Thefts, the Royal Mail, and asking questions.

Just heard of a theft that occurred nearby, some metal ingots were stolen last night. No doubt the thieves believed that the metal was aluminium; they'd be wrong it was magnesium. We're all waiting to see the pillar of fire when someone tries to melt it down, followed by a small explosion when they try to dowse the flames by throwing water on it. Also completely unsellable.

I mentioned a little while back ordering some goods on Amazon and finding my credit card had expired on the site, I've just tried to order some stamps from the Royal Mail site and as you might expect it's expired there too. Now with Amazon it was a painless experience, the Royal Mail on the other hand is a right pain in the ass. It's quite possible to update your details, but only through your account profile, there is no option to do so through the checkout procedure; you have to enter an entirely new card.

One thing that always annoys is the question

Type of Card.

The only reason to ask this is because you might not accept that type of card, but the first six digits of the card tell you what exactly what type it is anyway* and the processing bank doesn't care provided it's valid. I've got the card processing procedure manual for a major bank sitting on my lap and at no point does it state that you ask what type of card it is for CNP transactions. I suppose it's a customer satisfaction thing "Why didn't you tell me you didn't accept this card before I typed it in?" a little like the old IT trick of asking which socket the computer/whatever is plugged into rather then just asking if it's plugged in, people don't bother to look or check.

For those interested in the make-up of credit card numbers check here.

* For most it's a question of does the number start with a 4, 5, or 6