>Ironically, having a holey or somewhat mangled card is more likely to raise suspicions of merchants. And a "likely story" of protecting your privacy/funds is going to be a hard sell to people who are, more or less, just like the woman you spoke to on the phone.
I wish. I've gotten some funny looks and a lot of "I hope this works, haha" from merchants, but nobody has declined me or even asked for secondary ID. I've had the mangled card now for ~6 months.
Strangers (e.g. friends of friends who I'm out with) often ask questions about the card when I pull it out, though.