Yes if you tell us the card number is stolen, we block the card

[bankworking]

Customer is stupid pissed, emphasize the stupid.

Customer and spouse both have cards to the same credit line. Spouse loses his card, which is okay because we give different card numbers to both. So we can blocked his card, issue a new one for him, and NOT block her card. Not super happy about the 5-day wait for a new card, but customer is okay.

Except then, as standard with a lost card, we ask customer to look over recent transactions to make certain everything is authorized.

Customer discovers an unrecognized charge for $5.14. Problem is, the charge used her card number, not the number of the missing spouse.

Verify that the charge is definitely fraudulent. Okay, going to have to block her card also and run a dispute so we can get the $5.14 refunded. Such a small amount is an easy dispute, but now we're having to replace both cards.

NOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

She cannot LIVE without her card for five days.

What if she has an emergency?!
What if she wants to watch a pay-per-view movie tonight?! [direct quote]

We are NOT to block the card until she has received her new card. NOT, NOT, NOT.

So, now we get to the polite legal explanations. Not going to try to repeat it word for word, but basically: if you want a card that you are aware is compromised (and we are aware that you know) to remain open, you waive your rights to dispute both the current fraudulent charge and any future fraudulent charges. We require you to either sign a written statement or state on a recorded line that you are choosing to keep the card open and accept that you are liable for any and all fraudulent charges placed on the card, including the one already made.

Now comes the s***storm. We are holding her hostage over $5.14! [again, direct quote] No she will not take responsibility for any charges that might occur, but we are not allowed to block her card without her permission!

NO, she does not want to hear why again. She has heard all the explanations but they do not match her view of how things should go so she refuses to hear any more and we are to LISTEN to her because she is the customer and she is upset and this is not right and we are killing her puppies and eating them for desert and laughing about it and we're probably all Natzies and Hitler too! [okay, this part might not be a direct quote]

Eventually she storms out.

She comes back a few hours later for repeat addendum after discovering that her card has, in fact, been blocked. Yeah, cause you didn't waive liability Miss Sucky and continued to state that the charge was fraudulent. You storming out does not equate to you getting your way.

And yeah, my manager DOES support me. Non-negotiable compliance with our credit card processor overrules you.


The kicker:

Customer has another credit card with us. Completely separate, non-compromised credit card with a zero balance, and she has the active card sitting in her wallet. But, see, she doesn't want to use THAT card.

[Soulstealer]

I wasn't aware you needed pay-per-view to live.

[MoonCat]

It's sad how many people there are in the world who act like bratty two-year-olds, throwing tantrums over every little thing, every small inconvenience, and everything that doesn't go their way. It's even sadder that they don't see anything wrong with behaving that way.

[eltf177]

Customer has another credit card with us. Completely separate, non-compromised credit card with a zero balance, and she has the active card sitting in her wallet. But, see, she doesn't want to use THAT card.

Of course, given the first part this stupidity just adds to it.

Seriously, what a spoiled brat!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

That woman is a Russian credit card scam artist in a boiler room's wettest dream.

[Aragarthiel]

I'm willing to bet that the $5.14 is something she bought and forgot about, too. Ugh, this is why I don't trust people to be as smart as myself.

[Argabarga]

I was simply overjoyed that my bank had a large enough data profile of my card and what I use it for that they instantly knew someone had stolen it's numbers when they tried to buy something very large and not-like-me with it and pulled it's plug at the very first attempt. Living with out it for 3 days was a nuisance, but, nothing compared to the nuisance of removing fraudulent charges line by line by line for weeks....

Don't complain about a knee bruise when you walk away from a plane crash.

[paxillated]

Amen to that. My bank phoned and emailed and texted me when a small charge showed up that they figured was fraudulent... someone charged a few dollars worth of stuff to a bakery over in your neck of the woods, Arga. I live on Colorado's High Plains. I was happy to wait a few days for a new card, not being a moron idiot shit-for-brains SC.

[bankworking]

Seriously, I have never run across someone throwing such a hissy-fit over her card being blocked, and that includes customers whose cards are blocked because they have a loan that has hit 30 days past due with no temporary payment arrangements set up.

[Lace Neil Singer]

We get similar hissy fits from SCs who've left their credit cards at the petrol station. You see, the policy is as follows.

1. Put card in the lost property cupboard, write it in the book and lock it up.
2. Leave it there until:
a) Customer comes back with ID and claims card.
b) An entire day passes.

3. If a), then get customer to sign for card and write "Claimed" in book. If b), cut card in half thru chip, put in special waste bag where all stuff like cut up cards goes and write "Destroyed" in book.

This is to stop the card from falling into the wrong hands. Sane customers are happy that we do this, as it means there is no risk of their account being plundered and they can simply order a new card from their bank. SCs, however, view this as the equivalent of us shooting their first born son and drop kicking their puppy. Even if it's been over a week since they left the card, and they've had ample time to either come in person to claim the card, or ring up to say when they'll collect it so that we don't destroy it.

[Argabarga]

It's the usual SC mindset: Comedy is when it happens to YOU, Tragedy is when it happens to ME

[registerrodeo]

when my bank called me to ask if I had made a LARGE purchase of electronics from a small Asian country (hint: I am in Pgh PA) and I said no, they asked me to come in to a branch to go over my purchases and to sign for a new card. I ran there, we went thru line by line and we found 6 small phishing purchases before the $3000+ electronic attempt (hint..don't store your card info with a pure persons mobile phone company). They took everything off, they cancelled the old card and ordered me a new one, then because I didn't have my checkbook on me, they got me a counter check so I could get some cash to have in the meantime. Was it a pain? Sure, but they were so professional and great to deal with that the inconvenience of a few days without my bank card was negated by the knowledge my bank was watching out for me. I never ever once thought to throw a fit like a spoiled toddler

[An Haddock]

My biz partner got royally screwed by his credit card company over a stolen card number.


A few years ago someone used his card number in Florida. He had never used that card in Florida - clearly fraud. Called the CC company and they cancelled it.

He owed about a grand on the card of legitimate purchases. A couple of weeks after he had the card cancelled he tried to make a payment on it.

They wouldn't let him.

For some reason, since the card had been cancelled, the CC company wouldn't take any payments on the card. He tried a couple of times, but couldn't get through to anyone with half a brain to help him out. After wasting several hours trying to pay off his balance, he gave up.


Fast forward a year. His CC company's bank got bought up and they got bought up again. Now his account is forwarded to collections. He speaks with a woman who makes him an offer to let him pay off the whole card for about 70% of what he owed. Spiffy. For whatever reason he didn't or couldn't do it at that moment but the arrangement was made. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get the woman's name or extension so he was never able to get a hold of her again. Again, multiple hours spent trying to pay off the card but to no fruition.


I lost track of what happened after that... but to quote my biz partner: "I never had someone make it so hard for me to give them money."


The moral, if anything, is to always record (not literally, of course) everything you talk to an agent about - get their name, extension, even the hours and days they work if possible. Write down exact amounts, addresses, phone numbers, the works. Try to get them to fax, mail or email something stating what agreement you've come to.




A quickie: We had a fraudulent purchase on our checking account by way of a check card for about $400 a couple of years ago. We had purchased a part from a Canadian distributor and I guess someone working at the place wrote down the card number. The idiot used it to pay their (or someone's) Canadian cable bill! I hopped down to the bank and they were very helpful in getting the card cancelled and a new card issued and the money refunded. I never found out if they caught whoever it was, but it couldn't be too hard to call the cable company and get a name and address for the cable account.

[jedimaster91]

I'm willing to bet that the $5.14 is something she bought and forgot about, too.

There have been times I've had to think really hard and try to remember when and what charge some of those items were for. Especially if the merchant ID on my statement is different from what I thought it was.

Hubz and I each have a card we keep in a safe place for emergency use. They're also linked to different accounts so if one gets cleared out we still have the other one. They've come in handy before when my wallet was stolen at work and we had to cancel and reissue all of our cards. Each one is used for one thing and one thing only so they remain "active" and we can tell real fast if it's been compromised. I've only ever had one fraudulent charge on a card and it was cleared up by my bank with no trouble.

[Ternasthebard]

There have been times I've had to think really hard and try to remember when and what charge some of those items were for. Especially if the merchant ID on my statement is different from what I thought it was.

I've been in that situation myself, I freaked out a bit over a small charge, around $4 on my bank statement, especially when it implied that it was from an ATM somewhere and I never go to one of those. Eventually managed to puzzle out that it was from an automated tag engraving machine I had used a month or two before but hadn't gotten charged for until then.

But heckfire, I'm so used to getting new cards from my bank because of all these security breeches and mergers that I wouldn't think twice about cancelling one where a fraudulent purchase had been made and waiting for a new card to come.