henry1
Enthusiast
Reged: 10/08/03
Posts: 288
Loc: North Central USA
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I decided to become a VIP last night. I love the free board and thought I would do my part to help support it. I was very surprised when my CC was declined. I knew nothing could be wrong with the card, and made a note to call the company and find out the problem. I didn't get the chance because they called me early this morning. It seems the charge was declined because the funds were going outside the country. The Security and Fraud Department called me asking about the charge. I didn't go into any detail but explained that I knew about it. The fact that it was a Internet charge, and the funds were going to a 'suspicious' country, was the reason given for declining it. When I made it clear I made the charge, they said they were sorry, and told me it would go through if I wanted to do it again. This was a Visa card. I thought I would put this on the board just for anyone trying to decide what card to use. Its possible Visa may be keeping a closer eye on what we purchase, and where we purchase it. Something to think about...
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treading the backward path...
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turcica
seeker
Reged: 12/21/03
Posts: 312
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Did they really say the funds were going out of the country to a "suspicious country'?. Where is point of origin? That seems really strange. Maybe someone knows and will tell us. turcica
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turcica
The only failure is not knowing how to be happy
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manoman
Journeyman
Reged: 12/29/03
Posts: 54
Loc: Warm part of the Sun
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That's not unusual. I make many foreign internet charges on my card for business purposes (not meds), and when I first began using a new Visa last year, I got a call from the issuing bank. There were charges from Australia, Canada, and UK. They just wanted to be sure I was aware of them.
It's normal practice for most major card issuers to call as a proactive preventive fraud measure if "foreign" internet or mail order charges appear on an account for the first time. Once you've confirmed them though, you shouldn't have any problem in the future.
It really doesn't have anything to do with Visa specifically, or with the fact that it's related to DB.
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henry1
Enthusiast
Reged: 10/08/03
Posts: 288
Loc: North Central USA
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This was not a new card. I've been using it since 1996. Its been used for puchases all over Europe. It had nothing to do with DB. They are not listed on your CC bill. It was declined because of the country the funds were going to. That was the only reason. Once I made it clear I had made the charge, there was no problem. I've had this happen on another CC, but the company always approved the charge, then checked with me the next day to make sure it was legit. This time it was declined from the outset. Thats a major difference.
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treading the backward path...
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Trampy
Pooh-Bah
Reged: 04/02/02
Posts: 1239
Loc: Southwest U.S.
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It's not VISA doing it, a MasterCard from the same bank with the same charge history would be treated exactly the same. They can change the threshold or markers they use to flag suspicious charges.
Or, if you don't want to deal with it, just use a card issued by a different bank. If you don't like their policies, there are plenty of banks competing to put credit cards in your pocket.
I only had an overseas charge declined once and it was a brand-new card. They not only declined that particular charge but they put a complete hold on the account and didn't even bother to call me. I just tried it again with a different card and the transaction went through ... and then didn't give it a thought until i couldn't buy groceries with that card at my local supermarket two days later. Boy was i pissed! I had just chalked up the declined card with the overseas merchant to a temporary glitch .. which happens if their card processor can't reach the issuing bank within a certain period of time. Stuff like that happens.
When i called the bank days later to ask why they were declining all my charges, i immediately closed the account after telling them why. There was no excuse for them not calling me in the intervening two business days to tell me that they had totally blocked my account. They told me that someone in fraud control should have called ... but they had no record of anyone calling me. I told them it was too bad for them and that i didn't trust a bank that was so incompetent.
Trampy
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Your mileage may vary ...
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mvesuvius
Newbie
Reged: 12/22/02
Posts: 33
Loc: South
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It happened to me to with my renewal fee the VIP Board charges. All of a sudden, my $5 monthly charge was declined. VISA called me and asked if I authorized this foreign internet charge. I told them yes I did. I thought everything was fine. Next time I used my VISA, it was declined at a local store. I called VISA and they apologized but said they would take the "hold" off of my account. I contaced drugbuyers and ibill, their billing servicing company and ask that they try putting the charge through again, but all I got was an auto-reply from drugbuyers saying they would respond within a set amount of time. To date, neither has responded. I was thinking of rejoining the VIP Area at the six month or yearly rate, but am now having second thoughts. Out of curiosity, does anyone know what country ibill operates out of?
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