Credit Card problems

[keith&carol]

DD arrived at MCO last night and was told by Dollar that her credit card was blocked!
After several calls this morning it turns out that all the credit card co's are blocking transactions outside the normal pattern for the cardholder.
She was told that the Merchant is supposed to phone to clear it but the chance of them doing that is slim if it involves them in a call to the U.K.The card was refused at the Hotel as well but the situation has been sorted out now and 1 very stressed DD can get on with her holiday! Dollar did tell her it is happening a lot!

Moral of the story has to be;

Tell your credit card co if you are travelling abroad or about to make any major purchase here outside of your normal buying pattern.
Carol

 

[Mazzy]

This reminds me of when we went to DLP in January. On our last day, the card wouldn't go through at a restaurant, so we used another one.

Arriving home there was a message from the credit card company asking us to ring them urgently!

I must make a note to remind myself to tell them before we go to WDW in December, or we might end up sleeping on the Boardwalk! LOL!!

 

[MKDEBS]

Hi,

I have just received this passed week a letter from 'Barclaycard' stating that if we were planning a trip abroad to inform them of the dates etc.
This is due to the fact that it is so hard to use stolen credit cards here now that they are now being used abroad to make purchases etc.

Last year before we went to Orlando we phoned to tell them we were going to be using the card alot because we thought they might become suspicious as it was being used everyday, which is not something we would do normally.
They thanked us for letting them know and would make a note of it.

I like to think they got the idea from us, Perhaps we should get some commision for the idea. HE HE!!!!!

Anyway maybe all the card companies will now follow this procedure but the news hasn't gotten through yet

Debs

 

[SpottyDog]

Good idea Carol. We had a similar problem a couple of years ago when V ordered our Flex Tickets through Ticketmania then Cirque over the phone. Our Visa provider called to ask if everything was ok.

 

[Mrs Dazzle]

I'd hate to have my card not go through . . . even if there was no-one behind me who knew me

Thanks so much for the tip, shall be letting em know before we go.

 

[Pooh Widower]

Keith&Carol,

Thanks for bringing this up. It has reminded me to contact my CC and inform them of our trip. we had an embarrasing moment in New York last year when a shop assistant handed back our CC as it would not go through.
It was one of those "beam me up" moments

When we got back to the hotel we phoned the Visa help line number. They said that it was stopped due to unusuall usage!

Anyway, I've just e-mailed my CC and threatened them with a never ending tape of the "Its a small world" theme if they ruin our Dis' time!

Have a great day,

Paul

 

[Kenbar]

Most credit card companies are now using this practice as a security measure. ther was a piece in the Sunday Times yesterday. Eventually you will have to enter your pin code at the till, as soon as they equip the retailers.

ken

 

[keith&carol]

Someone is going to have to come up with a better idea than pin numbers.
I was talking to a cashier in the P.O. the other day about benefits having to be paid into a bank aacount from next year.
I said what will people do if they don't have one and she said "that's ok you can still get it at the P.O. with a card that has a pin number.
How many elderly people do you know that will be able to remember a pin no (I'm not elderly yet and I have trouble already) and is everyone just going to write all these "pins" down thus negating their whole purpose.
I wish they would engage brain before opening mouth!

Carol

 

[neilybealy]

i was told that in france you have to key in your pin number as well as signing a receipt when paying for goods

 

[Carol Ann UK]

I usually (well twice anyway) phone My CC companies (only 2 mind) to let them know that I will be in the US so that if they do identify unusual spending habits it will be OK I have never had any problem, apart from in Walmart when I spent too much money, and I was asked for Photo ID. Panic!! Passports were in hotel safe a taxi ride away. Luckily my DH had his work photo ID with him, so it was OK.

I might add that no one sees my works photo id if I can help it!

This thread has reminded me to phone CC company this week.

I use CC all the time, so was surprised a couple of weeks ago to have CC refused in M&S for £5.00. Apparently my payment was expected to go through the following day, but I had also spent £1600 on flight tickets, which was put through twice. Hence my credit limit had been reached.

Problem was solved by temporariily increasing my credit limit, and was assured that the second £1600 payment would 'fall off' after a couple of days. Luckily for them it has!!

Carol

 

[chris16]

Just let my card company know I,m off on saturday by e-mail- they seem pleased i told them

"Dear Chris
Thanks for keeping us up to date.
I've taken note of the information you've sent. It's nice to see that you think about us.
We'll make sure you encounter no problems with your card during your trip.
If there's anything else you want to tell us, you can contact us at any time.
Regards"

 

[hunty]

I've been in Florida for 10 days, I usually use amex however when I came to buy my disney tickets last week amex refused. The lady asked if I had another card becasue its too much hassle to phone, I gave her my egg visa card no problem $1250. Back to amex for other purchases no problem. I have just tried to buy gas for $11 with my egg visa - refused and the store wouldn't phone. I called egg from my mobile (holding for 5 minutes) and they tell me becasue of the unusual transaction (for tickets) they had suspended my account pending verification ....very good you think...... my job means I travel all over the world and I often use my egg card,( one month I had transaction from USA, Mexico, India and South Africa never refused). Obviuolsy egg didn't expect me to buy tickets to enjoy myself
Whilst on the telephone getting my card reinstated she tried to sell me a 9% loan how frustrating travelling down the I4..

 

[Hilary]

How far in advance of our trip should we make the notification to the cc company? I was thinking of deoing it about a week out - does that seem about right?

but I had also spent £1600 on flight tickets, which was put through twice

Exactly the same thing happened to us (is this how the travel agencies make their profits these days, by earning interest on double charges? ). I'd made the payment by phone, but our cc company telephoned DH at work immediately because they thought it was unlikely that we'd be making two identical payments to the same company within 30 seconds of each other. All sorted out very easily, thanks to the vigilence of NatWest

 

[keith&carol]

It isn't just your own purchases that can cause problems!

We were off to Cyprus on one occasion and overnighting at a Gatwick hotel. D.H. gave them a nearly "empty" credit card and it was refused.
We rang customer services who said that someone had phoned for clearance for a major purchase and had done it 3 times thus "using up" all the credit. It obviously wasn't us but we weren't able to get it checked until the next day when the relevant dept was open. By then we were in Cyprus and it cost us a fortune in phone charges to sort it out and could't even get an apology out of the card company!!!!!!!
Carol

 

[Pooh Widower]

Chris16

Just got exactly the same reply to my e-mail.....

Hunty

We'll let you know if informing egg makes any difference.

I've told them every stop that we are making on the cruise so with any luck we'll be OK

Have a great day,

Paul

 

[pt415999]

Phoned my credit card company (HSBC Visa) today and they confirmed that unusual overseas transactions could be refused, if they haven't been informed. I informed them that my card may be maxed out very soon......

 

[Carol Ann UK]

Hilary

Ours was an internet booking. When speaking to the CC company it appeared that 4 amounts of £400 had been put through, together with one amount of £1600, which was 'pending'. Not sure how it will appear on the bill as we haven't had it yet. Have never had problems like this before though.

Carol

 

[UKAnnie]

Same thing happened to us last December. DH has credit cards which he rarely uses (being a cash sort of TOG). He ended up in hospital and used his card for admission charges (we got the money back eventually from our insurers). After his discharge we tried to use the card at Sizzlers and it was refused. Tried again to buy petrol when we got back to UK - refused again. When we arrived home and phoned the CC company we were told it was because a rarely-used card was being used to pay hospital fees in a different country - security and all that!

This year we'll make sure we let our CC companies know - (And try and keep out of hospital!).

Ann.

 

[alexandra uk]

we have an Abbey National & a Barclays visa debit card each.
Does the same apply to them ?

100 to go

 

[Pooh Widower]

alexandra

I was told that it is the local Visa / Mastercard service which need's to be convinced that your spending is genuine. So I would play safe and inform your CC providors so that they pass the message on to them (electronically speaking)

Have great day,

Paul