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Why do Vanquis keep doing this ?
CBU2004
Posts: 121 Forumite
in Credit cards
They keep blocking my card as a 'security measure'
Seriously once or twice, but it happens a lot, for example...
When I use it in store, ASDA, Tesco, most highstreet stores, it is fine.
2 year ago, I tried to book a hotel, it declined 3 times before I called and they said it was a security measure, which I thought no problem it's kinda good they do that as I am not in hotels week in week out so it was an unusual spend.
Then it happened again in regular stores I use it in.
Now it happened in flight with Jet2, I used it once for food on the plane, worked fine, then again to get duty free but it declined. I rang them beforehand to tell them when, where and how long I was going away, why do they do this ? and what can I do to tell them I no longer want this security measure.
One day I know all I will have to hand is that card, I could need it to get home or some other essential !
Seriously once or twice, but it happens a lot, for example...
When I use it in store, ASDA, Tesco, most highstreet stores, it is fine.
2 year ago, I tried to book a hotel, it declined 3 times before I called and they said it was a security measure, which I thought no problem it's kinda good they do that as I am not in hotels week in week out so it was an unusual spend.
Then it happened again in regular stores I use it in.
Now it happened in flight with Jet2, I used it once for food on the plane, worked fine, then again to get duty free but it declined. I rang them beforehand to tell them when, where and how long I was going away, why do they do this ? and what can I do to tell them I no longer want this security measure.
One day I know all I will have to hand is that card, I could need it to get home or some other essential !
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Comments
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They seem to be a bit random. You have had problems with the smallest things, yet my ex paid over $1000 on his card with no problems (a large sum of money, and in a foreign transaction over the phone).
There seems to be no reason or rhyme in how they do things.0 -
One day I know all I will have to hand is that card, I could need it to get home or some other essential !
Whatever you do never leave that as the only card you have to hand... ever.
If you're unable to get another credit card you might want to use prepaid cards when travelling. Much more reliable.
Vanquis are the scummiest of the lot - and I don't mean because they're sub prime high interest, even if their cards were 9.9% APR I wouldn't get one because they haven't a clue what they're doing.Cashback Earned ¦ Nectar Points £68 ¦ Natoinwide Select £62 ¦ Aqua Reward £100 ¦ Amex Platinum £48
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They keep blocking my card as a 'security measure'
Seriously once or twice, but it happens a lot, for example...
When I use it in store, ASDA, Tesco, most highstreet stores, it is fine.
2 year ago, I tried to book a hotel, it declined 3 times before I called and they said it was a security measure, which I thought no problem it's kinda good they do that as I am not in hotels week in week out so it was an unusual spend.
Then it happened again in regular stores I use it in.
Now it happened in flight with Jet2, I used it once for food on the plane, worked fine, then again to get duty free but it declined. I rang them beforehand to tell them when, where and how long I was going away, why do they do this ? and what can I do to tell them I no longer want this security measure.
One day I know all I will have to hand is that card, I could need it to get home or some other essential !
I think I see an easy reason for the decline on the plane. Vanquis probably have their offline card limit set to one transaction without an online transaction in-between. So the first one would have worked fine. As it would be impossible for Vanquis to actually decline it as the machine on the plane cannot contact Visa, MasterCard, Amex etc. when it is in the air.0 -
Vanquis are the scummiest of the lot - and I don't mean because they're sub prime high interest, even if their cards were 9.9% APR I wouldn't get one because they haven't a clue what they're doing.
Not everyone has a choice. It's clear from personal accounts on here and on Google that Vanquis are sometimes the absolute last option, except for things like Cashplus. No one else but Vanquis would have me, probably because I wasn't on the electoral role at the time. For what it's worth, I never had any problems using my Vanquis card, even in Northern Ireland. The only hitch I had was transferring a small balance to another card, the card company I had just taken a card with (BOS) said Vanquis didn't let them do balance transfers.
If you want to talk about incompetency - go look at Capital One. They managed to get my middle initial and surname very wrong and yet still have it show up on my file as a credit search (despite declining me for the product... I wonder why!!!)Oh, you wee bazza!0 -
I have an Aqua card which was often declined abroad, on trains and once when purchasing a drink on a plane. On the other hand, my CapitalOne Progress card has never been declined. I used it in NYC last month and it was never flagged for security.
I always try to carry at least 2 credit cards and 2 debit cards when abroad, even if they are sub-prime with huge APR's.
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My Natwest Platinum used to get declined regularly, so it's not just sub-prime that does this.
Never had an issue with Virgin or M&S cards though, even foreign transactions, go through without issue.
I agree with others, always take at least 2 cards with you abroad. Infact I'd take a combination of 3 cards (either debit and/or credit)and still have some currency as well.
I would also make sure that if I planned to withdraw cash, I did it early in the holiday, then you know where you stand.0 -
rabbit_burrow wrote: »They seem to be a bit random. You have had problems with the smallest things, yet my ex paid over $1000 on his card with no problems (a large sum of money, and in a foreign transaction over the phone).
There seems to be no reason or rhyme in how they do things.
Believe me they are not random and there is a lot of work that goes into fraud detection.
Different card providers will see different fraud. Even to the point of a difference in debit/credit cards. Even to at one point we saw atm fraud on credit cards in Canada, yet nothing on debit cards. So anyone using a credit card would get a security check, yet use the debit cad and there were no issues....
These systems work on known fraud patterns. As well as other rules.
I guess you might be surprised to know that £10 and under are by far the greatest amount of fraud. Not large foreign transactions.Never ASSUME anything its makes a>>> A55 of U & ME <<<0 -
dalesrider wrote: »Believe me they are not random and there is a lot of work that goes into fraud detection.
Different card providers will see different fraud. Even to the point of a difference in debit/credit cards. Even to at one point we saw atm fraud on credit cards in Canada, yet nothing on debit cards. So anyone using a credit card would get a security check, yet use the debit cad and there were no issues....
These systems work on known fraud patterns. As well as other rules.
I guess you might be surprised to know that £10 and under are by far the greatest amount of fraud. Not large foreign transactions.
I purchased about 10 plants from B&Q as they were doing a sale, buy one get one free. However there was a glitch with their system so you have to buy 2 plants, pay, 2 plants, pay etc... After paying 3 times for a small amount (£4), my First Direct debit card was blocked.
Weirdly, I've had multiple iTunes payments come out of my bank account at the same time for 99p-£2 and never had a problem.
Just goes to show the banks fraud systems are complex. 0 -
I purchased about 10 plants from B&Q as they were doing a sale, buy one get one free. However there was a glitch with their system so you have to buy 2 plants, pay, 2 plants, pay etc... After paying 3 times for a small amount (£4), my First Direct debit card was blocked.
Weirdly, I've had multiple iTunes payments come out of my bank account at the same time for 99p-£2 and never had a problem.
Just goes to show the banks fraud systems are complex.
Pretty common with iTunes though, not so common with B&Q
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reclusive46 wrote: »Pretty common with iTunes though, not so common with B&Q
Very true.
They were lovely plants though.
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