Petty Vents

[Dawgluver]

My CC company called me after someone tried to use an expired card, in France! I've never been to France. And I always shred old CCs. We had to get new cards, but I was really pleased with the vigilance and service from Chase Freedom. They delivered the new cards the very next day.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

We called the CC company when we got Shrek signed up for his prescription plan, it would be an every three month charge. They about had a fit when I bought the last guitar for Shrek...the phone was ringing when we walked in the house. But they are noticing the patterns and circumstances for when we use it. If we go on vacation or like me using it for my trip to Helena, they like having a warning that it will be happening.

The only problem we have had, was a charge of $29.95 on Shrek's debit card online. It was discovered quickly and the company who did the charge replaced the money in our account within 24 hours. They then went after the person who used the information. I understand they were caught quickly.

 

[roadfix]

I need to get my dad to try online banking or at least get him to use his CC to make online purchases. He's got this "fear" and do not trust anyone when it comes to these things.

 

[taxlady]

My CC company used to block my card every time I rented a car from Enterprise. Enterprise processes CC through one of their US branches, so the CC company would see the Canadian charge come in on the same day as the US one and assume it wasn't me.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That's why I call them, to let them know what types of charges will be coming in. I don't want to be in a city I don't know and not be able to use the CC.

 

[Andy M.]

Before we went to Aruba I logged into SO's and my CC sites (same CC) and did an online notification giving them the dates we would be in Aruba. Then we went to our usual jewelery store and she wanted to buy a ring. The card was rejected. They called the CC company (Capital One) and I talked to them. They flagged it as a suspicious transaction even though we had notified them just in case the card had been stolen in Aruba. We were able to make the txn. on MY CC and now she won't pay me back. Later that day I got an email flagging the same transaction and telling me to call immediately. I did and all is well.

 

[bakechef]

My CC company used to block my card every time I rented a car from Enterprise. Enterprise processes CC through one of their US branches, so the CC company would see the Canadian charge come in on the same day as the US one and assume it wasn't me.

Every time my mom travels and tries to use her Citi Expedia card, it gets flagged and shut down. Kind of ironic that a card labeled with a travel agency logo would be useless for travel...

This past summer it was shut down twice while she was here. Thing is, she makes this trip often, pays for the tickets with that card and baggage. All they have to do is see that she made a purchase of plane tickets a few months prior and then paid for baggage the day or two prior. It was shut down again at Christmas, so he had to call them yet again. I told her that she needs to dump that card.

I've been very fortunate with Chase so far, they don't give me problems when I travel. My friend has many issues with Citi being shut down, very frustrating.

 

[Dawgluver]

I used to call Chase everytime before we went to Cozumel, have since been informed that we don't have to call anymore. They've apparently learned our purchase patterns. And we have a Charles Schwab debit card that refunds any out of country ATM transaction fees. I call them before we leave.

 

[bakechef]

My CC company used to block my card every time I rented a car from Enterprise. Enterprise processes CC through one of their US branches, so the CC company would see the Canadian charge come in on the same day as the US one and assume it wasn't me.

My mom tried to pay for her rental with her Citi card and it was shut down because she just used the card to fill the car with gas. They let her leave even without the card working! I'm not sure how she managed that! We got home and got it straightened out and heard nothing from Enterprise so they must have tried again and got approval.

This is the same Enterprise that I rented from while getting my car fixed, and I don't think that I've had better customer service in a long long time, truly impressive.

 

[taxlady]

That's why I call them, to let them know what types of charges will be coming in. I don't want to be in a city I don't know and not be able to use the CC.

But I wasn't out of town. They didn't cause any problems when I used the card in Denmark without telling them ahead of time. It was just that Enterprise Canada processes CC txns through the US. Then I would phone them and they would have it straightened out, but not until the next day.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

We use Discover as our primary CC. Have been since 1987. Never a problem. We have been contacted by them when the account was used in multiple states on the same day, but I can't remember any transaction being denied for any length of time. When we moved to MA they knew that the two of us were up here, our daughter had a card on the account and she was back in OH, and our son also had a card and he was in college in AZ. In 16+ years they've initiated an account change a couple times, we had to request one once (our son lost his wallet...and credit card privileges shortly after), and (knock on wood) no problems. AND I've just doomed us...

 

[CarolPa]

I get email alerts for any activity over $100 on both my checking account and CC. I can set any dollar amounts for the alerts. I use cash most of the time.
I don't have a debit card as someone can wipe out your entire account in a single transaction.
I also like online banking as it is fast and convenient, I rarely have to visit the bank or use the phone. Same goes for managing non-banking accounts, such as retirement and brokerage.

Don't you worry that hackers can get access to your account info? That's what I worry about.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I only shop/pay bills online with the websites that have secure (https) sites. I have never had a rpoblem. Shrek had one site where he shopped that was not secure and that's where they got his card number. Now he won't shop online, I still do.

 

[bakechef]

Don't you worry that hackers can get access to your account info? That's what I worry about.

Your account info is online whether you choose to access it or not. Everything about you is online.

Sent from my IdeaTabA2109A using Discuss Cooking mobile app

 

[CarolPa]

That's why after this whole Target ordeal, I wasn't worried about identity theft. What happened there is that they had personal information on people who signed up for their Red Card and they didn't secure it properly, which was a problem.

I have a Red Card but only use it in Target because of the 5% discount. Around the time they were having the credit card issues, we were in Target one time, but I had changed purses and didn't have the Redcard with me so we paid cash. It just worked out well for me. I haven't used it since, but we have only made small purchases and didn't need to use it. There were several other retailers who were hacked around the same time but they didn't make it public the way Target did.

 

[CarolPa]

I only shop/pay bills online with the websites that have secure (https) sites. I have never had a rpoblem. Shrek had one site where he shopped that was not secure and that's where they got his card number. Now he won't shop online, I still do.

I shop online with a credit card all the time. I have one credit card that is reserved just for online shopping. If someone hacks my account, only that one credit card is at risk. I am only concerned about doing online banking with my checking account, which can be easily drained and not covered.

One time I received a call from CitiBank stating that my credit card was used fraudulently. They removed the charge, which was only $9, cancelled the card and opened a new account. When I got the new card, the interest rate was up a couple %. I think they were lying about the fraudulent charge and thought I wouldn't notice the increased interest rate. I never carry a balance over on any of my credit cards so the interest rate is of no consequence, but I no longer use my Citi card for that reason. I have enough credit cards I do not have to deal with someone who is sneaky and devious.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I have a Red Card but only use it in Target because of the 5% discount. Around the time they were having the credit card issues, we were in Target one time, but I had changed purses and didn't have the Redcard with me so we paid cash. It just worked out well for me. I haven't used it since, but we have only made small purchases and didn't need to use it. There were several other retailers who were hacked around the same time but they didn't make it public the way Target did.

I heard on a PBS report that in-store credit cards are a very bad idea, as they charge large interest rates that more than offset any supposed discounts that are offered by the store. You end up paying much more, even with the discounts. I just won't use them at all. Retail takes more of my money than it should already. I don't need them taking it in a sneaky way.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

 

[CarolPa]

I heard on a PBS report that in-store credit cards are a very bad idea, as they charge large interest rates that more than offset any supposed discounts that are offered by the store. You end up paying much more, even with the discounts. I just won't use them at all. Retail takes more of my money than it should already. I don't need them taking it in a sneaky way.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North

I agree about the high interest rates on in-store credit cards. I never carry over a balance on any of my credit cards so I never pay any interest or fees of any kind. The Target Redcard give you a 5% discount on everything you buy in the store, so I am paying less than if I were paying cash.

The other in-store credit card I use is Kohls. If you pay 1/3 of your balance, you are not charged any interest or fees. And credit card holders receive more coupon savings than non card holders.

 

[bakechef]

I have store cards just for the discounts. I pay them of after purchase, before they are due and avoid the interest.

I really have no idea what the interest is on most of my cards. I have one that has always been at 5.25% and that's the one we use for things that we want finance for a few months. The others gets paid of monthly. We usually only have a couple going at a time.

 

[CarolPa]

I have store cards just for the discounts. I pay them of after purchase, before they are due and avoid the interest.

I really have no idea what the interest is on most of my cards. I have one that has always been at 5.25% and that's the one we use for things that we want finance for a few months. The others gets paid of monthly. We usually only have a couple going at a time.

We have more credit cards than we need but we also don't carry balances on them. We use one on a regular basis because it has the best cash back bonus plan. The others I make sure we use at least once a year to keep them active. We have them in case of emergency, but thankfully, have never had an emergency that forced us to use them.