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credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:49 am
by dacflyer
whats the deal that plastic shopping bags help make a CC work better ?
there's about 2 stores here in town, that my CC will not work on their counter card readers
dirty or weak mag stripe i guess.. either way the clerk will put my card into a plastic bag, then swipe the card again. and it works great. what going on ? is the plastic bag acting like a amplifier ?
static amp ? :P i do not get it, but it appears to work..

Re: credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:16 am
by gerty
My wife works in a small store, she told me about this trick then asked how/why it works.
I didn't have an answer either....

Re: credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:23 am
by sofaspud
This is the first I've heard of this, but given a few moments thought my best guess is it has something to do with
the slickness of the bag. I hope someone has a definitive answer to this puzzler.

Re: credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:07 pm
by Michael Kaudze

Re: credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:10 pm
by Michael Kaudze
@ 2:30 is the answer..

Re: credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:05 pm
by sofaspud
Thanks MK. I considered the possibility but didn't think the bag was thick enough to make that much of a difference.
It's certainly easier to see the concept applied with the wax paper and UPC. Mystery solved! If I ever have this happen
at the store I'll get to play geek smarty-pants! :lol:

Re: credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:36 pm
by dacflyer
Hmm, totally different than what i thought.. thanks :)

Re: credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:29 am
by MicroRem
It was exactly what I thought. I was certain I had no idea why it worked.

Tom

Re: credit cards and plastic bags ???

Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 4:28 pm
by Dimbulb
maybe a form of cleaning and deguassing