Egg, blocked card and the power of Martin

spring85195

Boss, try https://www.skype.com
It is a cheap internet - PC or PC - phone thing

Personally, I don't think it is right to ask for a refund on this occasion.
As they are protection you. They make no money from the call and shouldn't pay for you.

The_Boss

Ahh, well that changes a lot then......

Voyager2002

Why did it take a 30 minute telephone call to unblock the card? Since Egg has a system of on-line secure messaging, they should be able to deal with this kind of issue without needing to make use of the telephone.

In the OP's situation, I don't think I should be expected to spend 30 minutes on the telephone, and so would expect some kind of compensation for having to waste such an unreasonable amount of time.

The_Boss

Voyager2002 wrote:

Why did it take a 30 minute telephone call to unblock the card? Since Egg has a system of on-line secure messaging, they should be able to deal with this kind of issue without needing to make use of the telephone.

In the OP's situation, I don't think I should be expected to spend 30 minutes on the telephone, and so would expect some kind of compensation for having to waste such an unreasonable amount of time.

Thats what thought, but the call was pretty much free and why should you be paid for being on the phone? You should expect something for being out of pocket, but otherwise it would be ridiculous.

mistyarthur

But like you say it should have been possible to do it over the internet, if it wasn't then maybe some money was due to him but the call probably cost less than it would if you phoned an 0845 number from the uk.
What I think is wrong is they bribed them with threatening to post on here and then they went and did it when they won anyway!!! maybe if they had even just not mentioned the banks name it would have been better.

The_Boss

In their defence, the OP didnt say they wouldnt post it on here if it was refunded.

charlie12

Couple of recommendations when going abroad:

1) Call your credit card provider(s) and inform them that you're going on holiday. They will usually adjust their fraud protection systems to help avoid problems.

2) Make sure they have a contact number when you're abroad. You can temporarily remove your home number and add a mobile number for example.

cronshd

Hi

Thanks for all the comments. I thought it might help to clarify a few points.

1. The refund amount. This was suggested by Egg themselves. I told them I was using Skype in order to minimise the cost. I don't know the cost of that call - and as I said to Egg, it is not the amount which is important - I said something like "I don't care if it is 25p or £2.50 - it is the principle which is important". I was really pushing the importance of 0800 numbers. In fairness to Egg, they don't have a dreaded 0870 number!

2. I did not suggest to Egg that if they didn't refund some money to me then I would post a message here - and if they did then I wouldn't. It wasn't a deal or (or 'bribe' - as someone suggested) or anything like that - crikey I'm not that advanced! I just kept repeating that I didn't like having to pay for the privilege of unblocking my card. I used this forums name more to see the reaction. In fact the agent had not heard of it - and had not heard of Martin Lewis. Perhaps though his supervisor had - because I was 'on hold' for over 10 minutes waiting for them to get back to me. It may not have even have been the moneysavingexpert.com comment which swung it - I was not party to the discussion between the agent and his supervisor. (Could be that they just got fed up with me).

3. The total call time was over 45 minutes (as recorded by Skype). This is a heck of a long time. I did get passed from the Customer Service to the (external?) First Assist(?) security group - and then back. Handovers like this take time - plus all the explanations - and security questions etc etc.

4. I really appreciate the security - and the way it is done. I am speaking from experience, as a previous card (not Egg) was 'skimmed' and a series of transactions over £1500 racked up on the card - and then security spotted it. It was all dealt with very professionally. On this case, I told Egg how well I appreciated their security system. My point was about the costs incurred by me for fiixng it. Virgin for example has an 0800 number.

5. Interesting point from Wacko - "£5 hardly covers the embarassment of being refused at the till when you have followed the rules. I think Egg got away lightly." Yeah it was slightly embarassing when the guy said "sorry - your card has been rejected - do you have another one".

6. Interesting point from Gamma "Hmm and you still posted their mistake and lied about how much the call was and used someone else's name to strengthen your case without their knowledge. I won't be happy if I was egg, Martin, or Moneysavingexpert.com."
First, I don't consider that they made a 'mistake' at all. They were doing their jib and the following their procedures in a professional way, which I appreciate (and I told them) - it is the costs incurred by me which are the issue. Secondly, as I mentioned above, I told them I was using Skype - and I also told them I didn't care how much much they refunded me - it was the principle which was important. So I'm not quite sure on what basis you consider I lied. On the last point - of course, Martin and moneysavingexpert.com are quite a liberty to remove this thread from the website, if they feel it is inappropriate. I think that is up to them.

7. In my view Egg customer service is generally of a very high standard. I put them in the Premier League along with First Direct and Virgin. Any issues or interactions have always been dealt with in a positive and professional manner.

merch

I'm sure cronshd won't have a problem donating the £5 (less the true monetary cost of the call of course) to charity. After all it was the principle that was important. The financial refund is just a trivial detail...

canny_yorkshireman_2

that is a very good idea everyone wins except egg that is