Barclays left me stranded without money for food, accommodation or to get home

competitionscafe

tripled wrote: »

Why aren't you on the electoral register? It's a legal requirement... and it would help you get a credit card!

I am not entitled to vote - not born in the UK and not a UK citizen (I have permanent residence status but not citizenship).

Olipro

then an alternative suggestion for you is to simply open another bank account (or two) and keep some rainy day money in it.

Or, with the fortunate fact a lot of banks will accept faster payments (and the unlikeliness of Barclays blocking your internet banking) you could simply transfer funds as and when necessary.

HouseHuntr

simax wrote: »

Lib Dem is the way forward

Then you may as well pop down to B&Q and get some creosote as that's pretty good for 'sitting on the fence' as well.

HouseHuntr

competitionscafe wrote: »

Spent the past week hiking in Knoydart (West Coast of Scotland) and when I wanted to return home I found that Barclays had blocked my debit card due to "suspected fraudulent transactions" (I was trying to buy a train ticket online to get home!). So I was stuck somewhere remote, no mobile phone signal, no cash machine and not enough money left to pay for accomodation, food and ferry + train home. When I tried phoning them via payphone I just got put on hold so gave up as the payphone was eating my little remaining money at a rate of almost £1 per minute! :mad:

This is not the first time Barstewards bank has done this - they also blocked my debit card just before Christmas again due to "suspected fraudulent transactions" (I was doing my Christmas shopping online) leaving me without the means to buy Christmas presents and food for over Christmas. That time I discovered my card was blocked after I spent an hour at the supermarket only to get 'card refused' at the checkout and having to unpack all my shopping and give it back. :mad:

So if you wanted to get treated like a potential fraudster/criminal when you are just trying to buy groceries or order a meal at a pub then Barclays bank is the bank for you. If however you don't want to be prevented from spending your own money on essentials like food and shelter then I would suggest not using Barclays bank for your current account. Needless to say I will be going into my branch on Monday and telling them I am moving my account to another bank.

Seems like you've left yourself wide open to this by not having any contingency in place especially as you had a 'warning' over xmas. You can hardly blame Barclays for that.

Rupert_Bear

HouseHuntr wrote: »

Then you may as well pop down to B&Q and get some creosote as that's pretty good for 'sitting on the fence' as well.

Off subject. Will the over 60's find Nick Clegg so appealing if his party gets their way and the heating allowance has been deferred until 65 rather than in increments.

Spooneroonie

O2 have launched a pre-paid card, which I assume does not / cannot get blocked by them - might be a useful contingency that is less painful to get hold of than a credit card, although I think you need to be an 02 customer.

HouseHuntr

Rupert_Bear wrote: »

Off subject. Will the over 60's find Nick Clegg so appealing if his party gets their way and the heating allowance has been deferred until 65 rather than in increments.

Mr Clegg is unsurprisingly keeping very quiet on that subject knowing full well that his sudden popularity will take a huge nosedive if it comes to the forefront.

bristol_rob

Sounds liek a horrible situation, I woudl hate for that to happn to me. It sounds like they were trying to protect you by blocking the card (hopefulyl there wasn't any fraud).

As a few people said this isn't unique to Barclays. It is a pain that you had to be on hold though. Little tip which works for most banks and credit card companies. Rather than dialing the 08 whatever number the international number will work and is invariably cheaper. Although not sure that would help in your circumstance.

How did you get home?

pb3

jambosans wrote: »

Temporarily blocking your card due to suspicious activity/ transactions is not unique to Barclays I'm afraid.

This is one reason I hope we never move to a cashless society.

I'm sure the Govt and Banks would dearly love to eliminate cash.

Image however if access to your "virtual money" is blocked either inadervently or deliberately.. Supicious spending patterns and all that...

As with the OP, I fell afoul of Barclaycard's "enhanced security" when I was overseas and attempted to use my cards at an ATM.

Just as well I had a backup stash of cash. Cash is king as they say!

Annisele

competitionscafe wrote: »

I am not entitled to vote - not born in the UK and not a UK citizen (I have permanent residence status but not citizenship).

I suspect you've already thought of this, but it might help someone else to post it. You don't have to be a UK citizen to be registered to vote in the UK (voting in parliamentary elections is one thing, and local/EU elections another).

Citizens of a great long list of EU and Commonwealth nations can register to vote here - see this list.