I was scheduled to check in to a Courtyard in a remote location in the US. I was planning on checking into the hotel around 8p local time and about an hour before my arrival while driving through mountainous areas with unreliable cell service, I received a phone call from a man who identified himself as the owner of the hotel, calling from Florida. After several attempts to connect due to poor reception, we were finally able to communicate. He informed me that my credit card on file had been declined (which I later discovered was because my bank had frozen it due to travel), and he demanded an immediate credit card number. I explained that I was driving and would be at the hotel shortly, but he was not satisfied with this response. Despite my explanation that I was driving and unable to safely pull over to provide him with a credit card number, He insisted that he would have to cancel my reservation if I did not comply immediately. I expressed my concerns about the unusual nature of this request, especially given the risk of cybercrime. Nonetheless, feeling threatened by the potential loss of my room after a long day of driving, I reluctantly provided him with a credit card number over the phone. I've stayed in close to 2000 nights in hotels and never have I had a phone call demanding a credit card number. I've reached out to the Ambassador service but highly doubt I'll get anywhere as this man stated he is the contact person for the Ambassador service and that my complaint would get me nowhere and he'd be contacting them.

Is being called by the hotel and being asked credit card normal? I've had hotels sending an email etc. with credit card issues but never a call asking for a credit card number. Has anyone encountered this before? How would all y'all have handled this?