credit cards and plastic bags ???

[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 ? i do not get it, but it appears to work..

[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....

[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.

[Michael Kaudze]

Answer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO_nEuWvhPI

[Michael Kaudze]

@ 2:30 is the answer..

[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!

[dacflyer]

Hmm, totally different than what i thought.. thanks

[MicroRem]

It was exactly what I thought. I was certain I had no idea why it worked.

Tom

[Dimbulb]

maybe a form of cleaning and deguassing