I used my credit card for a taxi a few weeks back. I then check my statements online a couple of weeks later and I have 4x taxi fares amounting to almost 100chf each, at randomly selected days. I quickly complained to my card services, and they immediately then went back to the company to get receipts and to investigate.
They then send me the copies of the taxi slips they audited, and lo and behold, the signature on the slips, while at a very cursory glance appearing to be my scrawl, is upon closer examination a forgery, with very different calligraphic styling to the letters.
Payment is being refunded, and I have to then file a police report, but lesson learnt: make sure you always have cash on you when taking a taxi. Cheeky barstewards.
It was super quick... they even in the letter they sent to me said that they have detected forgery and have already provisionally refunded the cash to my card. I will now send a scan of all my bank cards with my signature on it, and explain the differences in minute detail so as to make it 10000% clear.
Gotta say though, the credit card team are very efficient, no complaints there!
Nah, no need to name and shame as the taxis don't have the name of the company on them, they are just generic looking ones so you can't tell the difference anyhow. They must get a lot of drivers going through their books, so there will undoubtedly be one or two bad eggs.
I'll just put it down to experience, and ensure I've always got enough cash on me.
Wow, was hoping that it does not happen in switzerland I guess the only way, is to check the card carefully.. Same thing had happened to me in German hotel, but when I noticed that they took money for some random dates, was already to late, to get the money back.
I use use UBS e-banking and there I have set up an SMS Notification so that I am immediately notified of any card transaction over 40.- . It really works. Seconds after I have made a transaction, I get an notification through on my mobile phone. This way, I could react quickly to any fraudulent credit card or other debits.
It's very important to check your credit card transactions anywhere actually. A few years back on a trip in the US I had used my credit card, then I found charges from furniture stores all over Southern California. And then once my credit card was blocked because there was a charge of over 1000 dollars from a rental car agency.
At least there is never a problem getting the charges removed. But you have to report the charges within 60 days. I just make sure I regularly check the balances on all of my cards, even the ones which always have a balance of zero.
But I'm still a bit surprised to hear about the taxi incident. But glad to know that the credit card had no trouble removing the charges.