American Express - Payment declined - what on earth just happened?

jd87

I recently took out a British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card. The application was a bit annoying because I had to send a certified copy of my passport, along with a council tax bill as proof of address/identity. That's fair enough though because I've very recently moved house and I'm not on the electoral roll yet.

Ok, so the card finally arrived yesterday and the PIN came in the post this morning. I made two smallish purchases with no problem (one was some online shopping, the other was a cafe). The main reason I got the card though is because I need to make quite a few large purchases over the next few weeks, so this card works out well because I'll get lots of avios bonus points.

I went into an electrical store to make one of these large (£1000+) purchases this afternoon. After entering the PIN the card was declined. I was not surprised by this, it's a big sum of money and the card is new. I immediately called the customer service number on the back of the card and explained what had happened. I've been through this many times before with credit cards. I expected just a quick security check and then I'd be able to carry on with my purchase.

Instead the following happened. I was asked my name, card number, DOB and mother's maiden name. The person on the phone then told me she had been unable to verify my contact number and I would have to wait for correspondence from American Express. I asked if she could explain a little bit more because I couldn't understand. She hadn't asked for my contact number to begin with, so what was she verifying it against? She then refused to tell me anything else (whether the card was blocked for any other transactions? is this a security issue or something else? When can I expect to hear from American Express as the purchase is fairly urgent). Total brick wall.

We ended the call. I waited a few minutes and called back, hoping to get someone else who might have a different approach and might be able to explain a bit more. Unfortunately I got the same person, who was now becoming quite rude and unhelpful using sentences like "as I already explained to you during the first call..."

What on earth is going on??? One thing that sticks in my mind is that at one point she said that there will be a "review". What?!

thebritishbloke

I think it's probably just a minor administration/fraud error. They're presuming someone could have intercepted your post, got the card and PIN and decided to go on a spending spree, so they're just being cautious.

I'd try and call them back again at a different time, be polite and explain the problem, ask if they can look into it for you. Ring from whatever phone you listed as your contact number when you applied for the account. Strange that they'd not believe you since your phone number was different though. I myself have 4 different phone numbers (Personal landline and mobile, business landline and mobile).

jd87

I figured that maybe she was checking the number that I was calling from, but surely it's perfectly reasonable that I might have needed to borrow someone elses phone to make the call anyway? In that kind of situation it could have been very likely that I'd be calling from the shop's phone. She didn't ask me anything about that though, she was already refusing to continue the conversation by that point. Anyway, I actually was calling from the mobile number listed on the account!

I've now logged into my online account and added my landline number to my contact details. Is it worth trying to call from that number now, or do their systems not update that quickly?

jd87

Update: I tried calling again from my landline number. I called the same number that I've already called twice in the last hour or so. This is the 24 hour number on the back of the card. This time I got the message "the department you are calling is now closed... [blah blah]...open until 5pm on Saturday. Please call back later."

I've been somehow blacklisted. They won't even speak to me!!

chattychappy

Blast from the past for me.

I used to have an Amex Plat Chargecard. I was always being disappointed by their "service". You are driven by the marketing to think that they are better than the rest, but I found them worse. Same thing - 24 hour service, but you often find things can't be sorted outside working hours. A real pain if you are in a different time zone.

I expect it is a fraud alert. I remember getting my first Amex card and being warned on the phone not to make any very large purchases in the first statement cycle...

jd87

It's now Monday, the Amex fraud department are in the office, and the whole company still refuses to speak to me. I keep being told "the account has been reviewed and I need to await contact from American Express".

I ask what kind of contact am I waiting for (a letter? phone call?) - "I'm sorry I can't disclose that".

I ask what is the reason for all of this? Is it a fraud alert or something else. - "I'm sorry I can't disclose that".

I feel like I've been put on some sort of sanctions list like some foreign dictator. Has nobody on MSE ever had this before?

Rikki

jd87 wrote: »

It's now Monday, the Amex fraud department are in the office, and the whole company still refuses to speak to me. I keep being told "the account has been reviewed and I need to await contact from American Express".

I ask what kind of contact am I waiting for (a letter? phone call?) - "I'm sorry I can't disclose that".

I ask what is the reason for all of this? Is it a fraud alert or something else. - "I'm sorry I can't disclose that".

Has anybody on MSE ever had this before?

Not with them but M&S credit card services.

I make many small purchases on my card then I made a large purchase. It was stopped and the card temporally blocked. It was because the large purchase was out of character and it was passed to the fraud department. They wanted to be sure it was me using my card and it had not been stolen. Apparently the thieves try small purchases on a card before the attempt a big purchase. and usually red flags the account.

I'd had my card a while and a traceable track record so it was sorted relatively quickly.

I would think they are looking at a fraud alert. I'm sure it will all be sorted soon.

jd87

It's their refusal to discuss the matter like reasonable adults that is leaving me so frustrated. Every phone call with them starts out perfectly normal, but as soon as they put my account number into their computer suddenly the operator basically sticks their fingers in their ears and goes "LA LA LA LA LA - CAN'T HEAR YOU - NEED TO WAIT FOR CONTACT - LA LA LA..."

Rikki

jd87 wrote: »

It's their refusal to discuss the matter like reasonable adults that is leaving me so frustrated. Every phone call with them starts out perfectly normal, but as soon as they put my account number into their computer suddenly the operator basically sticks their fingers in their ears and goes "LA LA LA LA LA - CAN'T HEAR YOU - NEED TO WAIT FOR CONTACT - LA LA LA..."

They won't be in a position to discuss your account as it's in the hands of the fraud department and they must await their instruction.

You will just have to wait I'm afraid.

Candyapple

Did you speak to someone in the Brighton office? I can't say I've ever had a problem with Amex customer services before.

When I opened my account last month with them I spent £2k in the first week but I called them beforehand to let them know I was spending this much to avoid the situation you find yourself in and had no hassles - transaction went through fine.

Maybe it's because you had to jump through all those additional hoops at the beginning (send in passport, bill etc) that they were closely monitoring your account and now with a large transaction going through they've blocked it to be on the safe side?

If you have a Twitter account, you can also tweet them, they are fast to reply and get back to you.

jd87

It's Brighton I've been speaking to yes. Spoke to 3 different people there. Very unsatisfied with all of them. I've tweeted them this morning but no reply so far. I've also sent them a "secure message" through my online account.

I can understand needing to be careful about fraud but this is outrageous. I'm expecting a huge Avios credit as a goodwill gesture or the account is cancelled.