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Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Beware of Chase Mastercards

I love my AMEX card but there are still a few places that only accept Visa or Mastercard – this is where my problem lies. I have a Chase Mastercard and these people have taken security issues a step too far.

A customer representative for Chase told me yesterday, that if I or my husband should want to go out of state and use our Mastercard, we must first contact them to let them know or they “might” freeze the card when they see charges from another state showing up.

The customer reps are hard-working people whose job is to keep customers from ever speaking to anyone who either has email, can make a decision or has any smidgeon or power or knowledge on the item or service being used by the customer.

After much ado, I finally got to speak to a supervisor who told me that the rep was incorrect. I needed to tell them if I were going out of the country. Okay..sounded somewhat reasonable to me. So I repeated myself and said to the supervisor: so I don’t need to worry about cards being frozen if I go to another state?

He started to backpeddle, hemmed and hawed, told me how all these security measures were for MY own good, and then said: If you haven’t traveled to this state in the last 3 billing cycles, then the card might get frozen…no guarantees.

I now have the choice of notifying nameless, faceless people that my house will be vulnerable for break-ins…(that is if I can remember to call…) or have that threat of maybe your card will work but maybe it won’t.

The best part about it all is both the customer rep and the supervisor had “tudes” right from the beginning. How dare I want to know if I can use my charge card and why it was frozen…what a beeyotch I am for checking!

All credit card companies are the same, I was told – but that’s not the case. The AMEX Blue Cash card is a winner…you get points which you can use for other items or cash back at the end of the year; they always WORK, even if they see you went to Disneyworld and are charging from a new place, and their customer reps seem to enjoy having you as a customer rather than the Chase folks who seem to find the fact that they have customers at all irritating and annoying.

So I’m shopping for a new Mastercard or Visa – one which will allow me to charge on the internet without challenging a $6.17 purchase from Half.com and will allow me to go out of state and charge without needing me to call in advance and beg to keep my card-with-no-balance-ever from being frozen.

Thumbs up to AMEX and thumbs down to Chase among other digital dexterities!

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

OMG! I had my mastercard frozen when I made 2 purchases online. I tried to make a 3rd and it was DENIED! I thought..WTF? I called, and they were 'concerned' about the 'online activity'. Huh? I had to verify that -yes, indeed I made the purchases. Holy cow! I feel ya sista!

9:09 AM  
Blogger sparklestone said...

This is why now, whenever I leave the country or state, I bring trinkets and baubles. Then I exchange them with the natives for their goods and services. No finance charges, no freezings, no hassles!

9:32 AM  
Blogger Sylow_P said...

Yeah, Chase sucks for a variety of reasons. I recently bought airline tickets with my discover card, which showed up as an out of state bill.

Discover card called me and asked if I had used my card at a conienience store next to my house the day after the plane tickets were purchased; no mention whatsoever about the giant charge for airfare.

I'm glad they called to make sure I still had my card, but I wished they had actually mentioned that a $600 out of state charge was the trigger for their concern.

Sparklestone, I've seen your baubles. They're not getting you very far.

12:31 PM  
Blogger mary bishop said...

lawbrat...I buy almost everything including groceries on line...and then Chase was perturbed because I bought a book at Half.com? These folks are crazy....

Sparky..even though Sylow is casting aspersions on your baubles, I am sure they are indeed stones that sparkle when needed.

I do think that filthy lucre might be our new form of money...and I have no problem with that...it also might be weed or baby formula --which is the new street money...(and all this time I'd read about someone stealing baby formula and thought oh how sad..wish I could buy it for them, until someone told me what it really was.

Sylow..so what is a good alternative card? I need more than one but don't want a half dozen cards as that takes your credit report and dumps it in the crapper.

Summer if you don't have an AMEX blue cash card-- get one...they are the best so far I've ever had...I used it in Florida even though I didn't call them and let them know of my travel plans..you can challenge a charge without a handwritten letter...they work, they're good and they get my vote for best credit card...but I do need one other MC or Visa...anyone have any idea??? Is Capital One a good bet?? so far you win the prize for getting the police involved...yowza and we pay for this form of customer service??

Sylow, I heard a long time ago Discovery cards had problems and not to bother getting one...still don't know why but your recent todo with them will certainly keep them off my list.

And kids, if the Chase people are into crap, poop, doo-doo or shit, they'll find my blog and hear what we're saying...

1:54 PM  
Blogger Sylow_P said...

I like my Capital on no hassle card. My run-ins have almost exclusively been with Mastercard, so I get use visa always.

I use my Discover card for retribution. Years ago I asked them to lower my intrest rate from gawd-awful to something less gawd-awful. They refused, I canceled the card and transferred the debt.

Now, I use my discover card for EVERYTHING, phone bills, groceries, you name it, and we pay it off before they charge interest. This month I cashed in $140 worth of cash back bonus. I figure they will have repaid me for their outrageous interest rate in 3-4 more years.

2:36 PM  
Blogger Sylow_P said...

Oh and Sparklestone, I misunderstood the bauble tale. Your stones, er, baubles are quite peachy, and I'm sure they will get the job done.

2:38 PM  
Blogger mary bishop said...

Sylow...Amex will also do a cash back (5%) don't know what Discover card's percentage is...but if you are having fun screwing them I say go for it!

I'm going VISA next as I've heard that MC is worse...

I like stones, plain or sparkley - whatever...I've even seen glow in the dark stones...kind of cute like chipmunk cheeks.

2:57 PM  
Blogger Sylow_P said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

3:20 PM  
Blogger Sylow_P said...

You hear that Sparkle? "...Like chipmunk cheeks..."

I can't decide it that means small, or just furry.

3:21 PM  
Blogger Echrai said...

Man, I think I've gotten lucky. My Am Ex has always been great - well, except for the fact that I'm constantly solicited to get the blue card and platinum card on top of my gold card. Now, WHY would I want to do that? I have a Visa through my lender of choice and it's wonderful. I haven't had soliciations, I haven't had issues, and while maybe it should scare me that there have been no security issues when I've used it in British Columbia or in Virginia or Maryland or Delaware when I live in Pennsylvania... but I count myself lucky.

And the 'tude? STANDARD with lenders. Trust me, I deal with them day in and day out and it's enough to make you go on the defensive for no reason whatsoever. Why are you smirking at me? I didn't say anything wrong! JUST STOP LOOKING AT ME!!!!

Anyhow, I love my Wachovia Visa.

4:30 PM  
Blogger Andrea said...

I've had experience with this, in a couple of different ways. The first time, it was for buying plane tickets to go to China (very expensive purchase...but hello, what is our last name? Yes, I know you don't know it, but let me assure you it's very CHINESE). However, they called us to make sure it was indeed us who bought the tickets, did not freeze the card.

The second time, this actually was a good thing. My husband used his credit card at a mall kiosk and left it there on accident. Couldn't remember where he'd lost it. (Of course he should have called to have it cancelled, but he didn't). A couple days later, credit card company calls us asking about purchases that I was amazed looked suspicious to them at all (I guess buying a lot of gas on two different occasions very close together??). So even though he should have called sooner, I was glad they noticed the charges and called us.

We've never had trouble traveling out of state, though, never had to call anyone. They call us if anything looks suspicous. Who is this wonderful company, you ask?

Chase, ironically enough :/ Maybe things have changed since the last time we used the card out of state, but that was just a little over a year ago.

4:32 PM  
Blogger mary bishop said...

Sylow...chipmunk cheeks as in full and round...could be a very *large* chipmunk or very well stuffed cheeks.

Echrai, Wachovia Visa sounds good to me...I've just put it on my list and screw the platinum MC!

Andrea..is it a Chase Visa or MC? I don't know if there are two different factions or what, but people keep saying that Mastercard is the worse..even from the same lender.

I can understand unusual purchases like 500 gallons of gas or even expensive purchases like tickets to China being flagged, but a six dollar book from Half.com is ludicrous!

5:02 PM  
Blogger mary bishop said...

Hot News!!!!

Just looked at my blogpatrol and now if you put very sexy weaners in Google I come up number three...it takes Google to go through just about every word I've written for a year to find those three words but, it finds them!

5:05 PM  
Blogger Andrea said...

mb, it IS a Visa, so maybe that's the issue.

And what is up with weird Googles? I finally had somebody surf in from some web search, but they were all normal, innane searches, like "introvert" (on Technorati, not Google). The only fun one was "sounds that annoy me". And that's not even weird or kinky :)

7:06 PM  
Blogger sparklestone said...

Yeah! What is with that? The google searches I get are so boring. The most exiting one lately, whats heinz gunthardt look like. Once someone was looking for phoebe cates pics.

Jealous, I am.

7:25 PM  
Blogger mary bishop said...

Okay, my informal charge card poll gets another Visa vote due to Andrea's comment.
------------
latest keyword searches

very sexy weaners (Google)
17/05/2005 13:45:04 mrs. malaprop (AOL)
17/05/2005 11:11:50 marie calendar frozen meal (Google)
17/05/2005 09:56:55 GE STOVE BEEPS WHEN CLEANING (Google)
16/05/2005 22:25:37 my dog eats cat poop (Google)
16/05/2005 22:02:45 microwave dinners litter (Google)
16/05/2005 19:08:22 fairlys (Google)
16/05/2005 16:31:59 Metamucil & dogs (Google)
16/05/2005 15:55:39 tchotchkes (Google)
16/05/2005 15:54:35 braces chastity (Google)
16/05/2005 15:16:03 dog puke eating (Google

16/05/2005 04:01:40 Husband turd mouth (AOL)
16/05/2005 01:08:00 definition: tchotchkes (Google)
15/05/2005 19:14:12 Mares Eat Oats (Google)
15/05/2005 15:03:05 mares eat oats and does eat oats (AOL)
15/05/2005 13:08:44 large asses (Google)
Eat your heart out Sparky!

8:25 PM  
Blogger Owen said...

Well at least this gives you an excuse to travel to a different state every three billing cycles. If the security measures are really this tight, then how is identity theft a problem at all? Sounds like people can't even use their own cards.

7:42 PM  
Blogger mary bishop said...

Good point Owen. What good is a charge card you can't depend upon or use? Why is it the law abider is always being subjected to the rules for the law abuser? I'm tired of our society molding itself for the lowest common denominator therein.

11:08 AM  

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