“Some heroes don’t wear capes.” That’s the modern idiom a woman bestowed on a Target employee after the worker swooped in and saved the day during a shopping trip. While the interaction may have been solid proof of the kindness of strangers, viewers didn’t see it as wholesome.
Why did a Target worker pay for her items?
In a viral clip, Elsa (@elsa_power123456789) shares a single photo of her and her friend at the Target self-checkout. But they’re not the only ones there. Standing beside them is a Target employee, looking at the checkout screen. The text overlay reveals the situation that led Elsa to dub the worker a “green flag.”
“That one time a Target employee paid for my cart cuz my friends card declined and I was too broke,” it reads.
In the comments, Elsa called the Target worker a “hero,” but she probably didn’t expect her viewers to paint her as the villain.
Her video earned over 237,000 views, with the majority of comments lambasting Elsa for her financial decisions.
“Does nobody check their bank before going out?” a top comment read. “I deal with customers like this all the time if you have little to no money dont go out.”
Another simply asked, “Who shops with no money!??”
One user called out Elsa, writing, “No girl, you knew you saw your bank account and it was 0 and you still had the audacity to still go to Target.” This led the creator to reply, “Ur right.”
Elsa added in another comment that her total came out to $110.
The awkwardness around your card getting declined
Cards getting declined are relatively common. According to Coin Law, about 10-15% of cards are declined globally at the point of sale or online checkout. Still, that doesn’t make the experience any less awkward. It’s no secret that retail workers dread telling customers their card has been declined, especially if those shoppers get embarrassed or flustered. In a Reddit post on the Target subreddit, one commenter shared ways workers can be polite about letting the customer know.
They suggest different ways to address it, writing: “Step 1) ‘Would you mind trying that again for me?’ Step 2) ‘Is the pin correct?’ Step 3) ‘Do you have cash or another card?’ Step 4) ‘I can take care of this stuff for you if you want to run out to your car.’”
But these polite methods don’t always work. In a viral TikTok, a server’s attempt at being discreet about her customer’s card declining backfired. After slipping a note in the little book to let the man know his card was declined without his date knowing, the man got upset. According to the server, the customer felt she went out of her way to embarrass him by writing the note instead of just outright asking him.
What causes your credit card to decline?
There can be several reasons why your card was declined while paying at checkout. According to the Federal Trade Commission, some of these reasons are:
- The card has expired
- You’re over your credit limit
- The card issuer sees suspicious activity that could be a sign of fraud
- A hotel, rental car company, or other business placed a block (or hold) on your card for its estimated total of your bill
What should you do if your card declines at self-checkout?
On Target’s website, there is a Help article that specifically addresses this concern. According to the company, you will need to call your issuing bank to resolve the matter.
The FTC also recommends you check that you entered your information correctly, such as your PIN. The government agency then advises you to check with your bank or credit union. That way, they can tell you what the issue is.
If you have another form of payment, you could also use that instead. There could also be an error on the POS system. So your next course of action would be calling over an employee just as Elsa did to fix the issue (though don’t count on every employee being as generous as the one Elsa met).
The Mary Sue reached out to Elsa via TikTok direct message and to Target via email.
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