Aqua card declined in shop...

[Deleted User]

Terry_Towelling wrote: »

First things first, don't give your card to anyone else to use. If it's your card, only you should be using it and only you should know the PIN. There may be specific reasons why you are letting your mother have your card but, really, you shouldn't be doing that.

You are obviously getting very close to your credit limit and there is a high chance that interest added to your account will take you over it. That means you may incur an over-limit charge.

I'm not sure but I don't think the company offering the X-box free trial will have pre-authorised anything so far in advance, and if nothing is showing as pending for that, then I think you can rule that out as the cause of your £4 declined transaction.

The real issue here is the fact that your £4 transaction was declined but it seems to be showing on your account as a pending transaction. That means the transaction was approved by your card company and not declined.

There could be many reasons why the shop said it was declined but the most likely is something known as a 'time-out'. What that means is your card company was late sending their approval for the purchase, the retailer's systems couldn't be bothered to wait any longer for their response and closed the transaction request down as a 'decline'. Other reasons for a time-out could be telecoms/power supply problems somewhere along the line.

In theory, what should now happen is the shop will not process any transaction and the pending item will drop off your card company's system within the next few days (could be up to 14 days).

If that doesn't happen and you get charged with the £4, you might want to complain to the shop (hopefully you kept the 'decline' receipt). If that gets you nowhere, you can explain what happened to your card company. They might not believe you because they will only have your word for it and you might need to supply them with the 'decline' receipt as proof. However, they are more likely to say, 'OK, here's your £4 back' and write off the loss because that will be the cheapest course of action for them.

One other thing, if your card company does not have a Freephone number or you don't have a phone contract that covers all calling costs, you could spend more in telephone charges complaining than the £4 you are trying to recover.

Does the decline make your account look bad? No. Should you take cash out with a credit card? Generally, no. Should you pay your card off in full every month? Yes.

I am still in my "limit" so to speak, so i don't know if it looks "bad", tho i don't get why it happened, maybe just one of them things? It is on the pending transactions, BUT has not been deducted form availbleto spend like it normally does, it happend in iceland, and one of the staff rang the company and they checked with my card number, and said it had been declined and no money had been taken, and that it may show up as it is a shadow something... I would of thought if their was a problem aqua would of sent me a message in inbox, or text me? And yes, I plan on not making any cash withdrawls or spending much in future now. Also, I am the only one with the pin, My mother will take me to go shopping, and i will pay using my card... good point tho! thanks.

I hope all is good with the card.:beer: I also googled and they don't have a freephone number, so i will just have to wait. I am not that bothered about the £4 TBH, i just wanna make sure my card is ok...

[Deleted User]

Candyapple wrote: »

Does your mum not have her own bank card / credit card?

What happens if the card declines at the till when she’s using it? The cashier would see that the card is registered to a man’s name and she could be in all kinds of trouble. If you really want your mum to use your credit card, ask for her to be added as an additional cardholder to your account so she gets her own card.

The transaction could have declined for any number of reasons, the only way you’ll find out is to call Aqua and ask.

It doesn’t sound like you have a clue as to how credit cards work if you are withdrawing cash from Aqua who is a subprime lender. If you’re not careful, you will end up back here posting in a short time asking about how to clear your debts as you are now x-amount of thousands in debt due to the high interest rates and never clearing your balance.

The way to use Aqua and other cards that are with subprime lenders is to buy something small on them, e.g. a weekly shop, some petrol, train ticket etc. Then make sure you set up a direct debit to clear the FULL balance each and every month. That is all you need to do. Don’t go mad with the spending and when they increase your limit, again don’t see it as a target to increase your spending on nonsense. And whatever you do, DO NOT ever withdraw cash from them. If you need cash and you work, use the debit card attached to your bank account that your wages get paid into.

Yea i am only one who has the pin.. she will take me shopping and i will pay. I think i didn't make that clear tho thanks for telling me that, good info.

thanks:beer:

Terry_Towelling

[quote=[Deleted User];75966677]...it happened in Iceland, and one of the staff rang the company and they checked with my card number, and said it had been declined and no money had been taken...[/QUOTE]
The Iceland staff will probably only have spoken with their processing bank - not Aqua - but that sounds reassuring.
[quote=[Deleted User];75966677]... I would have thought if there was a problem aqua would have sent me a message in inbox, or texted me?[/QUOTE]
Aqua don't know there is a problem. As far as they are aware they approved the transaction (it seems) but (for whatever reason) Iceland and its processing bank seem to have converted that Approval into a Decline or possibly never received the Approval in the time allowed.

There is probably nothing to worry about but keep your eyes peeled in case a £4 transaction does get debited to your card.

smithers1981

You don't need to give card to your mother you need to get use self discipline. i would suggest you stop using card until you pay it off in full.

After you have cleared balance THEN use card for normal everyday spending clearing in full via DD each month.