a bit of an annoyance but kind of like it as well.

[Giggle Squirt]

OK, lets say you have a credit card that you hardly ever use.. maybe for gas, and some odd groceries or when you realise you forget your bank card... Then you go for a trip across the river and you car brakes down and you go to pay for the repairs which are well under your credit limit but the card is declined. After calling in and trying to clear things up you realize that becuse this is not in your "normal spending habbit" they thew up a red flag and locked the card???? My impression of a credit card was for emergencies and such. Not for every day spending... so as much at it is nice that they watch for odd spending... it is kind of a pain in the ass... I wonder if this has happened to anyone else.???? And i am not sure if it is just mastercard, or if visa or discover do this as well....

[goodasgold]

That happened to my husband's grandma one year. They were making their yearly trip to Mexico and we all went out for supper one night. His grandma decided to pay for all 9of us and her Visa was frozen. His parents picked up the bill. When they called the bill, she was told it was because of the amount and that it was out of country. Now they let the bank know what they are going out of country on vacation so that it doesn't happen again.

[Giggle Squirt]

yep, i guess it is a good idea to inform the bank if your going on a trip, but if your just heading across to say walmart and you don't plan on your car breaking down... some things you can't always plan for. But it also kind of gave me a piece of mind knowing that they watch out for stuff like that.

[italiandomino]

The CC does this for your protection, i am sure if your card was stolen and it was being used without you knowing it was gone, i am very sure you would be thanking your CC for doing that.

suck it up and deal with it.

[tippikitty]

I have a credit card that I haven't ever used and have had it for 3 years because I have 2 others that I use frequently. Do you think that if I was to try and use it now they would freeze it? That would be really embarrassing.

[Brookelynn]

The CC does this for your protection, i am sure if your card was stolen and it was being used without you knowing it was gone, i am very sure you would be thanking your CC for doing that.

suck it up and deal with it.

Not. Gimme a break. Obviously it is her using the card and signing. If not then someone isnt doing their job.
I had a Mastercard and it was done to me. I paid it off and got a Visa instead. I told them to kiss my ass. You shoulda heard them in fact kissing my ass

[Giggle Squirt]

ya i have had some customer not use their card in years and the compnay kind of cancelled it on them... call the compnay and see if it s still active... and italian.. if you read my post i did say it was good that they are watchign for stuff like that but at the time it was very annoying and slightly embarrising...

[WingNut]

Giggle, this just happened to me a few week back. Got a call from someone with an eastern accent saying he was calling from Visa center and wanted info about my C.C. I told the guy "Ya right, I don't do anything over the phone, send me the info in the mail. He said "Of course sir". Well I thought that was the last of it until I tried to use my card about 2 weeks later for gas and the girl said "I'm sorry sir, your card is blocked". When I got home I called the Visa center to straighten out this mess and they asked me about spending habits....."Did you spend $1. on napster, I said I don't do napster, well there is a charge of some other music D/L charges for $30+, I said I don't do that either,, so here was the kicker, have you purchased items at ******** for a total of $416. I said no. Anyways they issued me another card and said they are going to file fraud charges/investigation. I told them by all means go ahead. Still don't know where they got my info from!

[Giggle Squirt]

Yep about 4 years ago i had this happen to me as well. I went to buy a laptop at a store and i tried to use my visa and the said it was declined. So i paid cash for it and then as soon as i stepped into my house the phone was ringing and it was my bank... I guess i need to spend more so this stops happening LOL

[axalon2003]

I used mine at Future Shop a few years back and they got a Call Credit Center flag on the screen. About 1 minute later, my cell phone was ringing and they were checking to see if I had lost my card, or was making any purchases at the moment. Since $3000 worth of electronics was not in my usual spending pattern they were making sure my card wasn't stolen and being used by someone else. After about 2 minutes of conversation I said a very grateful thank-you, they put my transaction through and I was on my way.
I would personally rather have to wait a few minutes while my CC company verifies a bit of info than someone get hold of my CC and go nuts without anyone raising a flag on it.

[Sunshine19]

They tell you if you are going away on a trip to call your credit card company to let them know. My Aunt was on a vacation and was tryng to use her cc and it was declined. the cc company called her house and her son answered but just said she wasn't home so they froze her account. So now whenever I go away I call and let them know. Just in case.

[stupefied]

Then you go for a trip across the river and you car brakes down and you go to pay for the repairs which are well under your credit limit but the card is declined.

Cancel the card. It's useless if you can't use it when you need it.

[gouligann]

I think it's great that they red flag an account if it's not within your usual spending habits. It's just for your own protection. I'd rather be embarrassed, than have a credit card thief enjoying purchases on my credit.