MSE news: Going abroad? Avoid the blocked card holiday nightmare

big_brother

advertised as being the ones to use abroad cos they don't charge you!! It cost me £140+ after trying to use my card in a shop and it was blocked (Nwide had been informed prior to my trip). Cost me £10+ to ring and explain and on their advice I used an ATM to unblock my card and get some money. I got no money from the machine but according to Nwide and the bank I had. Nwide customer service and dispute teams difficult to get through to and totally unhelpful - don't know how much I spent trying to talk to someone who could help. In any event, not interested in what I had to say - still had to pay up. Won't be using Nationwide again.

mutley74

nedsram wrote: »

When I last told Nationwide that I would be using the card overseas, they told me not to bother, as they don't record such information.

i was told the same by them. but i am sure on the flex account "compose a message" option tehre is a option to choose notify holiday use...will need to check again but sure there was earlier in the year.


i usually take 2 different cards 1 credit card and 1 debit card but pay for all spending and cash withdrawls using my NW debit card, plus take some cash which is split between otehr party members to carry. And i always carry the international telephone numbers of my bank in my travel bag.

Francophile

Got an Abbey Zero card specifically to use abroad. Arrived at the airport in France at the beginning of July. Went to pick up the hire car and lo and behold card blocked. Luckily I had another card with me which was accepted. Tried the Abbey card in supermarkets but still blocked. It's a bit of a pain.

Bearlicious

Every time we visit the US our cards are blocked. Doesn't seem to make any difference whether we inform the banks or credit card company. Of course, my mistake was not taking the international number on which to call the bank because the 0800 numbers obviously don't work abroad. I had to get onto the internet to get the number and was on hold, on my mobile for nearly 15 minutes. I know it's for our own protection and for the banks protection, but if they looked out our patterns beyone the last month it would help! It is an utter nightmare and despite assurances the card was unblocked after half an hour on the telephone, it wasn't and when we tried to use it the next day, the operative said that the previous operator had not done it! AAAAAghhh

moneypooh

I've contacted CapOne and they have acknowledged my dates away and given me a number if I need assistance whilst away. We only need it for car hire rental so we'll see.
Used Nationwide both credit and flex debit in Mallorca and Disney Paris and both OK.

CapOne blocked my booking for Disney Paris at my first attempt to book online as it was seen as an usual first payment, yeah like I holiday in Disney every weekend

We all have had different experiences and it just goes to show that you need a few options while away incase the wheel does fall off.

nedsram_2

nedsram wrote: »

When I last told Nationwide that I would be using the card overseas, they told me not to bother, as they don't record such information.

i was told the same by them. but i am sure on the flex account "compose a message" option tehre is a option to choose notify holiday use...will need to check again but sure there was earlier in the year.

They should remove it. It was that option that I selected to inform them!

ribbonbow

I am with Lloydstsb and after a recent trip am going to change my bank!!
Nightmare when going on holiday.
Before leaving UK rang to tell them Im going away after being told to do so in the branch- the guy on the phone said 'we are trying to educate our customers that to tell us they are going away is unecessary'! How patronising! He said accounts will more than likely be blocked abroad so you have to ring from abroad to get it unblocked 'for your protection' ! what a load of rubbish and yes you will have to pay expensive phone charges abroad for the priviledge & yes you may be blocked on several occasions. That is not what u want when abroad and for what ever reason desperate for cash.

I rang Lloyds 3 times before I left, wasting my phone bill getting told different things each time
the 1st is above then 2nd call got told 'sure where u going etc ..thats all set up' then on the day of travel rang to make sure they had put a note on my account & low & behold the lady said there is no note on my account!!

last year I went to Australia & got blocked every time i used my card at ATM or in shops, spent a fortune on phone calls and had to rely on kind friends to help me out. If i was on my own i wd have been up a certain creek!

Lloydstsb are useless & unorganised!!! This time because they are so rubbish I was forced to take £1000 cash from the UK which is not safe! Just to avoid having to use my card! Returned home yesterday and will be changing bank ASAP!!

TravellingAbuela

Last summer I informed Alliance and Leicester of the dates I would be out of the country and set off with their debit card (for day to day cash) and a Sainsbury's bank credit card for emergencies only. All was fine whilst I was away, no problems getting cash from the ATM's. We got back to the airport in this country and needed cash to pay for the booked taxi home - yes, you've guessed the ATM wouldn't pay out! Aaaargh! I had to use the credit card and incur a handling charge just to get cash to pay for the taxi home! Not pleased!

Zyyb

Gotta disagree with Martin, Lloyds put a lot of security checks on my account, was in Vegas yesterday and had to call them so i could use the ATM (I know it's not the cheapest way to get the cash, but it was the only way!)

They do also sometimes put a hold on purchases made from abroad over the net

ceejayblue

bobcoates wrote: »

I've lost count how many times I've had cards blocked or nearly blocked. But it's always been when at home, never abroad... yet!
My latest was yesterday. LTSB. Spent the massive sum of *** 61 pence *** which obviously had all the alarm bells ringing at LTSB.
I'd booked a hotel in the Lake District and used my card as guarantee. The hotel took 61p as a test payment.
Only found out this morning when I used the card again. Declined!

What's more, LTSB won't talk to me over the phone because "I haven't set up a password for my card". Apparantly I should have given them a password when I applied for the card.
Well I've had the card for over 30 years. There was no such concept as passwords on cards in the 1970's when I applied.
I now have to report to the local branch with photo ID to get it all sorted. More likely cut the card up and forget it.

The time before was a month ago when I booked an internal flight in India on the web (different card). I suppose that's a bit more understandable.
Time before that, bought a carpet at a shop 2 miles from home for £150. Next time I used the card, declined! "Unusual spending pattern". True. Carpets aren't an everyday purchase for me.

And I've lost count of the number of calls from card issuers' fraud departments asking me to confirm transactions because of "suspected fraudulent activity" on my account.

There never has been, I've never suffered from any credit card fraud.
I understand the bank's lose a lot to fraud and need to have procedures in place, but for me it's getting beyond a joke.

I've taken to always carrying at least two credit and two debit cards with me, especially abroad, as nipping back from my upcoming Indian holiday to visit my local LTSB branch isn't an option!

I have a BHS Mastercard and a couple of weeks ago I was buying on line from Play.com. Because I hadn't bought from them before with this card (many times with another one) they did a couple of test transactions. As I was trying again to get the payment through I got a phonecall from Mastercard asking me if I was making a transaction with Play.com as they'd noticed a couple of odd payments trying to be taken! I couldn't believe that I had a phone call so quickly, the young lady said they were just checking because they were concerned it might be a fraudulent transaction.

I was grateful that they had checked so quickly and made sure they had my mobile number so that if it happened again while I was out they could call me direct.

I thought that it was great service and showed that they were on the ball.