The Other Day I Was In Target - 1st Time Since Their Security Breach....

[global1]

I asked an employee as to what I should do to protect myself against any identity fraud because of their problems. She didn't know how to answer that and she took me over to one of the managers and this lady didn't know what to tell me either - except that everything is ok now - that they took care of the problem with the Red Card - but she didn't sound too convincing.

Then she said that she can put in a call to somewhere to answer my question. Seeing that I didn't want to spend a lot of time with more blank stares and calls - I just thanked both ladies for their help and told them I would visit the Target website to get the info.

Thinking about this exchange with these employees afterwards - I have to fault Target upper management for not informing their store employees - all of them - on this security breach and any follow-up actions that they are taking to help their customers and allay their fears.

If it were my company - I would have sent out a communication to all stores - with a FAQ listing as to how they should answer any questions regarding this security problem. I would have also demanded that each store manager have a meeting with all their store employees informing them as to what happened and any corrective actions Target as a corporation is taking to insure future security for their customers.

Further they should have instructions to inform all employees of any actions taken to help customers - those that may have already encountered security problems or those that are worried that they might have security problems in the future as a result of their breach.

I would have also put together some printed materials to be handed out to customers that ask questions about this breach that describes what happened; what they are doing about it; what you could do to protect yourself and how we -Target - will aid in you protecting yourself.

This to me is good customer service. Instead I was shocked that all I got from employees of Target were blank stares; I don't knows and everything's ok now.

Has anyone else out there run into the same - when visiting a Target Store and inquiring about this breach.

Incidentally, I paid cash for the item I purchased. I probably won't go back to shop at Target in the future.

Hmmm.... where to shop. I don't go to Wal-Mart for obvious reasons and now Target.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. No - Haven't inquired about the breach

I generally wouldn't expect a front line employee to handle that - or to manage and control the situation.

If you go to the Target web site - they have details there. As well, they are offering a free year to one of those credit monitoring services.

That said - a printed out flyer, or something that could driven to the Cartwheel app is a VERY good idea. I'm driving that to their customer service via email.

[global1]

5. Not Everyone Has Access To The Internet And When One Goes To Any Store It Is Hard To...

find a manager - especially stores as big as a Target. One may be lucky to find a front line employee on the floor of the store and surely they are at the checkout counters.

The front line employee are the most available and they should be schooled in answering questions about the situation. Not to manage or control the situation - but just to answer a few questions.

I guess I would have MY Target front line employee tell a customer that they can go to the Target website and that has all the answers to your questions and we are even offering a free year to a credit monitoring service. If you don't have access to the internet - here is a flyer that has answers to the most frequently asked questions as well as an 800 toll free number you can call to get any other questions you may have answered and request to sign up for a credit monitoring service.

I would hire a 24/7 telephone service to answer handle this aspect of my damage control

The way I see it is Target's reputation is on the line and potentially their business is on the line. It will be interesting to check the next quarters Target financials to see if this breach had an impact on sales.

We as consumers are trading at these stores and there should be some assurances that our personal credit card data be secure. These corporations have that responsibility to their customers and their stockholders.

I personally use my credit cards over cash. Everyday I get more and more concerned that because of the lack of importance that these corporations put on customer digital security that I may become prey for these hackers. Number one priority of these businesses should be IT security. Unfortunately - we're learning everyday of some new store that has a security.

These corporations need to be smarter than the hackers and make their systems hack proof. They need to take this seriously.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. That's why I agreed with you on the flyers

A quick little call out card directing the customer to the right place is the best option.

[Ohio Joe]

2. I don't think I would do it that way...

Asking people who are not technical enough to understand and explain to others who may or may not be technical enough to understand is asking to be ridiculed. What they should have, is something on their website (which they may or may not have, I've not looked) as well as something hanging in the store that has been vetted for accuracy that explains everything.

[global1]

9. I'm Not Asking A Front Line Employee To Be Technical Or Explain What Happened On A Tech Basis....

see my reply #5 above.

The first line of defense by a store is to have their front line employees informed enough to handle some basic questions as I describe in Reply#5. That is the first place that a person will be encountering Target after a breach like this. It seems to me the most logical place to start.

In my opinion 'Good Customer Service' is the most important aspect of any business. If my customers are happy - everything good that can happen to me as a business person will fall into place.

For those instances where I screw up as a businessman and let down my customers in some way - my objective is to do something positive that maintains them as a customer.

Don't get me wrong - I like the fact that Target has something on their website and took that action rather swiftly. But as I said above not everyone has access to a website nor is it their first inclination to go to a website.

The most logical place to start is in the stores where my customers come in direct contact with me and my policies and problems.

[Ohio Joe]

19. Yes... You are.

Above, in post #5, you say:

"These corporations need to be smarter than the hackers and make their systems hack proof. They need to take this seriously."

Look... No offense but... That is a completely ignorant statement. By that I mean, you show you have zero knowledge of how todays electronics work. There is NO system that is 'hack proof'... There is NO system that can be made 'hack proof'. If they are going to use computers of any kind, they CAN be hacked.

Giving people only a few lines to try and explain what happened to customers will only lead to more questions... And when a person is only repeating something memorized and does not understand, additional questions will only cause more confusion and make them even worse.

Their best option would be to provide a sign at the entrance that explains things but even then they will get people who say things like 'why not make it hack proof'... And for those who simply know nothing, there is little they can do that will satisfy them.

[okaawhatever]

3. I'm actually impressed that one of their employees took you to a manager for help. While that may

sound pathetic, it's true. I doubt a Wal-Mart employee is trained to do that. Target is much better in that area. I'll bet Target has people on their phone lines for their credit cards trained to answer the questions. I think the bigger question is, could Target have prevented the breach by paying more for a more secure card or card reader, or taken some other measure to prevent it from happening.

[lpbk2713]

4. It's probably not because the local employees were uninformed.

It's probably because they were once given the "all clear" and it didn't turn
out that way. The local employees probably didn't want to stick their necks
out only to be totally wrong. Getting the info from their website is probably
the best option available to you.

[global1]

6. See My Reply #5 Above.....nt

[Fumesucker]

8. The effort you put into implementing those procedures would distract from the truly important thing

Dreaming up ways to make your stock options worth more.

Clearly you are not fit for high management.

[global1]

11. My Stock Options Won't Be Worth Diddley If I Lose Customers.....

also my stockholders won't be very happy with me either - if I didn't handle the situation right. My heads on the chopping block if this isn't handled right. That's why I would implement the procedures I spoke about above. At least if fingers start pointing at me I can point to all the remedial actions I've taken to allay customers fears.

Without doing that - I have nothing to fall back on when the Board of Directors is looking for a sacrificial scapegoat.

[Fumesucker]

15. Evidently the real executives know something you don't

Probably the Board of Directors.

Executive compensation doesn't really have a great deal to do with performance in many cases, these people all sit on the boards of each others companies and vote big compensation for each other.

[Systematic Chaos]

10. I was in our local Target a couple days ago. There was a pretty big sign right in front...

...where they kept the shopping carts.

It said that they were offering a free year of credit monitoring to customers. I didn't stay long enough to read the whole thing, but I'd imagine any store card customer was eligible, as well as maybe anyone else who could prove they did business with Target on another card by showing the statement. Something like that.

Anyway, my disability comes on a Direct Express card every month. Direct Express killed off my old card late last month and sent us a new one. We didn't have to do anything but verify that our address info was correct, and then activate the new card and input a PIN over the phone once we got it. The whole thing took no more than 5 minutes of my time. Same thing with our friend who gets his SS benefits on a Chase bank card. His process was automated too, and free of hassle.

I would imagine a large percentage of affected customers received some form of help from their banks. For once they seemed to take this shit really seriously.

[global1]

12. I'm Glad To See That Your Local Target Had A Sign Up.....

the store that I was in either didn't have one nor were their employees instructed to point that out to me if in case they did.

Again - I believe the first line of defense is the front line employee as they are the most visible in the store. If there was a sign they should have known that and directed me to it.

[Iggo]

13. The obvious answer: When at Target, use cash.

[Egalitarian Thug]

14. If people had any idea how common this is and how many of the

most recognized names and logos have been and are hacked regularly, they might re-think this whole on-line transaction thing.

In most cases the company just eats the loss and will even expend additional money to cover it up, because they believe the loss of confidence would be far more expensive. My very first contract with a Big Company was a TBTF bank that had been hit for $42M and they swept it under the rug. It wouldn’t have come out at all except that they were also beginning to outsource the whole company and they fired the wrong woman who had the right phone numbers.

[liberalhistorian]

16. Hubby and I plan to cut up our Target card

and send it to them along with a "go fuck yourselves" letter once it's paid off next month, both for their nonchalant attitude toward what is now considered one of the worst retail security breaches ever, and for the fact that they recently announced that they are terminating the health care plans of all current part-time employees, and will not offer health care to future part-timers, because of, you guessed it (say it with me now!) "Obamacare". BULL. SHIT.

Fuck Target. We aren't giving them one more fucking dime.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. Your job, when you enter a large retailer, is to take stuff off the shelves and pay for it.

Don't ask any questions. Because nobody knows anything. They aren't paid to know anything. Upper management considers their low paid employees necessary evil not worthy of enough pay to give a fuck about anything.

So they walk around asking if you are finding everything alright. Just smile and say "yes thanks".

As a contractor, I spend way too much time in Home Depot. They are the worst. But they are everywhere and open late. I just know better than to ask where anything is located (except maybe departments as they are in different locations in different stores).

Just last night, my partner made the mistake of asking someone who approached us in Household/Grills/lawn-mowers/Snowblowers where we could find sheer pins for the snowblower.

I gave my partner the look "seriously?". We follow the guy around for a couple minutes and then he says "what's a sheer pin?". I say "thanks, we'll get it next year". They have the shelves stocked with all lawn stuff now. If you need string for your weed whacker they have it.

My partner says "yeah, yeah, I know"

[Xithras]

18. Target did talk to their employees. Most are directed not to answer questions directly.

My daughter was working at Target over the holidays when the breach occurred. They were all corralled into a meeting and were specifically told what, and what not, to say. The "what not" list was much, much longer.

The problem is that most Target employees are minimum wage staff who aren't well versed in computer security, credit security, or anything of the sort. It would actually be even more damaging for Target to have them giving out potentially incorrect advice and information to customers, as the probability of them giving out that incorrect information would be very high. As my daughter put it a few minutes ago when I asked her about this (today is a home office day, and she still lives with me), "Half of my co-workers struggled to remember which shelves the different colored shirts were supposed to be placed on, there was no way our managers were going to let them give credit advice to customers".

They were directed to tell customers that the problems had been resolved, that they would receive letters if their information had been breached, and that Target would be making resources available to help them. If the customers wanted more information than that, they were to be directed to the store manager or to the Target website. Employees were flat out forbidden from discussing it any further than that.

[HappyMe]

20. I think this is the best course of action.

Even if they had given the cashiers and floor workers more info, there are always people who will not believe them, fuss at them as though it's the workers fault, or tell them off. If it's complicated info that people will have a bunch of follow up questions the best thing to do is have all the info on the website. Those people don't make enough money to be financial and computer advisors.

[City Lights]

21. I got the "everything is ok now" last time I was in Target.

We still shop there, but we only use cash now.

I agree with you in that Target should have ensured that all its employees know what to say to customers inquiring about the breech.

[notadmblnd]

22. The could create a pamphlet to hand out when customers have those questions

including a toll free number for those whose questions aren't answered in the pamphlet to call.

[postatomic]

23. What did you buy?

Your "story" seems more like a planned attack. As big corporations go, Target is a decent company. We never stopped shopping there. Hell, we even went on Xmas Eve and got a great deal on a new TV and applied for the Red Card to get an additional 5% off.

There will always be stories of security problems. As we become more and more of a tech-dependent world the failings of our tech-world will be exploited. When one failing is fixed another will replace it.