Credit Card Inspection

A little less than a year ago, I was filling out the forms to set up credit card processing for Zoe.  Believe me when I tell you that there were probably more pages in the credit card agreements (and legalese) than in my lease for the space!  One of the things I was told is that there would be a "site inspection" prior to my approval to confirm that I was a legitimate business.

Zoe was knee-deep in the construction buildout and I was not always on-site a full day.  When the company contacted me to tell me that I had been approved, I assumed that the site inspection had occurred at some point when I wasn't at the space.

Imagine my surprise a couple weeks ago when I got a call late one day asking to schedule a "site inspection"!  Of course, I agreed to it and asked the caller if this was something that they did on a yearly basis since I had been in business for 10 months!  He said that it was not, that for whatever reason they were just getting to me now!  Think of the wildness and mayhem I could have been committing in the meantime! (just kidding)

The inspector showed proper identification when he arrived and was required to take pictures of a number of things, including my point of sale computer, my office desk (messy, as usual), and interior and exterior shots of the store.  He told me and Anna that they find all sorts of fraud going on as part of these inspections.  One company had identified themselves as a bookstore - he said there were definitely no books being read in this house of ill-repute!  On a serious note, he said they often uncover places where people are held as slaves or have been victims of human trafficking.  So a visit to a place like Zoe is an easy one to check off the list.

I wondered if the inspection had been prompted by my request for the manual credit card processor.  Not many people have those sorts of requests any more.

Next up:  I Get To Be The Model