You aint getting none from me or my bank…
Yes i know this is my second post today – please keep leave me a question on my last post – it was meant to be fun…i know you are out there!
OK enough begging, i want to rant….
I’ve had it up to here with banking. After being cash only for a number of years i finally bit the bullet and got a switch card. Three days later it broke (and no i didn’t break it by over spending in a ‘mad i got plastic’ way) cash machines just kept rejecting it. It was damn well broken alright…
So off i went to order a new one. Four days later a basic cashline card turned up – not what i was looking for. So, i phoned up to complain and they promised another one would be sent out asap.
After phoning the bank, i visited a local chain supermarket. At the till with my cat food, brownies and bread rolls my switch card (that bit still worked) was rejected and retained! Now i live in a rather dodgy part of the city and of course i was worried about the store keeping my card with all the details on it – even if it was no longer working and they said they would cut it up. I ranted and raved and asked to see the manager but to no avail. (… and yes, i’m ashamed to ever go back!)
I phoned the bank to see what had gone on (i was panicking about having no money, something had gone off, i was overdrawn…etc) – and was told that after i had called them they had recorded my card as being stolen! Not what i had told them. Does anyone at my branch ever listen to me?
Arghhhh
So, another week later and I now have a new card which works… phew. Annoyance over… i’m still extremely pissed off for the bank for all the shit, and the apology really didn’t cut it, but hey i’m a chilled person and it wasn’t the woman on digital bankings fault – i couldn’t really yell at her could I? Although it would have been rather satisfying.
Anyways, today i go to check into online banking and find my account has been blocked as someone has been trying to break into it! Its going to take another 4 days for my access to be restored, i need online banking, i need to know what is going on! I’m a control freak ok?
Who else reckons the card being taken in the supermarket and this is linked? How do shops dispose of taken switch cards? Why do shops have a right to retain your card when not all staff are probably 100% trustworthy?
This i would really like to know.
Kx
Oh my, that does sound suspicious. I don’t know anything about it, but I would definitely contact the supermarket head office and outline what happened. It might be nothing, but it might prevent someone else becoming a victim of fraud.
I hope your banking woes come to an end soon hun x
Sounds very suss. Why couldn’t they give it back to you when it was cut up – that happened to my brother a few yrs ago (in Argos of all places). As Blue Soup says, I’d get in touch with Head Office and see what the procedure is and ask your bank what should happen with a rejected card.
I always check my online bank every couple of days just to check nothing has gone astray, that’s how I found someone nicking £1k from it a few months ago!
Oh, unlucky. I seem to get hit by the Code 10, Please Retain Card thing all too often.
What typically happens in that the shop assistant is directed to contact their merchant bank (the bank the store uses to process card payments” via telephone and request a “Code 10 authorisation” – this happens when the shop assistant suspects fraud, or the payment has been ‘referred’ (read: declined).
The “Code 10″ is special shop assistant code for “I suspect fraud/we have a problem” and is used as to avoid freaking out the card-holder. The shop assistant is then asked a series of yes/no type questions to determine if the transaction can proceed. The telephone call is designed to be one-sided (again, as not to worry the card-holder) and the shop assistant should have been trained to use a static tone and stick to yes/no responses.
Now, what typically happens is the issuing bank instructs the shop assistant to retain the card. Meanwhile the operator on the phone alerts the authorities.
The card is then cut up and returned to the card issuer. This is typically not a problem as they card is no longer valid after this point – it is suspended on the bank-side and it is cut up. You’ll be issued a new card with a new number so there’s not much to worry about in terms of untrustworthy staff. The only real issues is if your bank have also printed your actual bank account number and sort code on the card.
The shop can retain your card because you don’t actual own the card. It is provided for your use by your bank and remains their property to recall as and when they see fit.
Lastly, shop assistants are instructed to only retain the card if it is safe to do so. If you act like a crazy bitch, chances are you’ll get to keep your, now defunct, card.