Citi Really Embarrassed Me Today

[Anonymous]

I was out doing some shopping today for some winter clothing at burlington's coat factory. Get's to the registers my total comes to $285 pulls out my Citi Foward card DECLINED swipe it again DECLINED. In my head from reading this forum I thought my card had been closed an the letter was in the mail. Luckily the only major card I had in my wallet was my Pay Pal debit card which is backed by my pay pal buyers account so I swiped that an it was approved with no problem. I called Citi an asked them what was going on with my account CSR told me there was a security hold on my account an I asked for what then she tells me did you try to make a purchase for $285 I said yes an I asked why was my card declined. Citi could not give me a strait answer I was told my account is now unlocked an it's free to use. The CSR also told me the merchants system might have been down. I still don't really understand but I was totally embarrassed in front of my mother an a bunch of other customers. I have learned with any bank make sure your have a back up card thanks GE.

[danisgods]

it happened to me before with the paypal credit card, i called them they say it was an unusual amount for me , because my card was new, i hadn't used it that much , my purchase was like $265 something like that, then they told me the same "it's all good now, we are sorry blablabla"...

is your card new?

[Anonymous]

same thing happened to me when i was buying books for school with the same card. citi gave me the same answer you got. my purchase was almost $600. i got the point they were trying to make tho for security reasons, there just looking out for you.

[Wolf3]

Next time, have the cashier call them on the phone for approval. You probably will have to show picture id.

[Anonymous]

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@danisgods wrote:

is your card new?

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Yeah like 6 months old funny thing the card has been almost maxed i have used it heavily in the past 6 moths. The account also had a $0 balance

[Red1Blue]

It is usually done for your safety. They do call you and follow-up though. Citi is not as bad as Amex when they block the cards for FR.

[Anonymous]

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@Red1Blue wrote:

It is usually done for your safety.

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Yea I understand I was really trying to use my Citi Foward cause the statement will not cut until the 7th of next month so I was gonna pay the balance off Oct 1st before to the new statement cuts  that's not gonna happen cause my paypal statement will cut on the 21st of this month an I want be able to pay the balance until the 1st so the balance will report the the CRA. Trying to play the fico game lol

[OnTheRebound]

I made my first charge on my new Citi Plat Select Visa a couple weeks ago for over $1600 over the internet. Went right through.

[tobey]

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@OnTheRebound wrote:

I made my first charge on my new Citi Plat Select Visa a couple weeks ago for over $1600 over the internet. Went right through.

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Well that's beceause they haven't established a baseline for you. They don't know if $1600 is abnormal for you or not yet.

[andre181]

Citi did the same with me when my Forward card was about 2 months old. I was at the Apple store making an $800 purchase. Declined, and as I handed the sales person my Cap1 card, Citi called my cell phone and asked if I was trying to make an $800 purchase at the Apple store, I said yes. They said I was able to proceed with the purchase, and the sales guys swiped the Citi card again, went right through.

Its just something they do when a purchase seems suspicious or very different from your usual buying habits.

Also, I know its embarrassing to have your card declined, but its really not the end of the world. Sales people and cashiers see it everyday. Don't worry about it.