Claude A.

Last Saturday, my colleague and I went to Virginia Café for the great burgers and beer. We sat at the bar where bartender Jamie was on duty. I was casually watching the bartender interact with patrons, taking credit/debit cards to process at the POS machine in full view our seats. I noticed that when that when Jamie took a card, she swiped it in the machine, then laid it flat on the POS stand as she waited for the approval, which is pretty standard procedure. While she waited, Jamie picked up a cell phone and started dialing. I noticed the phone because it is the same model I have, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Then Jamie pointed the camera of the phone directly at the card, and I heard a click that sounded exactly like my phone sounds when I take a picture. Then Jamie turned over the card and took another photo. She then gave back the card but kept the phone in her hand, and I could see her fingers still pressing buttons. I knew taking a picture of the front and back of a card would capture card holder's name, card number, expiration date, as well as the security code number required for most CNP (i. E., "card not present") purchases. Then she walked back to the POS machine and left the cell phone there. A few seconds later, I heard the chime that tells you that the pictures had been saved. This happened five times with the five cards processed while we dined. I alerted my buddy after I saw the first card "processed," and he watched the last four cards being handled by Jamie. We thought about calling the police right then and there, but instead I spoke up and diplomatically informed Jamie what we witnessed. Jamie reacted by playing it off and telling us to keep our voices down. Then she told us we were "$#*!s" and to "$#*!-off" and get the hell out. We put cash on the counter for our food and beer (no tip) and departed the café. My buddy took a video of the last two cards we saw "processed," the whole confrontation with Jamie and our departure. Three days later, we walked over to Virginia Café to speak with the General Manager, Leah, about what we witnessed. It was immediately apparent that Lean was ill-equipped to manager and bad-tempered, speaking roughly, cursing, making a scene, refusing to watch the video my buddy took, telling us that Jamie is her best bartender, that we should get the hell out of her place, and that we are '86'd' for life. We have reason to believe she was drunk, under the influence. Because of Leah's puzzling and off-putting reaction, we called the police and filed a formal complaint for fraud detectives to investigate, submitting the video as proof. Beware. If you dare to visit Virginia Café, pay in cash.