I Won't Sign the Slip if I Can't See the Amount

[zombiequeen]

My bank/visa card people called me after hubby and I bought a new TV, apparently if you only spend a little (we're poor, I'll admit) and then save up for a month to buy a $220 TV, it's suspicious. But it was a routine suspicion call, whatever that means.
:P Then again it's one of those debit cards you can charge like a credit card, so I think they were just making sure that someone wasn't taking our card for a spending spree.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

My bank/visa card people called me after hubby and I bought a new TV, apparently if you only spend a little (we're poor, I'll admit) and then save up for a month to buy a $220 TV, it's suspicious. But it was a routine suspicion call, whatever that means.
:P Then again it's one of those debit cards you can charge like a credit card, so I think they were just making sure that someone wasn't taking our card for a spending spree.

My bank did that to me last November when I went online and ordered a DVD set from an overseas site. Someone called the bank early the next morning at home, so Mom called me at work on my cell to let me now.

So, I stop what I'm doing for a moment and went into the back room and called the bank to see what was going on. I was asked to verify the last 5 charges I'd made on my card, as well as the one for the DVD set (it was $85 roughly.) Even though I'd verified the charge (and several others made on my card), they thanked me and I went on back to work.

Then I got a phone call the next day from some person who had a very strong accent from the company I'd ordered from . . .took a bit but apparently the charge didn't go through.

So it was a second call to my bank, where I was transferred to a specialist who explained that the computer had flagged the purchase as possibly fraudulent. May have had to do with the fact that the company was based in China, who knows.

Checked my email later that afternoon and the website had contacted me yet again saying payment had not went through, so it was yet another call to the bank.

I was transferred to a specialist who noticed it was still flagged and told me he'd take it off after I went through the ID verification process, verified purchases. . . .whole nine yards. Even verified the exact item I was making this purchase on (which was for The Man From UNCLE - The Complete Series DVD box set.) They assured me the flag would come off and off the phone I went.

Later that evening, I'd gotten yet another email, so it was a 3rd call to the bank. Somehow the flag was back on. I was told by this other specialist I'd talked to that it could take up to 24 hours before it would come off so payment could go through.

So, I emailed back to the company and explained what they had told me and by in the morning when I went back to check the status of my order, it finally showed payment had been accepted and the order was in the process of shipping.

Two weeks later, I had my DVD box set, company had their money and we all lived happily ever after.

Well, me and my DVD set have anyway. I tried to go back to that website right after the holidays to order another box set (different title) and the website had been closed down by ICE. . .

But banks can sure be vigilant . . . and I'm glad mine is nonetheless.

Now I'm wondering if I'll see that stagecoach traveling down my road like it does in some of their commercials.

[MoonCat]

Huh. Yet when I bought my laptop, including cable installation charges, etc., the bank never called me to make sure the charges were legitimate. What a bank--always looking out for their customer--NOT.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Huh. Yet when I bought my laptop, including cable installation charges, etc., the bank never called me to make sure the charges were legitimate. What a bank--always looking out for their customer--NOT.

Mine didn't call me to question when I spent $400 on my Toshiba laptop back in May either . . . but then I was at a local store where I've made purchases before on occasion (Bent Staple, to be precise.)

I think what prompted Stagecoach bank (who officially takes the place of Walk-All-Over-You this fall) was the fact that I was dealing with an overseas company via Internet.

Who knows what kind of criteria each individual bank uses when it comes to trying to stop fraudulent purchases.

[zombiequeen]

I think the reason mine called was because we hadn't changed our address yet and bought the tv at an inner-city wallacious mart store. They never stopped the charge or anything, and they said it was a "routine suspicion call," whatever that means.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Last week my husband told me that our Mastercard bank had left a message the night before asking that I call them about suspicious activity. I was trying to get myself to work on time and he was all "did you call?? did you call??" First of all, I'd asked him to leave the number by my purse on the floor since I was not ready to get up yet, and then I was going to call them on my way to work (yes, I have a handsfree device). He said well, I figured if you had to ask me about a charge you could call from here and ask me then. In any event he was freaking out about it.

I called the number on the drive to work and it was an automated system. Seems someone had used our Mastercard at <husband's favorite restaurant> the day before, and the charge couldn't have been more than $20. I confirmed it was legit and that was it. I then called him to tell him what happened. Geez...

Amex did save me one time though. They called about a charge I didn't recognize - I may very well have made it online but it just didn't ring a bell so they ended up having to change my card number too. It was a pain to have to do that but yeah, I'm glad Amex was looking out for me.

[EricKei]

A bit off topic, but there is one way around giving out yer real number -- when shopping online. Paypal either has, or used to have, a thing where you can order stuff online and use a computer-generated, one-time use credit card/CCV combination for each purchase you make. Even if someone gets the number, it is considered an invalid number/nonexistent card after the first time it is used. The money comes out of one's PP account, but it appears to be a V/MC to the merchant.

[AccountingDrone]

When mrDrone was still Navy, and deployed to a ship that pulled into a Navy facility in Rota Spain, the Navy Fed Cred closed our card down because it was used in a US Navy Exchange store in Rota Spain ...

[One has to use one's military ID to get into the damned exchange in the first place ... and then one has to use it at the register when making a purchase ...]

We got in the habit of letting the CU know when he was going to be at sea and where he might hit port, which was highly illegal. You do not tell people a submarine's schedule

[Fire_on_High]

Mine got flagged as suspicious after attempting to renew my domain with my overseas registrar...who I've used for the 10 years I had the domain. Then after that they started flagging every WoW account renewal as well...2 accounts on the card, 3 month billing cycle, unchanged for several years. NOW it's suspicious? Sheesh!

[Jester]

Luckily for me, my bank knows me well enough to know that my spending habits on my card are erratic and random, and that I take random trips, and so they don't flag much. Which is why I was so impressed with them that they caught the whole thing in Lutz. My only guess on that one is that on the same day I had charges in the Keys or the Miami area, which is nowhere near Lutz (Tampa area). And that may have raised a few red flags. Then again, who knows?

[Ironclad Alibi]

A couple of years ago on a trip to Florida from Virginia I had my cerdit card declined when buying gas. Fortunately I had a second credit card. The second time that credit card was declined, I called the company. My card had been used to buy a $6000.00 drink dispensing machine from a company in Scotland. I soon had a new credit card number.

In the past I have ordered hobby items from stores in Japan. Occasionally the credit card issuer will call to confirm that I did indeed place the order. It's good to know they keep an eye on these things.

[Titi]

Only the last 2 digits didn't show since that particular register has problems with receipt printing and a white strip shows through the slip. When I did a duplicate receipt, it printed normal.

Only the last 2 digits? You mean this guy was having a hissy fit because he couldn't see how much change he was paying? Was his change 1 cent and he thought you guys would add 98 cents? (Can't change more than that or the dollar amount would go up.)

I could see if it was he couldn't see anything or even if it didn't print up the dollar amount, but after seeing the receipt and seeing the change he was being charged for why become an SC? It's under $1.

[Jester]

Was his change 1 cent and he thought you guys would add 98 cents? (Can't change more than that or the dollar amount would go up.)

As a math geek, I must nitpick here.

It could change more than that without changing the dollar amount. How? If the amount was an even dollar amount, thus making the change amount zero, it could be raised 99 cents without raising the whole dollar amount, i.e., $32.00 becomes $32.99.

While I think he overreacted completely, I wouldn't want to pay more than I was supposed to either.

[Teefies2]

Props to Visa, they got everything squared away. My card was disabled, my funds
Since then, I have gotten a second call from Visa asking about "suspicious" charges, but they were all mine. Apparently, I'm suspicious.

We knew that