RANT Debit/Credit Card

[Bob_VT]

Okay..... now I am mad

I live by my debit/credit card and carry very little cash. The money comes right out of my checking account and I use it daily..... gas, meals etc.

Yesterday morning I was in NY and stopped for gas. Hmmmmm my card did not work so I thought it was the card reader. I paid cash and went on my way.

Later in the day I stopped for lunch and my card was again turned down and I used cash...... later that evening I needed washer fluid and a few things and stopped at a "mart" store.... card would not work!

It was a holiday so I could not call anyone.

Today I called my CU and they tell me that "thousands of cards" have been comprimised and my card will NO LONGER work in NY at all! What a pile of dung!

It just might be time to go shopping for a financial institution. I really do not need these problems when I am on the road.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

is the CU going to replace them? they do actually own them.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Oh I will get a replacement but it will not work in NY either! The CU rattled off a list of about 12 states where it will not work but I am only concerned where I go to do work.

 

[chiefalen]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Something more is going on that you don't know about.

Ether way they are a bunch of sonsofab---s.

 

[jpmurphy]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Oh I will get a replacement but it will not work in NY either! The CU rattled off a list of about 12 states where it will not work but I am only concerned where I go to do work.

Sounds to me like it's time to change financial institutions. In retirement we use 2 different ones. One we have to because they carry our home mortgage (local bank) which doesn't participate in the "star" system. The other we have used for years and they are part of the system and I have never had a problem in any state. Our auto deposits are split with just enough going into the local bank to cover the note with a little buffer to cover change in impounds and the bulk of deposits going to the other bank for our operating funds.

Why stay with a Cu/Bank that gives you problems ?

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

NY, FL, NV, PA, AZ, CA, TX, IL The affected (infected? ) states.

I am one of 350 cards (and so is my wife). This whole thing is just a stop gap measure......

My CU just called and promised it would be fixed ASAP.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Actually, Murph I have been with this CU for a long time and they are really good. This whole mess is above their level. I have most of my business there except the mortgage.

I really can't blame them but they are the first on the food chain to feel my rath.

 

[QC]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Yeah, that makes a little more sense.

FWIW, like you, I basically travel with no cash. It's my simple budget system as I am less likely to whip out a card than cash, plus exchange rates are better through the card, than cash to cash i.,e. I use the ATM when I get somewhere internationally.

This last week, when I was in the UK, the stripe on my Debit card wasn't working, my PayPal debit card stripe wasn't working, annnnnnd to make matters worse, my Company Credit card was canceled due to fraudulent use. I had just bought print cartridges at a Best Buy before I left and while I was flying somebody charged up 4 new PCs at a different Best Buy. I smell an employee . . . Murphy's law I guess. Thankfully I was there with colleagues and they just paid for everything.

Buuuuut, I am leaving today for Detroit, new Company card isn't here yet, both of my Debit cards are still f'ed up, so I am going to carry a chunk of cash this trip. I don't think I have ever paid a Hotel bill with cash, but I am tomorrow.

Oh, I pretty much refuse to use a personal credit card for business. What happens is I get the expense check later and instead of paying off the card I buy a propeller or something cool or the wife gets a hold of it . . . bad program

 

[jpmurphy]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

I would get in thier face and stay in thier face until I was satisfied all was ok.

It's your money, not thiers...

Years ago I work in LA,Ca and B of A lost a deposit (payday type). Took those jerks two weeks (until the next payday) to get it cleared up & credited to my account. Two weeks with limited funds ! Then I changed banks immediately.

Few years ago in San Diego we went to the Navy FCU which we had used for nearly 20 years to do a refi on the house. They turned us down. Closed all of our accounts, went to another FCU and got the refi ! Go figure. All institutions use the same basic credit granting guide lines. I was in the business, both from the Mortgage end & the lending end.

The American consumer is not a second class citizen !

There, now I'm not so angry for you.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Well for a short term solution...... I am going to get a gift card and put some cash on it.

 

[mrcool]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Hi. Mrs. Cool here. He's at work, he had this forum up before he left, so I'm hijacking it. Can't help but add my 2 cents to this thread after what Capital One did to us recently. We had their "No Hassles" reward card for years and years. Paid it off every month, never had a finance charge, never paid any interest, got lots of rewards, cash back, free airline tickets etc. Well, apparently that was the problem. In October they started calling me every time I'd use the card. I'd come home from the grocery/liquor store and there'd already be a message from a computer telling me I had to call them back and let them know they were really my charges. Why the grocery and liquor store I have been going to for years set them off is anyone's guess, although I have a guess. Anyway, I got sick of this so I stayed on the line 'til I got a real person to yell at. She insisted my card had been "compromised". I said NONE of the charges you ever call about are NOT mine, so how is that possible? She asked if we'd been out of the state recently, I said no, why? She said there's a charge on your card to "Hellenbrand" (which she couldn't pronounce) Ace Hardware in Marshall, West Virginia. I said Hellenbrand's Ace Hardware is in Marshall WISCONSIN, 5 miles from my house, look at the statement in front of you, he's there constantly. She says, no, it says West Virginia. Your card is cancelled. And that was it. Sure, they sent me another card with a new account number on it, but it only went downhill from there. I had already made a payment to the old account, which of course now doesn't exist, so I make the same payment on the NEW card number. Well, guess what happened? You guessed it, they took it twice. I flipped out, of course I have overdrafts at the bank, I call them. Oops. Our mistake, we'll refund one of them. Well, they refunded BOTH of them, so NOW I have made no payment that month, so guess what???? FINANCE CHARGES!!! AND the next time I try to use it, declined. Why? I never made a payment, according to them, even though I HAD cleared it all up, it was now a month later. The balance at this time was $754., and I had a $20,000. credit limit.
Unbelievable. My theory on why this all happened is because they never made any money off of us, in fact they paid us rewards back. In tough times, they decided they needed to get rid of their good customers that they were paying rewards back to.
Needless to say, we closed the account. Idiots.
Sorry I ranted on so long, but I couldn't resist, seeing that others are going through the same kind o' thing.

 

[DJ]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

It's NOT your money until you get the bill. It's theirs. Who can blame them for looking out for fraud, etc. Fraud seems to be the flavor of choice, in todays world.

You are fortunate that somebody is actually looking out for you. I did notice that most of the states are East coast. Go figure. Looks like a
"fraud ring" to me.

I use a Corporate card for travel expenditures. I get called weekly on "suspicious" transactions. They catch a lot whackos that have taken down my card number and tried to use it.

I appreciate their diligence. I can't keep up, even if I tried.

 

[chiefalen]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Their in lies the problem. We allow them to make excuses.

It's not them stuck away from home with no cash.

I'm so mad for you i can't even type.

Had the very thing happen to me, so when i leave town i call them, and tell them where i will be so they don't freeze the account.

Lucky for me i was visiting my mom and dad in Fl. Was years ago. But then i had to deal with them thinking i was broke, or something was going on that i wasn't telling them.

 

[DJ]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Y'all are treating "Them-card co's" as the enemy.

Actually, would you like to take on the "fraud patrol" by yourself?

I think NOT. You'd be swamped within five minutes.

Yes, there are that many crooks out there.

We live in a "free" society. Freedom has it's costs. Frankly, I'll pay them.

 

[mrcool]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

I don't blame you for NOT wading all the way through my post, so I realize you may have missed my point. I appreciate them looking out for me, to a point. They crossed the line, IMHO, when this went on for months, and when they targeted the stores we went to over and over and over every month. How can that be fraud? I googled, and there is not another Hellenbrand Ace Hardware in the entire country. And I was online looking at my statement the same time their person was, and the charge clearly said WI, not WV. Their refusal to agree was the final straw for me, and then there was the continual harassment over my payments.
I see no reason for this except to make me mad enough to cancel my account, so I guess they "won". THAT part stinks.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

I travel extensively on a debit card.Usually a week at a time throughout the S.E. Region..Company then reimburses after my expense report is approved, sometimes taking up to 2 weeks..Finally was able to set up a seperate account JUST for being on the road..Can't tell you how many times I'm taking a customer to a 200.00 dinner when my other half is home having mac & cheese....

Lot's of times car rentals agents and hotels bill a debit card fully, PLUS some extra just in case..takes a long time to get those funds adjusted correctly AND what really ticks me off is they process not in any order, but I swear they post items by whatever will make your account become overdrawn at 35.00 a pop..

You can't even check in to any hotel with cash!!! No card-No room...

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Well to update everyone.....

The "processing center" that handles merchants etc is the one who "faulted" and did not take proper steps to keep things secure. My card number along with my wifes card were in the batch that was comprimised. The states that cut off the cards only cut them off for credit transactions.

The processing company caused this problem in multiple states with multiple merchants. I doubt they will ever be used again.

 

[lowkee]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

I've been a customer of one credit union or another for my entire life. I normally have a primary account with a major bank as well, but when I need ot make sure I have no issues, nothing beats a credit union. IMO they shouldn't even allow banks, only credit unions. I once needed to send out a very large check in a short order and my credit union delivered a check via fedex overnight to the address I gave them, all over the phone! Name a single major bank would do that.

No, they don't have the staff to watch your account 24/7 or global mortgage rates, but you know when you call, you'll be talking to a person who still sees you as a person. That is something you will never see with a "What's in your wallet" credit card company where you are customer #31,588,623.

 

[projecthog]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

Okay..... now I am mad

I live by my debit/credit card and carry very little cash. The money comes right out of my checking account and I use it daily..... gas, meals etc.

Yesterday morning I was in NY and stopped for gas. Hmmmmm my card did not work so I thought it was the card reader. I paid cash and went on my way.

Later in the day I stopped for lunch and my card was again turned down and I used cash...... later that evening I needed washer fluid and a few things and stopped at a "mart" store.... card would not work!

It was a holiday so I could not call anyone.

Today I called my CU and they tell me that "thousands of cards" have been comprimised and my card will NO LONGER work in NY at all! What a pile of dung!

It just might be time to go shopping for a financial institution. I really do not need these problems when I am on the road.

Get used to it,

I don't think it will get better any time soon.
Too much information, too much action and as long as one man can create the security for the system, another man can crack it!

And even if your card is in order, the machines may screw up, it happens to me all the time, and the biggest reason given, is that the system is overloaded and needs to be reset.

So how will that work when EVERYTHING goes on plastic?

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: RANT Debit/Credit Card

I think most banks do a pretty good job of providing a reasonable level of quality, but there is no doubt that many come up short from time to time.

I use Capital One also, but have had a good experience with them. I do have a credit card with the bank, but use my debit cards almost exclusively. In fact my total personal debt is never more than a few hundred dollars at any time. By that I mean total debt, not CC debt.

My policy towards work expenses is simple - if the company does not provide a cash advance or a credit card to cover the business expenses that I must incur, I don't work for them. Some may find this to be a bit hard nosed, but having once been left holding the bag for several thousand dollars in business expenses by a company that suddenly became unable to reimburse me, I just don't compromise on this issue.

All of this said, if I had an experience where a CC company continued to inconvenience me, and then screwed my accounts up through their ineptitude, I would cease do do business with them in short order. I don't care who's money is in play at any given time, or what their concerns are. I do business with companies who service me, not the other way around. I am amazed at the folks that think that consumers should put up with whatever nonsense businesses throw at them.

Perhaps the fact that so many do, explains why CEOs of failing companies insist on paying themselves astronomical sums that bear no relationship to their performance. It may also explain why guys like John Thain, recently departed from Merrill Lynch, and who spent 1.2 million dollars (including an $87,000 rug) redecorating his office while his company was going broke,' do all manner of other insanely irresponsible things.

As they say, opinions are like a certain part of the human anatomy that I will not specify in this family forum, but like most people, I have one too. Mine is that it is time for American consumers to demand more. If your bank doesn't value your business, find another. If your grocery charges high prices unless you "prove your loyalty" by getting a discount card, find a new grocery. If your favorite electronics store lists prices that you can only obtain by jumping through the "hoops" of a rebate program, buy somewhere else. While I recognise that we have allowed business to make it hard to do any of these things, if people actually do them, I guarantee that businesses will react quickly. We can become valued customers again.