So, my husband is stuck at Costco with a DECLINED Visa checkcard:

[Thtwudbeme]

I called the bank:

WTF?

AND, was told that just in the past two weeks, there has been a huge security breach, and.......ANY purchases made on the internet are causing them to put a "hold" on the card.

We purchased a new cable from Kodak last night online for the digital camera.

Our funds are fine...but WTF???? Massive security breach that was bad enough for a huge bank to flip out over a $45 dollar purchase at Kodak.com????

This is some scary shit.

[philosophie_en_rose]

1. which bank was this?

I'm about to head out and don't want my card declined at Costco's gas station.

[Thtwudbeme]

2. I would call your bank real quick if you have made an online purchase

However, that said...we NEVER order anything online...it's so rare...maybe that's why they flagged it?

[Deja Q]

3. Isn't cutting corners a wonderful thing?

Best of luck; it's the responsibility of those who make the service to fix the problems. Not you.

:hug:

[Thtwudbeme]

4. Oh, here's the *best* part

they didn't want to discuss with ME what purchase they were questioning; until I told them I did ALL the checking, and listed off what we had purchased for the past week or two.

(we don't shop that much)

When I got to the Sushi part...the lady just said, "OK, I am going to take the "hold" off.

Like I didn't know where Michael has been. I should have asked her if it was for the porn subscriptions, and told her those were for ME.

;)

[skygazer]

5. What a load of crap

They didn't inform you of this "security breach" so you could make other arrangements? I hate banks - they suck so bad. They will cheerfully charge you $23 if you're 3 cents overdrawn but they can decide to withhold YOUR funds without notice any time they like.

Scum. :grr:

[Thtwudbeme]

6. no, they didn't

and, see my above post.

They didn't even want to discuss it with me!

I am sorry, but I don't see how buying a digital camera cable and some other gadget from Kodak is that sneaky between married people.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. I had a card declined once where a hold was on my card for no reason

It pissed me off because I had just paid the bill and they immediately lifted the hold when I called them but the person I was with made a big deal of it as if it were the worst thing in the world that it had happened...and mine was over a small fee at a buffet

[Thtwudbeme]

11. We do Debits

this is a Debit card.

btw--- I will call you after I get off the phone with the bank to make sure that we don't need a new card. Michael is at home safe with the liquor now....

;)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

13. OK..I left you a PM too

[Nikia]

8. That has happened a couple times with our bank

They end up reissuing new cards to everyone and cancel the ones in circulation. They send something in the mail right after they cancel them, but if you try to purchase something in between, you have a problem. Stores don't want to take checks either when your debit card gets declined.

[RevCheesehead]

9. A massive security breach?

Geez - does that mean everyone who has one of their cards is unable to use them? Talk about your nightmares.

(It wasn't Wachovia, was it? God, I hated that bank.)

[Thtwudbeme]

10. I LOVED First Union

and I have been in pain ever since they bought them out.

However, I would like to add that Hugh McCall was a regular bar customer of mine, and I consider Bank of America to be the Evil Empire.

btw---Hugh McCall is a Democrat. To the core.

[mwooldri]

14. AFAIK First Union acquired Wachovia... and their name.

First Union is the bank that IMO couldn't do anything right. I opened an account with them - my first account in the US - I figured I needed a "big bank" behind me, and Bank of America as we know it today wasn't around then, it was Nations Bank then. Wachovia was seen by me as a regional bank, like BB&T is today. So... I signed up with First Union.

I deposited cash into the First Union account, and as I needed to pay the US Immigration services some money I wrote my first check to them. Guess what? First Union bounced it! And I found out that they were trying to verify the funds. All $300 of it, in cash. And how did I get the cash? By cashing travelers cheques my dad had bought me. I got a nice letter of apology and they contacted the Immigration dept and got it sorted out right. But to this day it still irks me that they could make this kind of mistake. They "fee'd" me (I know there's no such English word) to death later on so I have decided that I reduce my activity with them, make it more costly for them to have me as a customer. So far it's worked.

Who do I do my banking with these days? A credit union.

Mark.

[flvegan]

16. Other way around. Wachovia bought First Union Natl. Bank

99% of the "big banks" suck. Makes one wonder how they became "big banks" anyhow.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

26. If you have a Midfirst in your area, open an account.

We love them. They're a large family owned bank. Yes, I work for a sister company but we've had a few problems with stolen debit card numbers and they were quick to fix them. They are very customer oriented and I've never had a better bank.
Duckie

[mwooldri]

30. Sorry.... First Union did get Wachovia: Info:

http://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/stories/2001/04/16/daily3.html "First Union to Acquire Wachovia".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Union#Merger_of_First_Union_and_Wachovia - Wikipedia article, stating that it was billed as a "merger of equals" but more like a First Union takeover of Wachovia.

http://money.cnn.com/2001/04/16/deals/firstunion_wachovia/ - Money/CNN's article on the takeover.

But still you are right, big banks can be 'sucky'. I work for a big 'non bank' that issues credit cards. And it's not Visa, Mastercard or Discover. Great place to work, but then sometimes things can be 'sucky' when things go wrong.

Mark.

[flvegan]

33. No, it flipped towards the end.

http://www.wachovia.com/inside/page/0,,131_5153_6335%5E653,00.html

Also, the Reserve history site will say the same thing.

[ContraBass Black]

19. Imagine that you're having a fancy dinner with a special someone

Or a potential business partner and the whole company locks down.

You're screwed.

[RevCheesehead]

28. How embarassing!

All because someone breached security. :scared:

[Katherine Brengle]

12. This happened to me when I bought my laptop--

I used my card to buy it online. Two days later, about 11 pm, I was at the supermarket and my card was declined for the same reason, security red flag.

I think it is a good feature, even thought it is annoying.

Tell him he can still write a check on the account, it is just the card that is flagged, not the account. That's how I handled it.

[GOPisEvil]

15. I had the same thing happen to me very recently.

Thankfully I was at a place where I could use a regular credit card, but yeah, Visa check card rendered useless. I got a new one, with a new PIN.

[seemunkee]

17. Had it happen a couple of times on vacation

I'm going out of the country next week so I called the bank to let them know and not decline charges.

[Orsino]

18. And they couldn't tell you about it?

They couldn't leave a message for you, and couldn't send a letter? That's a bank that's asking for class action.

[Whoa_Nelly]

20. Please don't tell me it's Bank of America????

Never mind...I see it couldn't have been a BofA card since you despise them :hi:

[SoCalDem]

21. That Jan Michael must be lookin' kinda shifty these days, eh?

Is the ATM feature blocked too?? That sucks..

[havocmom]

22. The COSTCO where we shop won't take a VISA card of any sort

But now I think I'll look at my bank account with my VISA check card and see if it's OK...AFTER West Wing.

[GOPisEvil]

23. They should take Visa check cards.

Mine does. :shrug:

[mwooldri]

31. They take American Express, their own storecard + debit cards.

In that way your Visa check card often functions as an ATM card, so when you use it in the PIN based mode it works right. It won't work signature based.

Mark.

[bertha katzenengel]

24. This happens to us CONSTANTLY, whether we've made an internet

purchase or not.

We are with a tiny federal credit union, and it's hit or miss whether our debit cards will work.

I'm sorry I don't have an explanation for you, but you're not alone. Not that it helps a lot, S., but . . . Oh, well. Very best of luck.

I know it sucks.

[no name no slogan]

25. I keep two cards for that very reason

I use a regular Visa credit card for internet purchases, and save the check card for everything else.

There's a lot of sites that have been hacked (OR could be hacked), and your credit card data could be easily compromised. That's why I use the credit card for online purchases. Somebody could get hold of your card info and go apeshit crazy running up the bill. If it draws from your checking account, you could be in serious trouble, depending on your bank's policy.

[sendero]

27. I'm getting SO TIRED of banks messing up..

... your problem is bs, the bankers are being jerks. I'd cancel the card over something like that.

Speaking of which, I joined a local Credit Union many years ago. They turned into an S&L a few months ago, against my wishes but they claim the members voted for it. (Why would you join a Credit Union (there are only a handful) when there are 500 S&Ls around here, and then support their decision to become an S&L - it makes no sense).

Anyway, I had a check bounce (luckily it was to me, I was buying a car from myself :)) because a several thousand $$$ tranfer I did online appeared to work but somehow didn't actually happen.

This is not the first time either. The thing is, I have an account, another with my wife, another with my ex wife and a couple for kids. I'd like to just move to another bank but it will be a major pain in the ass. F#$%@#$%#$ banks.

[ChoralScholar]

29. I had a check, a few days ago,

that elfrangel had written to a local garage for a brake job. It was for $74.35.

I'm in St. Louis at this time, and checking the account online from my hotel room (I don't even remember why) and see a check for $743.58. I'm thinking, WTF did she write a check for? I looked at the check image and saw the check for $74.35.

Keystroke error. I understand, but it's THEIR problem. I had checks bouncing all over the place, at 34 dollars each. They acknowledged on the phone that it was their mistake, and said they would fix it and refund all charges. They haven't yet.

BoA has been good to me thus far... but this may be the breaking point.

[Midlodemocrat]

32. AmEx put a fraud alert on my card when I was in Puerto Rico

and rightly so. One of my daughter's friends attempted to order pizza here in VA while we were in PR and AmEx flagged the account because obviously we couldn't be in VA and PR at the same time. I had opened an account at the pizza place for my kids with my AmEx.

Thank God I checked my voicemail because I was getting ready to shop in San Juan.