Life lesson - In case you're not aware

[Tinstar]

I'll relate my recent experience for those of you that are unaware of some "new" policy with credit cards.

We made a recent trip from our home in the Dallas area to Carlsbad N.M. These transactions were on our MasterCard. On the way, I fueled up once without a problem. We got to the campground and paid for a couple of nights, went out to eat that night, paid our admission to the caverns and all is good so far. Later the next day, I had to buy a couple of tires due to a blowout on the way out there. When I went to pay the bill, my card was rejected. I had them run it again because I had a $10K credit limit and hardly anything on the card. Rejected again so I end up paying for the tires with a Visa and immediately called MasterCard. The customer service said it was rejected because I was out of my home area and the purchase was over $100,,,,, but I could now use my card to pay for the tires. Well, I had already paid for them with the Visa so that wasn't much help. Next day, I head back to Texas to continue my vacation. I get to a Travel Center and try to fuel up. My card is rejected, I go inside and try the card at the register,,, rejected. I fuel up using the Visa BUT before I got back in my m/h to leave I receive an automated message from Visa wanting to verify my identity. I go through all the prompts that I was me and I was the one making the purchase for fuel. When I get to my destination, we go out to eat and not only can I not pay using my MasterCard, now my Visa has been shut down.:M I go to my third card (another Visa) pay for our meal without a problem.

Next morning, I call MasterCard. I have to put in my information before I can talk to anyone. That triggered the call to be directed to their fraud department. I talk to a very nice gentleman that explained the whole thing. He said the Customer Service agent with whom I spoke with when in Carlsbad is not authorized to lift the fraud alert from my card and could only authorize a one time purchase. My account was flagged since I was out of my home area. They didn't call me to straighten it out because I had never given them permission to call me.:h Needless to say, I gave them permission and the flag was lifted. He said I need to go on-line or call them when I'm going to be out of my home area in the future so my account won't be flagged. That's not a problem for me and I appreciate them watching out for fraud but it would have been nice if I had known that in advance. Maybe they sent something in a bill and I just missed it,,, who knows? For the next week, I had no more problems with my MasterCard.

I now call Visa. Same story, they shut down my card because I was away from my home area. They authorized the one charge for fuel then shut the card down. I need to fill out the form with them when I'm going to be away.

OK, now I know. Just wish I knew before I left. I thought I was going to have to spend a few days at the tire shop changing tires (or washing dishes) for them to pay for the tires. For me, it certainly paid to have more than one or two cards. I actually carry 5 with me but normally never use anything other than the MasterCard.

Bottom line, if you use cards you might want to check with them and make sure you don't get flagged and shut down when you're away from home.

[FormerBoater]

jkmac408 wrote:
We just got back from a 6 week trip and most everything was on our Visa. Didn't called anyone and never had an issue using the card. Wonder what the difference is.

The difference is the card issuer (the bank or Amex and Discover if the card is not Visa or Mastercard).

There is quite a bit of bad information on this thread.

-Visa and MasterCard make the rules for the banks, and convey the authorization requests from the merchant to the issuing bank. They do not employ any fraud detection protocols, rather they provide some tools for a fee to the banks to assist in fraud detection.

-There is ZERO liability to the Cardholder (you and me) in the event of a fraudulent transaction.

-Due to the amount of hacked cards at various large merchants, some issuers chose to tighten up their fraud protocols and inconvenience many of their cardholders using cards that were used at the very merchants that had been hacked. Essentially they transferred a large part of their responsibility to prevent fraud from their institution to their customers.

Many people (most folks on this thread) have no problem giving their issuer information about their travel itineraries.

Others (like me) believe it is none of their business.

[msmith1199]

bshpilot wrote:

JimFromJersey wrote:

jkmac408 wrote:
We just got back from a 6 week trip and most everything was on our Visa. Didn't called anyone and never had an issue using the card. Wonder what the difference is.

What would have happened had you lost that card but not realized it, and someone else took the vacation? Frankly, I'd be a little concerned that a bank DIDN'T notice out-of-the-ordinary usage. I can't understand why anyone would have a problem with a bank ENSURING that the person they're talking to and extending credit to is actually YOU, and not some dirtbag in Romania or somewhere like that.

the only reason the bank (or cc company) is calling is out of concern for themselves.
the card holder is not liable for charges they didn't create.

Yes you are! We all are! Okay not directly for the charges, but we all pay more interest on debt, get less interest on savings, and pay more for items in stores all to cover the loss by theft! So even though we are not personally liable for a fraudulent charge, it's in all our best interest to help the banks prevent it.

[msmith1199]

JimFromJersey wrote:

jkmac408 wrote:
We just got back from a 6 week trip and most everything was on our Visa. Didn't called anyone and never had an issue using the card. Wonder what the difference is.

What would have happened had you lost that card but not realized it, and someone else took the vacation? Frankly, I'd be a little concerned that a bank DIDN'T notice out-of-the-ordinary usage. I can't understand why anyone would have a problem with a bank ENSURING that the person they're talking to and extending credit to is actually YOU, and not some dirtbag in Romania or somewhere like that.

Millions of people who have credit cards travel everyday all over the world. The banks are not shutting the cards off just because you're away from home. They are shutting them off when the "computer" detects activity that is likely to be fraudulent. My bank shut one of my cards off once when somebody attempted to use it in New Orleans at a Best Buy to purchase a TV. I live in California and I had used that same card the day before in California. The computer program knows that it's unusual for somebody to travel 2/3rds of the way across the Country in one day an immediately run into a Best Buy and purchase a TV! So it stopped the transaction.

[bshpilot]

JimFromJersey wrote:

jkmac408 wrote:
We just got back from a 6 week trip and most everything was on our Visa. Didn't called anyone and never had an issue using the card. Wonder what the difference is.

What would have happened had you lost that card but not realized it, and someone else took the vacation? Frankly, I'd be a little concerned that a bank DIDN'T notice out-of-the-ordinary usage. I can't understand why anyone would have a problem with a bank ENSURING that the person they're talking to and extending credit to is actually YOU, and not some dirtbag in Romania or somewhere like that.

the only reason the bank (or cc company) is calling is out of concern for themselves.
the card holder is not liable for charges they didn't create.

[kevingregg]

my credit union (not bank!) called my cell phone after I made a large purchase 1000 miles from home a few years ago. just wanted to confirm that it was me using the card. i like the NASA federal credit union.

[Canadian_Rainbi]

rgatijnet1 wrote:
I thought that it was common knowledge that you would let ANY of the CC companies know when you were about to travel out of your area. Been doing it for years with no problems.

X2

However, this will have to be renewed every three or four months depending on the bank. Call the 800 number on the back of the card.

[JimFromJersey]

jkmac408 wrote:
We just got back from a 6 week trip and most everything was on our Visa. Didn't called anyone and never had an issue using the card. Wonder what the difference is.

What would have happened had you lost that card but not realized it, and someone else took the vacation? Frankly, I'd be a little concerned that a bank DIDN'T notice out-of-the-ordinary usage. I can't understand why anyone would have a problem with a bank ENSURING that the person they're talking to and extending credit to is actually YOU, and not some dirtbag in Romania or somewhere like that.

[bshpilot]

Francesca Knowles wrote:


Perhaps you don't subscribe to a paper or receive any mail at a fixed residential location. I do, so would ask: should I just let them pile up rather than "notifying the vendor" that I'll be away?

I ask a trusted family member or neighbor to pick up those items (and hold them for us).

[Francesca_Knowl]

bshpilot wrote:
I consider notifying any vendor of my travels or travel schedules a breech of security !

Letting vendors (or strangers) know you're away from home is a opportunity and invitation to be robbed !

:h

Perhaps you don't subscribe to a paper or receive any mail at a fixed residential location. I do, so would ask: should I just let them pile up rather than "notifying the vendor" that I'll be away?

[bshpilot]

I consider notifying any vendor of my travels or travel schedules a breech of security !

Letting vendors (or strangers) know you're away from home is a opportunity and invitation to be robbed !

[jkmac408]

We just got back from a 6 week trip and most everything was on our Visa. Didn't called anyone and never had an issue using the card. Wonder what the difference is.

[rolling_rhoda]

That out of home area fraud alert has been around at least since 1990. It isn't just the issuing bank that watches. Visa, MasterCard, AmEx, and Discover themselves may alert a card whose pattern is suddenly different. Card fraud is a popular occupation, and the banks and card networks are actively trying to protect consumers.

Yes, call before you travel!

[Tinstar]

Jesse_C wrote:
Why? The credit card company would not know me anymore than they would my wife. Anyone can claim to be someone else. The measures they took was more to protect them and me. She was trying to give them advance notice of our trip itinerary. I won't do business with any company that is that paranoid.

That's not true with my credit card companies. Every time I speak to them they want to know my Mother's maiden name, the name of the first pet I owned, the name of my 1st grade school teacher, where I was born, my high school mascot's name, last 4 of my S.S., etc, etc, etc. They don't want to know all of them but enough to know they are talking to me. In fact I had to do all this before they would talk to me on the phone during all this fiasco. I appreciate them being careful with my credit.

[Jesse_C]

Effy, you are correct,the card is actually issued by a bank. My wife had notified them on several previous occassions without any problem. The card was recently taken by another bank who had different rules.

[Jesse_C]

Why? Your bank takes measures to protect you and for that you cancel them? Is there a reason you couldn't or wouldn't talk to them? Odds are you are the primary and she is an authorized user. Authorized user does not "own" the account and cannot make changes without the owner (primary cardholder) , an authorized user is only allowed to use it. Often it's policy that the bank is required to speak to the primary. It's a security measure to protect you. If you knew how many times an estranged spouse, child or someone that stole the card called in to change some info to steal from the primary cardholder perhaps you would take a different position. What if someone stole your card and claimed to be your wife and they let them make changes without notifying you. Then you'd be blaming the bank for not protecting you. Length of relationship has nothing to do with measures put in place to protect you. Unless your neighbor owns the bank I think it's a bit absurd to expect a customer service rep to "know" you and your wife.

The credit card company would not know me anymore than they would my wife. Anyone can claim to be someone else. The measures they took was more to protect them and me. She was trying to give them advance notice of our trip itinerary. I won't do business with any company that is that paranoid.