Nationwide card - emergency

tincat

Hi all, I've hit a complete emergency here - some !!!!!! american company put a fraudulent transaction on my card today which was picked up by nationwide fraud. They phoned me and have basically ordered me to cancel my card as I won't have any protection on any amounts spent on it.

All well and good? No, actually it's terrible for me. I'm off overseas next week for 3 weeks, and this credit card is my only one. They say that the cards take about 7 - 10 working days to get here, so it's very unlikely I will have it by Tuesday next week :mad:

I can use my bank card but this also means my available spending money will be cut by 2/3. Unfortunately, my prebooked car hire and accommodation were on my card, and the companies concerned haven't taken the money yet, so I still have to fund these too.

I begged nationwide to let me pay for special delivery and this is not possible either.

I've been looking forward to this holiday for months and now I'm just worrying about money.

Has anyone any words of hope on how maybe the 7-10 working days miraculously turn into 3-5?

lfc84

slightly different scenario.....but when my credit card was stolen whilst i was in portugal nationwide issued a replacement card and couriered it to me. it took 24 hours.

udydudy

tincat wrote: »

All well and good? No, actually it's terrible for me. I'm off overseas next week for 3 weeks, and this credit card is my only one. They say that the cards take about 7 - 10 working days to get here, so it's very unlikely I will have it by Tuesday next week :mad:

Happened to me, Just like your situation, 2 months back. I booked youth hostel in austria and had to give card details. Surprisingly after 3 days noticed that my available credit limit went down by £4500+ when I checked online it showed only one genuine transaction and no other transaction.

Called up nationwide and they said there were 3 transactions which were yet to hit the system totalling about approx £4300!!! I had to immediately cancel my card(which was obviously the safest and prudent thing to do) and they said a replacement card would be sent out in 7-10 working days.

I did let her know that I was, like you, leaving for austria the next week tuesday(coincidence), I got it the new card on the third working day!!!
Thats service.

CLAPTON

I think you're very courageous in even considering going abroad with only one CC.. what happens if the card is rejected or eaten up in an ATM?

tincat

Thanks for the replies. TBH I never considered any problem with my card at all. I suppose I will for future holidays...

I begged them at nationwide if there wasn't some kind of service I could pay extra for to guarantee the delivery but they said it's impossible. All orders for cards go through to a central processing place, and they get sent out from there automatically - at their own time and pace.

I'm absolutely gutted, and am going to have to ask family to lend me money to get enough in travelers cheques. I've never used them before though, and they seem far more complicated and risky than using a card as and when needed.

Any advice on how I should choose TC's? I really need some (advice that is).

Thanks all

hansi

Can I just say that I sympathise with your dilemma. Exactly the same thing happened to to me (see other posting) but in my case the new card was in my possession three days later. But what you have to keep an eye on is that later on, you may find that the fraudulent transactions may be put back on you account and they will tell you that the transactions were PIN authorised when they were not!!. If this happens to you, PM me and I will give you the name of a contact in the Fraud department who was the only sensible person I could contact at Nationwide. Good Luck.

missile

I would suggest you ask for an (or an increased) overdraft facility to cover your holiday spending and use your Nationwide flex card.

chappers

as for hiring your car though that could be a real problem though.
We also lost a CC when abroad and they got one to us within 48hours so how they can say they can't get one to you is rubbish.

missile

chappers wrote: »

as for hiring your car though that could be a real problem though..

I doubt this will be a problem. They will be happy to accept any form of payment.

Megalomaniac

I can only imagine how much of a pain this is... keep chasing them up everyday until it arrives I would suggest. And I would assume you need a cc to hire a car?

King_Of_Fools

missile wrote: »

I doubt this will be a problem. They will be happy to accept any form of payment.

Yes, but they often check to authorise a £1000s "deposit" on the credit card. This comes off your credit limit but does not appear as a transaction on your card. If they did this on a debit card it would be equivalent to lowering your available balance by the £1000s!