Help - blocked MasterCard has cost a fortune!

kjfmuttie

I was recently in the US, Lloyds TSB people (debit card and credit card (mastercard) informed of my trip. In California tried to rent a car but my mastercard was rejected. In the pm there (10pm) called the UK to the number given by Lloyds on their website if you are calling from overseas. It took 3 calls to get through to the right people. Once I was cut off, then I was put onto an automated call system (not what you want) and finally to the credit card people. Call took 20 minutes. Card had been blocked because an unauthorised payment was trying to be made. The final word on all this was, IF I wanted my card unblocked I HAD to agree to this payment. So I did and that payment cost me £60. Back in the UK the bank said sorry but tough luck when I tried to reclaim some or all of it. So I paid that. Now my friend has sent HIS telephone bill for call LloydsTSB about this blocked card and it's $143 ! Can I claim anything back from the Mastercard/Lloyds TSB??? They blocked the card and essentially made me agree to a payment I didn't want to make and now for that privilege it will cost me over £100 to transfer the money for my friend to pay his phone charge. Help! I did call the bank but they were not encouraging. I will write but don't hold out much hope.

[Deleted User]

What was this payment they made you agree to?

brendon

Was your debit card blocked, too?

LeeSouthEast

This is quite common (the foreign blocking). When I was last in the US I had no issues despite wild and weird payments (all genuine by me). However the time before that trying to hire a car, blocked. Alamo let me use their phone with the comment "happens all the time, sir."

What was the £60 'unwanted' transaction? Was it fraud? Or what?

opinions4u

Always take multiple back up cards.

nomoneytoday

$143 for 20 mins..Did you call from a gold plated sat-phone?

kjfmuttie

Hi and thank you all for replying. To answer the question most are wondering is what was the unauthorised payment. Get ready for a giggle. Well, I'm 65 and had a few month previous joined an online dating site for seniors. It wanted to renew itself as I had not cancelled the subscription (to busy planning my trip) but the company name was not any I recognized. Live and learn. So I am currently subscribed again for another 3 months and yes, I've give very advanced notice I wish to unsubscribe. I did have a debit card w/ me and a preloaded cash card also but to rent a car you need a credit card. Given my age it and not working hard to get another.

In addition, I lost a good flight price because when I tried to pay for it online w/ debit card, that got blocked (again, fraud prevention bank claims) but they did pay me £15. wow. Then again, trying to prepay a rental car in another state my mastercard was blocked (while I was still in the UK!) So you can understand my annoyance when in California I go to use the Mastercard to rent the car and it's blocked yet again and I have no idea why.

kjfmuttie

oh dear - that did not read well at all. Apologies. I will (promise) preview before posting in future.

[Deleted User]

Ah. So the payment was actually legit, which is why you needed to accept it? Presumably there was a potential fraud marker put on your account while you were disputing the charge.

It all seems to make more sense now. I doubt if they will be refunding the call charges. And obviously the other payment was valid so they won't be refunding that.

But make sure you max out the benefits of e-Harmony or whatever it is for the next 3 months...

meer53

So they didn't "make" you agree to a payment ? It was a payment you had already agreed to previously. If you had reported the transaction as unauthorised, (which it wasn't) they would have cancelled your card completely.

Which would you prefer ?

kjfmuttie

Hi all. Yes, the payment being queried was legit but as I was in the US and not home could not check my records and the confusion came about because I did not recognise the name of the company. My point was, as far as I was affected, at the time I had to agree to the payment or else not have use of my credit card, which I needed. I see the bank was covering itself, of course, and the payment was legit. But, having to call from abroad x3 (it was gold plated AT&T) will now cost me a small fortune. Fraud would have been cheaper.