aztimm
Nov 6, 09, 10:28 pm
Has anyone else been bombarded with, "Fraud Alerts," from the Barclay's Master Card?
I started planning a trip to Europe about 6 weeks ago, the trip commences in 3 weeks. I bought some travel within Europe on LH, booked some prepaid rooms with Hiltons, etc. Mind you, this was in early Oct, for Dec travel. I used my US dm# on any air travel, and my HHonors number for the Hilton properties.
Within minutes of making one booking, I received an email to verify it. I took care of that, then since it was late, I went to bed. The next morning, I bought a travel book on Amazon (I buy from them regularly), the order around $20, and I got an email from them that the card was declined. I called Barclay's, and they said they'd approve it. Later that day I had physical therapy, which I had been going to 2-3x a week for 3 weeks...got another alert on my co-pay charge ($20). When I got home, I called, spoke with someone who then told me that a hotel booking looked suspicious (it wasn't), and I hadn't even heard about that yet....a whopping $300. So I spent 45 min on the phone, going over my itinerary, where I was going and when, and was assured all was ok.
Yesterday, I got another fraud alert, from a merchant I buy from 2-3x a year, had just bought last month, and this, "fraud alert," was a whopping $60. I called, spoke with a fraud supervisor, who said, "You have lots of suspicious activity on your account." I asked what, and it was a Spanair ticket (again a whopping $61), which should have been covered by my prior call. I asked her to remove these alerts from my account, and she said it wasn't possible. I explained that I like using this card, but how it is a major inconvenience having tho handhold it with every purchase.
I just received a new card (not yet activated), together with my annual fee notice, and the club pass, etc. While I like the idea of getting the 10k preferred miles when I spent $25k, I really don't like wondering if my purchase will be declined. My FICO score is great, my credit limit is >$20k. I also have the HHonors AMEX, pay no annual fee, and they never question a charge. For a travel card linked to an airline, one would think they would expect people to travel....
Anyone have any ideas what to do?
I started planning a trip to Europe about 6 weeks ago, the trip commences in 3 weeks. I bought some travel within Europe on LH, booked some prepaid rooms with Hiltons, etc. Mind you, this was in early Oct, for Dec travel. I used my US dm# on any air travel, and my HHonors number for the Hilton properties.
Within minutes of making one booking, I received an email to verify it. I took care of that, then since it was late, I went to bed. The next morning, I bought a travel book on Amazon (I buy from them regularly), the order around $20, and I got an email from them that the card was declined. I called Barclay's, and they said they'd approve it. Later that day I had physical therapy, which I had been going to 2-3x a week for 3 weeks...got another alert on my co-pay charge ($20). When I got home, I called, spoke with someone who then told me that a hotel booking looked suspicious (it wasn't), and I hadn't even heard about that yet....a whopping $300. So I spent 45 min on the phone, going over my itinerary, where I was going and when, and was assured all was ok.
Yesterday, I got another fraud alert, from a merchant I buy from 2-3x a year, had just bought last month, and this, "fraud alert," was a whopping $60. I called, spoke with a fraud supervisor, who said, "You have lots of suspicious activity on your account." I asked what, and it was a Spanair ticket (again a whopping $61), which should have been covered by my prior call. I asked her to remove these alerts from my account, and she said it wasn't possible. I explained that I like using this card, but how it is a major inconvenience having tho handhold it with every purchase.
I just received a new card (not yet activated), together with my annual fee notice, and the club pass, etc. While I like the idea of getting the 10k preferred miles when I spent $25k, I really don't like wondering if my purchase will be declined. My FICO score is great, my credit limit is >$20k. I also have the HHonors AMEX, pay no annual fee, and they never question a charge. For a travel card linked to an airline, one would think they would expect people to travel....
Anyone have any ideas what to do?