I'm irked at Barclays Bank, which issued my US Airways MasterCard.

First: I wanted to make a $10,000 purchase at Lowe's. I called Barclays before doing the transaction and was told, "everything will be fine". (I had about $15k in available credit.) However, time and time again, I'd try the transaction and it would be declined and would trigger a fraud alert...so I'd call Barclays again and would be told, "we've cleared out your account, it's fine now, and the charge will go through..." and it wouldn't. I finally gave up and used my AmEx.

Second: I had a small ding on a rental car and filed a claim for the damage with Barclays' MasterCard benefits department. The number I was given was 800 348-8472, and the associated website is eclaimsline.com. So when I then gave the info regarding the claim to National, the rental car company, they came back and said that my claim and coverage were not valid because I used a MasterCard for the transaction, but 800-348-8472 and eclaimsline.com are for Visa.

I have gone around and around with Barclays and they insist that the contact info that I was given is valid for my MasterCard...but eclaimsline.com is clearly a Visa site. (Nobody who I speak with at 800-348-8472 will mention the word MasterCard.) I'm about to run out of time if I need to have validly filed a claim within 45 days of the initial damage.

Has anyone else had these problems?