Travel credit cards

Nephs

I applied for the Halifax Clarity card at the beginning of June and they requested for me to present identification at a branch. Fair enough, took ID, it was scanned, I filled in a form and it was supposedly sent through. I received the card and the PIN and I thought great, exactly what I wanted.
Travelled to Geneva, went to use the card and it was declined. Got back to the UK, called the call centre and was on the line with them for 3 HOURS! Finally, via the complaints department, I was told that they had not received the verification and that the application had been cancelled. Why didn't someone bother to contact me and why send the credit card then?!? Appalling service. I will try the Creation card but unfortunately, I will be travelling again very soon so won't have time to complete the process. Thanks Halifax for costing me money and wasting 6 weeks of my time. :mad:

PeacefulWaters

Nephs wrote: »

I applied for the Halifax Clarity card at the beginning of June and they requested for me to present identification at a branch. Fair enough, took ID, it was scanned, I filled in a form and it was supposedly sent through. I received the card and the PIN and I thought great, exactly what I wanted.
Travelled to Geneva, went to use the card and it was declined. Got back to the UK, called the call centre and was on the line with them for 3 HOURS! Finally, via the complaints department, I was told that they had not received the verification and that the application had been cancelled. Why didn't someone bother to contact me and why send the credit card then?!? Appalling service. I will try the Creation card but unfortunately, I will be travelling again very soon so won't have time to complete the process. Thanks Halifax for costing me money and wasting 6 weeks of my time. :mad:

Not defending them, but why on earth didn't you attempt a single purchase transaction in the uk before you travelled?

Nephs

I should have done you're right, but I naively thought that a large and professional institution such as the Halifax could be depended on. Especially when I even carried out the card activation procedure and was told that the card was now active and ready to use. Lesson learnt but I certainly will not return to them when I'm ready to apply for a new card. FYI, after complaining bitterly to them I received £100 compensation which hopefully, will go some way to cover the fees I am going to rack up whilst abroad.
Does anyone know if this have an impact on my credit rating as I have in effect, been rejected by them?

PeacefulWaters

Nephs wrote: »

I should have done you're right, but I naively thought that a large and professional institution such as the Halifax could be depended on. Especially when I even carried out the card activation procedure and was told that the card was now active and ready to use. Lesson learnt but I certainly will not return to them when I'm ready to apply for a new card. FYI, after complaining bitterly to them I received £100 compensation which hopefully, will go some way to cover the fees I am going to rack up whilst abroad.
Does anyone know if this have an impact on my credit rating as I have in effect, been rejected by them?

Your credit file will show a single credit search. Nothing else.

Nothing detrimental.

dj1471

oatman wrote: »

By the way, I've been using Maybank to make Clarity cash withdrawals in Malaysia as there are no charges. Be careful to decline their offer to convert if you want Mastercard rates.

I don't think any ATMs in Malaysia charge for withdrawals, at least I didn't encounter any.

Regarding your Creation issue you need to call them. All online enquiries go to an overseas call centre who in my experience will give useless responses then ignore any follow-up.

oatman

dj1471 wrote: »

I don't think any ATMs in Malaysia charge for withdrawals, at least I didn't encounter any.

Regarding your Creation issue you need to call them. All online enquiries go to an overseas call centre who in my experience will give useless responses then ignore any follow-up.

I actually tried a few more machines. None offered PIN services. I thought as they're accepting the old pin I'd try a withdrawal. Lo and behold it paid out 10000 baht. Couldn't have been blocked.
Tried to set up a payment via 1st direct to Creation but had to phone them. The nice lady set up my payment and suggested that I pay £1 to establish the details. Payments leave 1st Direct in 2 to 4 hours. This was done yesterday morning and it's still not showing in Creation. Are they sitting on payments deliberately? I'm watching closely.;) Cheers

NiftyDigits

oatman wrote: »

I actually tried a few more machines. None offered PIN services. I thought as they're accepting the old pin I'd try a withdrawal. Lo and behold it paid out 10000 baht. Couldn't have been blocked.
Tried to set up a payment via 1st direct to Creation but had to phone them. The nice lady set up my payment and suggested that I pay £1 to establish the details. Payments leave 1st Direct in 2 to 4 hours. This was done yesterday morning and it's still not showing in Creation. Are they sitting on payments deliberately? I'm watching closely.;) Cheers

Be calm You didn't pay via their online system, you chose a bank transfer. Sop don't expect the payment to appear the same day.

Voyager2002

oatman wrote: »

I actually tried a few more machines. None offered PIN services. I thought as they're accepting the old pin I'd try a withdrawal. Lo and behold it paid out 10000 baht. Couldn't have been blocked.
Tried to set up a payment via 1st direct to Creation but had to phone them. The nice lady set up my payment and suggested that I pay £1 to establish the details. Payments leave 1st Direct in 2 to 4 hours. This was done yesterday morning and it's still not showing in Creation. Are they sitting on payments deliberately? I'm watching closely.;) Cheers

How did you manage to withdraw in Baht when in Malaysia?

trenchdigger

I have a Halifax Clarity card with no balance on it, and am about to set off travelling for an extended period.
Has anyone paid a credit balance onto their Clarity One card, in advance of making cash withdrawals, to avoid incurring any interest charges on those withdrawals?

eDicky

trenchdigger wrote: »

I have a Halifax Clarity card with no balance on it, and am about to set off travelling for an extended period.
Has anyone paid a credit balance onto their Clarity One card, in advance of making cash withdrawals, to avoid incurring any interest charges on those withdrawals?

It may be that this question has been asked so many times that we're all fed up with answering it. Try searching 'Clarity preloading' etc, here and the CC board.