Annoying.

dalesrider

DebsSpends wrote: »

Well - I know I should take more care - but I still think they should decline. They can do it if they want - it is not a technical issue.

In these days of faster payments and account being balanced at the end of the day. Not allowing people over their limit is a hiding to a complaint.

So long as your account is within its limits at the end of the day. You do not incur any fee's.

Better_Off_1983

Just put a stop on the card if you do not trust yourself with the card or finding it hard to manage

rartherinv

I think you need a Basic Bank account not a credit card. If you try to go a penny over your balance your transaction just gets bounced immediately and you can put the groceries back on the shelf with tail between legs instead of getting charged by your bank for going over. :beer:

JimmyTheWig

dresdendave wrote: »

If you were stranded somewhere and needed to buy a train ticket or pay a car repair bill (for example) to get yourself home, would you be pleased if your CC was declined because the transaction would put you a couple of quid over your limit?

Exactly the examples that I was going to use.


I had this problem recently.
Due (I believe) to fraud on one of my accounts, and then bank error in reporting what happened next, my credit file ended up shot to pieces for a while.
Because of this my credit card limit was slashed to £700. I paid it off in full each month, but that limit didn't last long (especially as one month included my wife's birthday and a garage bill) and twice I went over the limit without realising. One problem was the fact that the direct debit to pay the credit card comes such a long time after the transactions, so you have to fit 6 weeks of spending into the credit limit.
The first time I went over I phoned the bank and appologised, made a debit card payment and they let me off.
The second time I did the same, but they (understandably) didn't let me off that time.
In both cases, however, I paid the outstanding amount soon enough that it didn't hit my credit file with a bad marker.

After that second time (the one I was charged for) I was more careful! I made sure I stayed well within my limit and, six months after the last time I went over the limit, they agreed to up my limit.

Ultimately, however annoying it is, it is your responsibility not to go over the limit.

thenudeone

DebsSpends wrote: »

Well - I know I should take more care - but I still think they should decline. They can do it if they want - it is not a technical issue.

Why do you think it is the card company's responsibility to control how much YOU spend?

If they declined your card for being a few pounds over your limit you would no doubt complain about being stranded because you couldn't buy a train ticket home, or a petrol station insisting that you leave your car there because you filled up and your card was declined ...etc etc.

Not every transaction is automatically electronically authorised, even these days. Otherwise if a phone line was down a business could grind to a complete halt (which everyone would complain about). So for certain cards and transactions up to a certain value, transactions may be accepted by the retailer without your card provider being aware, particularly if you are abroad at the time.

If you are trusted with a credit card you are supposed to be responsible enough to control your own spending.

If you can't be trusted or don't want that option, the solution is simple - just use a pre-paid card or debit card which won't work without online authorisation (they used to be branded as VISA electron).

SnowTiger

DebsSpends wrote: »

What gets to me about credit cards, for example mine is a Mint, is that they impose a Credit Limit - which is fair enough, but they allow you to exceed it then charge you £12.

I was a little lax on my payments and a transaction went through taking me over the limit and this happened to me. The next thing I get a letter explaining I have been charged.

How come they dont just decline the purchase which would take you over the limit?

I see it as underhanded and sly business practice.

You should have taken your own advice and stuck with PayPal: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=57348559&postcount=15.

Apt username, but DebsSpendsTooMuch would have been better. :rotfl: