Tesco Cr. Card

Segilla

My old card due to expire, a new one was received with a request to phone Tesco. They gave me quite a long spiel about fraud and identity theft and how they could help prevent it - then asked for c. £70 for their insurance against such problems.
No!
But surely, what I should have been asked was to identify myself to guard against a third party having got hold of my new card. I undestand that in the States new cards are activated only after a successful call.

A_fiend_for_life

Er...I would be inclined to vote with my feet. What's that? A one off fee or do you need to renew in a years time? Either way it sounds extortionate and hard sell. I'd be curious to know what they offer over and above that required by law.

The strange thing I find about such phone calls, especially when they phone you, is that your expected to answer security questions when you don't know who the caller is. Surely it should be a 'hand shake'. ie they provide a key word or phrase that you recognize and you answer their security questions.

philatio

Gonna resurrect this one.

Got my new Tesco card yesterday as my old one expires at the end of the month. Theres a sticker on it to call a number to confirm I've received the card and "HELP COMBAT CARD FRAUD!"
So after a day and a half of calling I managed to get through.

I've seen these stickers before on other cards and it's been an automated system.. you usually key in your card no and DOB or something and it just activates the card. Not in this case... you go straight through to a human. She asks your address and DOB then, "whilst I'm waiting for those details to go through" proceeds to start a hard sell about their card protection insurance.

The usual "not interested thanks" didn't work and no matter how much I stressed my uninterest.. she pressed on, harder and harder.. something akin to a used car salesman. All sorts of crap about 'I'll only know if I've been a victim of identity fraud if I take out this service with them".

In the end I got quite angry and pretty much had to hang up.

From what I could tell, the "phoning to confirm receipt of your card" is just a complete trojan horse for them to start the hard sell on their overpriced and useless ID theft protection.

Might actually write a letter of complaint I'm that naffed off.