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

clairey22

Zyyb wrote: »

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 was in Vegas last week and had to call lloyds three times from my mobile to unlock my account before I could use the card in an ATM. I have had the account for 15 years and travel several times a year with no problems before.

I did their automated helpline to unlock the account but it didnt work so I had to call again (after another unsuccesful trip to the ATM) and wait on hold to speak to someone. My phone bills are about £25 for all the calls to Lloyds and it was not how I wanted to spend my birthday in Vegas.

I will be complaining to lloyds and asking them to reimburse me for the phone call charges.

Clairey

BucksLad

Had my JLP Mastercard blocked last night due to a 'suspected fraud'. Normally I would have just found this frustrating and used my debit card until my replacement cc arrived. However, as I'm going on holiday next week and need a credit card in my name to pick up a hire car, I'm in a bit of a bind. I tried the Mastercard emergency replacment line but couldn't get to speak to a human - it simply gave me the JPL card services number and told me to call them. Spoke to JLP card services and they 'helpfully' told me that I'd get a new card in 7-10 working days. When I pointed out that it wouldn't be much good as I would already be abroad they suggested that I could report the card 'lost or stolen' while I was abroad and get an emergency replacement delivered to my hotel. Great, I pointed out, but how does that help me get the hire car when I arrive at the destination airport ? Not sure how to resolve this at present - the obvious moral of the story is not to rely on a single cc (I certainly won't in future!). It does however indicate how inflexible the 'emergency replacement' procedures are when you can get a card abroad but you can't get one if your card is blocked just before you leave home.

Anyone else experienced something similar ?

Bob_the_Saver

I travel an lot (and I mean a lot) talk to lot's of people and can't think of a UK bank that hasn't blocked a standard credit/debit card. TAKE A BACK-UP
Pre-paid card, dollars down your knickers or whatever. Better still take several back-ups. Banks go on strike, undersea communications cables get severed, you get robbed by low flying penguins. If you think it can't happen, it can. TAKE A BACK-UP