Fraud alert, charge declined - PITA!!!

[masscredit]

I appreciate credit card companies looking out for us and trying to block fraudulant charges but that can be a PITA sometimes. For example, I ordered a 75" TV from Best Buy this morning. There weren't many left in stock and I was lucky to get the delivery timeframe that I wanted. Everything was great until I received a text that said -

Free Fraud Alert: Barclaycard Rewards Card ending in xxxx - A charge for $3,187.49 at BEST BUY 0994 was NOT APPROVED on 11/01. Reply 1 if valid. Reply 2 if not valid. Reply HELP for Help, STOP to cancel Fraud Alerts.

I replied 1 but the charge was still declined. So I had to go back into my Best Buy account and redo my payment. Luckily everything was fine. But what if it was something that was really important and minutes could be the difference between getting the product I wanted or not. Like last week when Apple started accepting orders for the iPhone X. I stayed up until after 3am EST to be one of the first to place my order with hopes of getting it on release day (November 3rd). Mission accomplished for me but people that ordered 10 minutes later won't see their phones for a few weeks. Do you know how pissed I would have been if the charge was declined because of a fraud alert? It would not have been pretty. 

[Anonymous]

Understandable aggravation, they could at least call before they decline the charge. Dv

[AverageJoesCredit]

Pita for sure but better to be safe than sorry. If that was a fraud charge and they DIDNT catch it youd be livid. In todays credit reality id rather call and advise im making a very large purchase so that they know its me.

[Anonymous]

Better safe then sorry for sure in case if it was the step son.

[joltdude]

You know who I always seem to get declined due to fraud alerts from.. Disco.... Seems to happen with mail order... or if its not in the US...

Id wish they would give me time to approve or decline it vs just declining it and having to reorder.....At least they seem to approve the blasted iphone loan payments but Citizens keeps making a mess out of something that should be seamless... The one good thing about discos declines is its almost always approved on the second pass if its a fraud alert thing...

[joltdude]

I have a story about Macy's internal fraud dept catching some fraud using a discover card.... Not my card fortunately... Macys not discover called and verified the purchases.... (their system was like why did the user use a disco card when they have a mid/high tier macys card for 3 tv sets in ohio)......  Called discover about it and their  security dept was like.. why didnt we catch it... kinda embarassed but reissued card and new numbers etc...

Though same person got quite a call when he replaced the card...everyone was reverifying his number with 1$ transactions.... So discover calls and hes like. I just got a new card and resubscribing to things.... Oh.. (duh moment)... Ill note this in your account so you dont hear from us in a bit 

Just my .02cents

[masscredit]

From my side I rather have the charge go through then deal with it later if it was fraud. I don't I wouldn't have to pay for a fraudulant charge. But, I can see the credit card company wanting to cover themselves so they don't take a loss. Maybe I'll give them a heads up if I have an important/time sensitive charge coming up. 

[Anonymous]

That was one of the reasons my brother got rid of of Best Buy. I could use his card online because I knew all his information and would add myself as the person to pick up the order in store with no problems. Of course I had permission but what if I were a vengeful ex? Lol When he ordered something himself and wanted it delivered it was declined. I guess beause it wasn't the usual? I ordered a few things that were sitting on the clearance table and am currently typing on a laptop that was brand new at the time which I scored $400+ off because someone returned it...so yeah that extra minute is important and getting declined can cost you the item.

[Loquat]

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@AverageJoesCredit wrote:
Pita for sure but better to be safe than sorry. If that was a fraud charge and they DIDNT catch it youd be livid. In todays credit reality id rather call and advise im making a very large purchase so that they know its me.

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+1  Well said AJC.  To the OP, if this is outside your normal spending habits then that could be another reason for the fraud alert.  Happy it worked out for you and you are still going to get your purchase within the time frame you orginally expected.  When I've had to make a purchase that was outside of my spending habit I would call ahead of time and have them on the line when I click submit just in case I would have to be passed off to the fraud department.  

[UncleB]

My favorite fraud alert system/process is Capital One; I have both the Wallet app and text alerts.

A few times they've sent me a text message asking me to reply "Confirm" or "Deny" for charges that were out-of-pattern, but I got the text after the charge was approved (the one time I was alerted for a charge my AU made I was especially glad it didn't get denied). 

Some might question the usefulness of this, but if it were fraud my 'Deny' reply would stop any more charges from being approved, and for "the one that got away" I'm not responsible anyway. 

I will note, though, that a couple of times I was expecting the text alert I didn't get it, and I've received it for charges that were otherwise routine.  I'm sure they have their reasons...

It's really a 'dance' the banks have to do with fraud prevention... too lax and they lose money on fraud, too restrictive and when it's triggered people will simply pull out another card (which is what I would do) and they lose the swipe fee/interest revenue.