Sainsbury's bank blocked my credit card on 16th Nov and I can't get them to unblock it

Rather_Confused

Basically Sainsburys have blocked my credit card and will not talk to me about it. I've had a search through previous posts and can't see anything about this, if there's already a discussion please point me in the right direction! 

• I've had a Sainsbury's credit card since February, it's 0% interest for 17 months and is being used to put house renovation expenses on. I pay more than the required repayments every month.

• Last Thursday it stopped working and was declined in store and online. I've been able to log into my account and also been able to access balance information on an ATM.  There are no transactions on it that I haven't made.  I have not had any contact from Sainsburys either by text, email or via my account messages.  All contact has been me to them.

• I phoned the helpline number on Sunday 20th Nov to be told that my "account is with the fraud department" and that the call handler couldn't tell me any more because the fraud department is only open Mon-Fri 9-5.  She said she would ask for a callback for me and also gave me the fraud dept number (or so I was told). 

• On Monday this week, I didn't receive a callback, so I phoned the Fraud department number (0800 0321427) and was told that they couldn't deal with my question as my account was being dealt with by the "serious fraud department" and that they don't take calls, they can only call you back WITHIN 7-10 WORKING DAYS.  I again asked why my card had been stopped and they wouldn't tell me anything.  I asked to make an official complaint, and was told that I would be sent a letter about it ASAP, this still hasn't arrived.

• Today, I phoned the "Fraud department" again at 4:45pm as I had been at work during the day like I am every working day. The call handler again couldn't tell me anything about why my account was blocked, why I hadn't heard from anyone and in fact was completely unable to help at all.  She tried putting me through to the "serious fraud dept" but I was then cut off because it was 4:50 and they close at 5pm.

I'm at my wits end about how to get this sorted out.  Why on earth has my account been flagged? Why haven't Sainsburys done what normal banks do when there is a potential fraud issue and LET THE CARD HOLDER KNOW? Why does it take 7-10 days to unblock a credit card? and why are the call handlers completely unable to help callers.

Am I the only one suffering from this Kafka-esque nightmare?

molerat

Banks are not allowed to tell you of a fraud issue when it looks like it may be you they are suspecting of fraud.

elsien

As above, something on your account has flagged up the potential that you may be committing fraud, the last thing they going to do is to be talking to you about it while they investigate.
I’m afraid you’re going to have to be patient while they complete their investigations. Is there anything at all in your spending patterns that you can see that might look worrying for any reason? Anything that might look like moneylaundering, for example? 

Rather_Confused

Hi Elsien, can you let me know what money laundering looks like?  In the last month I've bought groceries at supermarkets, an order of skin care products online, new glasses from Specsavers, £45 of garden vouchers for a friend's birthday and a couple of pieces of bathroom furniture.

elsien

What about your house renovation expenses? 

Rather_Confused

Apart from the bathroom furniture (a vanity unit and a bath), there haven't been any other renovation expenses this month, I was waiting for black Friday sales to get the shower, taps and tiles etc and was also due to put a deposit for flooring for the kitchen on the card today, but obviously that's been stymied by the card being stopped.