Uh, not if the mag strip or chip is/are broken... In that case it's 100% useless. Fool.

True but given that the girl tried to hide the card break by wrapping it in a receipt what most likely happened is that when she went to run the card through the machine it snapped either along the middle or right beneath the magnetic strip, leaving the strip in tact but separating it from the rest of the card. That is the most common way for cards to break. I also have to say that while the girl handled the break badly and should have apologized, the card breaking is most likely because the OP handed her a half dead card in the first place. I can not even keep track of how many times I've been handed debit/credit cards that were so brittle around the strip that it felt like breathing on them too hard would have snapped the strip off the card. If your card feels like that PLEASE get it replaced so that you don't accidentally put a cashier of any kind in this position. Also for the love of all that is good in the world SIGN YOUR CARD or at least put SEE ID. If you leave the signature part blank 1. The card is technically not valid and therefore no one is supposed to run it (read the card it tells you this) and 2. Any yahoo could pick up your card if you drop it, sign it, and now when the cashier asks for the card for signature comparison on a credit run, guess what? The signature matches! So the cashier has no reason to question whether this woman really is Juliet so and so.

at most drive-thru places you have to give them your card so it can be swipedfor protection. As for inside stores most places also require you to give you ID and card when is a credit card to insure it's not stolen

Where do you live that "most places" require an ID? Every where I go they will let you purchase whatever you want until you hit either $25 or $50 (depends on the store) and then they will ask for an ID. That is unless you have "SEE ID" written on the card and a cashier who actually does their damn job. You aren't even supposed to be allowed to run a card if it hasn't been signed in some way (It flat out says on all cards not valid without a signature) but it happens all the time. At the very least a blank card should equal an ID check but it pretty much never does.

@54: Technically, they have to ask for ID with all purchases made by a credit card, to check the signature on the back. But I don't think anyone ever does that anymore, as long as they get their money, they don't care.

That's the issue. I've never been to a store where they check All purchases made on a credit card. I've always been to ones where they give you up to a certain amount and then they start doing the ID check and signature comparison. I even questioned a trainer once as to how that makes any sense because that means that someone could still easily spend a couple hundred in stolen money doing multiple purchases at multiple registers. They just shrugged and repeated the policy. It makes their life easier. They don't care if it makes everyone else vulnerable to theft.

Ehm, replacement cards are usually not free. You only get a free replacement when your current one is about to expire, otherwise, you will have to pay some sort of transaction fee. Not that much though, 7 or 8 bucks. But it's not only the fee why it sucks. It also means you don't have access to your funds for the next 5 or so business days it takes them to get the replacement to you.