The Wild West of Credit Cards: How One Hotel Clerk Mastered the Art of Petty Revenge
Picture this: You’re checking into a hotel in the 1990s. Your shirt is tucked in, your credit card is fresh from your wallet, and you’re feeling pretty smug. But unbeknownst to you, the front desk clerk you just annoyed is about to pull a trick so diabolically petty, it could leave your wallet gasping for air for days. Welcome to the wild, wild west of hotel pre-authorizations—a world where “customer service” had a dark, clickety-clack underbelly.
Recently, the r/PettyRevenge subreddit unearthed a tale that’s equal parts nostalgia and mischief. It involves ancient credit card gadgets, creative revenge, and a symphony of “ka-chunks.” Buckle up as we swipe through this story, with a little help from hilarious, insightful, and occasionally exasperated Redditors.
When Hotel Clerks Ruled the Land (Lines and All)
Long before chip readers and tap-to-pay, hotel clerks wielded the power of the “slidey carbon paper thingy.” As u/Murph1908, the original poster, described it, guests’ credit cards would be run through a box on the front desk, linked to a phone line. You’d swipe, enter the pre-auth amount, and wait for a code. Then came the pièce de résistance: taking a physical imprint with the “zip zap machine”—a device known to generations by its signature “ka-chunk” sound.
If a guest was especially insufferable, one crafty hotel worker had a plan: He’d repeatedly run pre-authorizations on the guest’s card—$100 at a time, then $50, then $10—until the poor card gasped for mercy. The result? The guest’s available credit was eaten up by phantom holds, making that card all but useless for the next few days. Imagine trying to buy gas or dinner, only to be told your card is maxed out, and all because you were rude at check-in.
As u/MorphineSlurpee so succinctly put it: “Hospitality really used to be the wild west.”
The Soundtrack of Revenge: Shoop, Zip-Zap, and Knuckle Busters
Redditors couldn’t help but reminisce about the technology at the heart of this plot. “Slidey carbon thingy is called the zip zap machine,” explained u/Piggypogdog, kicking off a thread full of nostalgia. Each region or workplace had its own nickname for this relic. In Sweden? “Ritsch ratsch machine,” according to u/swedething. In the States, it was the “knuckle buster” (shout-out to u/CatlessBoyMom) or, as some claimed, the “Shoop Shoop” (cue u/fotoburger: “No, that’s a song. The shoop shoop song. Look it up.”)
The sound wasn’t just for show. “Ours worked by giving a good ole ‘ka-chunk.’ Had to say it out loud while you were using it or it would get stuck. I don’t make the rules,” joked u/Flavor_Dave. And if the machine broke? Some clerks would MacGyver an imprint using the edge of a Bic pen, just like tracing coins—a true “rub-a-dub” operation, as u/Technical-Video6507 remembered.
It was a time when even the numbers on your card mattered. “I hadn't thought about those in years until I got my replacement card today and noticed it doesn't have the raised numbers on it anymore,” marveled u/dirtyhairymess. Today’s cards, smooth as glass, would be useless in the era of carbon slips and imprints.
Was It Harmless Pranking or Borderline Fraud?
Of course, not everyone in the comments was cheering for the vengeful clerk. Some raised ethical eyebrows. “This would be beyond petty revenge and could leave someone in a great deal of difficulty if traveling and only had 1 cc,” observed u/Blue_Iquana, noting the real-world inconvenience for travelers caught in the crossfire. Others, like u/FakeRussianAccent, argued that repeatedly pre-authorizing a guest’s card without their knowledge crossed a line into fraud: “The consumer did not authorize 7421 pre-auths.”
But as OP u/Murph1908 clarified, the world moved slower back then. “Things weren't as instant back in 1990. You couldn't log into your account online and see what the problem was. You would have to go to an actual land line telephone and call the bank. Which was probably not open outside of 9-5 M-F.” Even knowing why your card was maxed out required a detective’s patience.
Others saw it as poetic justice. “Think twice if ya wanna be a dick for no reason,” quipped u/Hello_Hangnail. And u/loveablepetcare pointed out, “Not fraud as it was just a temporary hold of the funds. All the money gets returned after a few days. No one was stolen from and no funds held went into someone's pocket. Just a harmless ‘petty revenge’ by inconveniencing a rude customer.”
The Glory Days of Messy Money
If nothing else, this story reminded many of how clunky—and delightfully analog—our financial lives once were. “This is back when Mastercard and Visa would issue booklets that looked like miniature phone books,” recalled u/seriouslythisshit. “They contained lists of thousands of stolen cards… slightly more advanced than posting your charges by scratching the info on the wall with the end of a burnt stick.”
Mistakes (accidental or not) could tie up thousands of dollars for days. As u/Complaint_Manager shared, sometimes a stray zero meant a $450 charge became $4500, requiring refunds and leaving customers awkwardly stranded at fancy restaurants with declined cards. And as many noted, there was no handy app to tell you why your card was mysteriously frozen.
Were these the good old days? Maybe not for the credit-card-limited traveler, but certainly for the front desk staff with a score to settle—and a “zip zap” at the ready.
Conclusion: Petty, Petty Hospitality
The next time you check into a hotel, remember: The front desk clerk might no longer have a knuckle buster, but a little kindness goes a long way. The era of the analog petty revenge may be gone, but the stories (and the “ka-chunk” echoes) live on.
Do you have tales of old-school hospitality, petty workplace pranks, or click-clack machines? Share your stories below—especially if you ever had to say “ka-chunk” out loud to keep the magic alive!
Original Reddit Post: Old story - Hotel and pre-authorizations