is when they sent this one to me, it had nothing on it at all except my name. No numbers of any kind, no expiry dates - nothing. Guess that makes for a secure account that way, right? They replaced it about 2 weeks later with one that had everything printed on it. Both still work just fine in ATMs.

The only reason for the raised letters was the old machine that put an image on carbon copies. I haven't seen one in use since the early 90's (maybe a taxi cab here and there, but even they use a smart phone attachment now).

The two ways people record your card this millennium is to either scan the magnetic strip on the back or the chip in the newer cards.

Your experience sounds more like Italy than France (where they consider it an art-form to get around ridiculous rules). Did you remember to say bonjour before you began your interaction? It sounds like they were trying to give you a hard time.

I didn't say bon jour but I was smiling from ear to ear. My son and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Paris, thanks in large part to the personal service we received at Rick's favorite hotel.

It's a shame that we left Paris on a low note. Despite the poor Europcar service, we can't wait to go back next year . . . to rent scooters!