Originally Posted by
NYCommuter
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?
I filed a claim using eclaimsline after having damage to a car I rented using my Barclays Arrival Plus (also a mastercard) in September, and am also concerned about the fact that the site says it's for Visa claims (Barclays did send me to the site, after about five hundred transfers, half of which were to people who said I didn't have insurance at all). I'm doing all the documentation myself, so it's not so much that anyone else is telling me it's invalid as that it seems like it's going to get denied at some point for that reason. Did they eventually pay your claim? So far it's been SO opaque and full of delays I have a hard time believing the money will ever appear. (Sample conversation with a customer service agent: "Well, where were you when the accident happened? Sometimes we don't cover accidents in foreign countries, you know." Me: "South Carolina." Customer Service: "Australia?" Me: "SOUTH CAROLINA THE STATE NEXT TO GEORGIA.")