Anyone have a card with "fraud prevention services" get in the way of buying stuff?

[kennbr34]

I closed out my credit card and so now only have my debit, and my bank has these "fraud prevention services" that basically send me an automated call to confirm a transaction for basically any purchase I make. Usually the purchase gets approved and goes through, but for the first time the other day it kept declining it until I called the bank to work it out.

I'm awaiting the Sage 5 sprint run and wondering if that's going to be a problem and stop me from getting one, and wonder if anyone else has dealt with this and if they have some advice on avoiding it. I'm thinking perhaps buying a prepaid debit card or gift card to use instead of my bank's card, but I'm kind of wondering if those will get flagged by the vendor themselves since they're so often used in scams. Otherwise my bank suggested purchasing from sites that allow 3rd party checkout like PayPal, but it's just difficult to know which ones do ahead of time, and I'm sure you all know what it's like buying sprints--I don't want to miss out on one because I was waiting for one to be available on a site that does PayPal.

Kinda makes me wish I didn't cancel the credit card, but sometimes in life you gotta be realistic with what you actually can be realistic with lol

[yablanowitz]

I've had a couple of transactions declined by fraud protection, and it really ticks me off. Apparently, 66 years is not old enough to decide for myself what I can spend my money on. What pissed me off even more is that fraud prevention didn't stop someone from using Venmo to steal $500 out of the same bank account that they wouldn't let me spend $50 out of.

[270ultimate]

Only happens at completely inopportune times…

Like when renting a U-Haul and leaving my phone in the car (like an idiot). Card keeps getting declined, while bank keeps sending me text messages (that I’m not seeing) to make sure it’s actually me using it.

[RustyIron]

it's just difficult to know which ones do ahead of time, and I'm sure you all know what it's like buying sprints

You should do some "test purchases" from all the stores you think will be selling sprints. It might cost a little more, but you'll have extra knives and peace of mind.

A while back my wife wanted to give me a new desktop computer for my birthday. We went down to the Apple Store, sat down with the salesperson, and figured out exactly what I needed. When it was time to pay, I whipped out a card and handed it over. A few minutes later, the salesperson came back and very apologetically said, "I'm sorry, but your card was declined."

I'm a reasonable person and understand that mistakes get made, so I suggested she go back and run it again. She came back and said that it was declined a second time. Since it was my birthday and I was trying to be on my best behavior, I said, "Oh. There must be something wrong. Here's another credit card."

The lady came back in a few minutes and said, "I'm sorry, this card was declined, as well. I even tried a second time." Then she explained that sometimes credit card companies don't automatically approve unusually large purchases, and that I needed to call the credit card company.

Believe it or not, I'm often not the most patient or tolerant gentleman in the room. At that point I was irritated. I told the lady that I didn't need to call anyone, and that I changed my mind. I didn't want to buy a computer after all. I fully intended to walk out of the store. My wife, who is infinitely more patient than I, intervened and said that maybe calling the number on the back of the card was the most prudent course of action. I still wasn't going to do it, but it was my birthday, so she made the call and straightened it all out.

Somewhere there must be a moral to this story. I think it has something to do with how impatient people don't get what they want, and how tolerant people are able to resolve life's simple problems. I don't know how this solves your problem, but it answers your question: Yes, some of us have been inconvenienced by the rules of credit card companies.

[kennbr34]

it's just difficult to know which ones do ahead of time, and I'm sure you all know what it's like buying sprints

Believe it or not, I'm often not the most patient or tolerant gentleman in the room. At that point I was irritated. I told the lady that I didn't need to call anyone, and that I changed my mind. I didn't want to buy a computer after all. I fully intended to walk out of the store. My wife, who is infinitely more patient than I, intervened and said that maybe calling the number on the back of the card was the most prudent course of action. I still wasn't going to do it, but it was my birthday, so she made the call and straightened it all out.

Heh, I can definitely relate, but I try to remember my mom when she dealt with people. She could charm the grumpiest of people. I have always tried to remembered that honey wins more ants than vinegar. In fact today when I called the bank, I was ready to be all bluster and tell them I would close my account if they didn't stop bothering me with the fraud-protection services, but instead charmed the socks off the girl on the phone to the point she gave me a few tips about their system.

[riclaw]

Sometimes banks flag purchases when all the details don't match exactly. I suggest checking what address you have on file with your bank. Make sure you enter the address exactly as it appears on your bank statement. Best if luck!

[Doc Dan]

I've had that happen a couple of times and always at the most inopportune time. I had to wait until the fraud prevention department opened and then get them to remove the block on my card. But by then I wasnt able to buy one of the things I needed. Once, this happened with a store I shop at all the time and have made larger purchases from.

[Naperville]

YES! And it is a major league hassle. My family may be changing a major bank over this very thing.

Sure nobody wants to be a victim of fraud. But with this particular bank, we even called them and said a particular wire transfer was good....we were logged into the online account via a desktop system when I did what was approved by other family members. So they said, just redo the wire transfer. THEN THEY CANCELLED THAT ONE TOO!!!!

So we wrote a check! We are waiting to see if the check clears and if not, we are closing the account.

[bearrowland]

Me. I appreciate their zeal but I wish they'd ask before shutting down the card.