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Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Credit Card Woes

Lethbridge, Alberta        High 72 Low 46

Yesterday it rained most of the day. It was not a hard rain, but just enough to make it miserable. Today looks like it will be a lot better day.

The diesel price here in Lethbridge with the exchange rate is close to what we have been paying in Idaho, so I decided to fill the truck yesterday. When I pulled up to the pump, I got an error message on the card reader, so I went in. The attendant told me to go ahead and fill and then come in and pay.
Except.......when I swiped the card inside, the reader said declined. We tried it on another reader with the same result. I only owed $146.00 Canadian ($117.40 US). I called my credit card company and finally was told that due to a security breach with someone I had done business with, that my card was no longer any good and would have to get a new one sent out. At that point, I had to us my debit card, which I really don't like to do because of the fees.

After being on the phone with the credit card company, we decided I would have to decide where to send the new card as I was told that they couldn't get it to me here in Lethbridge before we left. I called the Post Office in Chetwynd, British Columbia and was told that I could have it sent there and it should be able to get there by the 11th, but don't put a physical address on the package, as I probably wouldn't get it because it would get in with the Post Office's mail.

When I called the Credit card Company back, they told me that they needed an address and I relayed what I had been told. After several phone calls the people sending the card insisted they needed a street address. I told them what the Post Office lady had told me and they pretty much told me too bad. They finally decided that if we were going to be in Lethbridge through Thursday, the could get it to me here on Thursday, so I gave them all the information and now we shall see. It only took 8 phone calls and over an hour on the phone to decide that they could accomplish what I asked them to do in the first place.

We had been scheduled to leave here Thursday morning, but had already extended it till Friday because there is a large quilt show at the University here on Thursday and we wanted to see it.It is supposed to be one of the largest shows in Canada, Which alternates between East and West every year. The lady at the quilt shop told us that Lethbridge had to bid on getting it, and were lucky enough this year to have the show here.

I'm not sure, but we probably are going to see the Japanese Gardens in Lethbridge today.

Thanks for visiting.

7 comments:

  1. I'm wondering if it was Capitol One. We had a similar problem with them last year when they cancelled our card due to a breach Home Depot had months earlier. I don't know why they decided to cancel our card when we hadn't used it at Home Depot for years and then to do it many months after the breach had happened. I appreciate security but this was ridiculous.

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    1. Good guess! I have shopped at Home Depot recently. I felt like they could have let me know before I tried to pay for all that fuel. Kind of made me feel stupid in front of the attendant. Cindy stayed in the truck and could see that I was upset.

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  2. It's such a pain when they cancel your credit card while you are away. You end up having to jump through hoops to try and get a new one sent to you, as you are finding out now. We usually carry around two or three cards with us, that way we always have a back up one to use. Hope the card arrives on time for you.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  3. I've had the same thing with fuel stops owing well over $150 and then to be declined.... One lady said "well just how do you intend to pay for this huge bill?" And I answered her that I didn't know...... Served her right..... I had more cash than that stowed away... But I spent time on the phone with the CC company until they reauthorized me.... Frustration.........!

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  4. That is why we have three credit cards, two we use on the road, the other as a backup just in case. At least when Discover decided they needed to send us a new card a few years ago, they contacted us before just declining it. Also, it got to us in two days, lucky for us we were at my sister's house. Now I think you should ask them to pay for your roaming fees you will have on your phone.... good luck with that, but it can't hurt to ask (and to let them know they are not the only credit card in the country)

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  5. What a pain for you guys!! I was thinking maybe it was the "chipped card" thing--we had a hard time in Canada last summer--the pump readers would not "read" our un-chipped credit cards--we always had to go inside.

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  6. So why didn't the bank notify you it had cancelled the card? Data breaches seem to be coming fast and furious, so I've reduced my credit cards to two and closed every other account. It's getting crazy nowadays!!

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