Community Chat

[brii]

We were Christmas shopping and made several purchases within a couple of hours.  Our last store was Lululemon, and our card was declined.  The girl said it was happening all day to people.  I wasn't so embarrassed after she said that.

[Burnsite]

Last Dec I notified American Express that I would be in Great Britain for 10 days, and they informed me that it was totally UNnecessary for me to notify them as I go there often enough. 

That really surprised me!  (Every two years or so is "frequent"?)

I keep one Visa for emergencies only, but travel can produce emergencies once in a while, so I notified them, too.  That company said it was a good thing I had, b/c I almost never use it and a charge made from abroad would have been declined.  Fortunately, the trip passed without my even going through the cash I had brought with me.

One state away, though??  That does seem very strict, but I guess fraudulent transactions are really increasing.

[Puzzle Piece]

I know it's inconvenient but the banks have to be very careful due to the criminal behavior of others.  I would feel good about their cautions and would just go with the flow.  I am sure you will know how to handle things differently in the future. 

[Chrystaltree2]

You were away????  That doesn't even make sense.  Especially considering that the card wasn't denied every time you used it.  Sounds more like some type of bank systems glitch to me.  The only time I had a credit card denied when I was on vacation was in Orlando; I was going to pay the hotel with my credit card.  When we checked in the hotel took my card info.  My credit limit far and away exceeded the anticipated hotel charge, we were going to be their for 5 days.  When I tried to use my cc later that evening, it was denied.  I tried the next morning and once again, denied.  I was petrified and hubby wasn't with me, my girfriend and I took our kids on vacation.  Anyway, I was so scared about the card that I called my brother.  I was also out of cash and I asked him to call my hubby and tell him to wire some cash to me.  He explained to me that when you use a credit card for hotel charges, they put a hold on the card until after the hotel charges are put through and approved.  I had no idea!  Of course, I called the bank and the bank verified what my brother told me.  So, after that experience, I always load money onto my debit card and I use that for spending money.     

[muttmom]

---

@Scooby Doo wrote:

It happened to me also, but I called the CS number and they immediately took off the hold.   They did ask when I was leaving that area.

---

This is what we did too.  It happened at an airport.

We frequently travel to surrounding states and have never had our card declined. 

[muttmom]

---

@PINKdogWOOD wrote:

Reminds me of a time when we went to Barbados years ago.  The hotel practice was to run a tab for your entire trip and pay at the end which we had no problem with.  At the end of vacation we checked out at the front deck.  Gave them our creidt card to pay which went through but when we got home we had a call from our bank about a charge of $2000+ on our card made out of the country.  We confirmed that it was okay and that we made that charge.  We appreicated the fact that the bank was all over it to make certain no one stole our card.

Good thing it went through otherwise we would have been stuck in Barbados!!!!  Now there's a FAB place to be 'stuck in"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

---

My husband worked in Barbados for many years.

[Kachina624]

If your credit card is declined, most likely your other cards and even your checking account will also be declined because they all go through the same clearing house.