Declined Credit Cards

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Don Draper

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The last two reservations and the last two gift certificate orders I have processed have come back with declined credit cards. Are people really so far out of touch with their finances?
 
OH YES....we once had a fellow here who went through 4 different credit cards and NONE of them took. He finally left saying he was going to the ATM. We never thought he would be back..but he did. And guess what he told us? Both of them had been laid off from work a month ago. And they were planning on traveling for the next month. Go figure.
 
I have had three, count them, THREE bookings within the last two weeks with SOMEONE else's credit card and name. I state on there - after discussing it on here, I need infor and permission and all three times I have had to call and clarify. TWICE it has been on mommy's credit card. SHEESH! I have had this one or twice a year usually for a wedding night or honeymoon, I am getting it more and more right now, I REALLY WANT THAT FLIPPIN' V CODE REQUIREMENT PUT BACK ON THE WEBERVATIONS!!!!!! Even if it is JUST FOR ME!!!
 
Sometimes it's a matter of transposed numbers when entering the info. Other times, if the guest booked their car first, the car company holds an excessive amount of money on the card, so if they were 'close' they are now over.
I am in a sympathetic mode right now because I just bounced 4 checks. It was an error on my part in transferring the funds, I did not complete the transaction so the money never transferred. So, for 3 days, my checks bounced, adding NSF fees to every one of them, meaning I had less and less money everytime one of them bounced. It's very easy right now to get in deep very quickly. It was $120 in fees from my bank and then another $55 in fees from the folks whose checks bounced.
So, if a payment isn't applied to a cc on time, the card holder has fees tacked on and their interest rate jumps and that can be if they had a problem with a completely different card!
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
Someone on here had her card declined at her local grocery store because her husband was using the joint card in another country at the same time (go figure). So the cc company declined HER use of the card at home (again, go figure).
Gomez used our new card to buy something online and used the wrong zip code (which could also be a problem with your guests) but the charge went thru. When he tried to use the same card in another country the following day it was declined (much to his embarrassment as he was with family at the time).
OTOH, yes, people do have problems keeping track of what's on their cards at any given time.
 
Sometimes it's a matter of transposed numbers when entering the info. Other times, if the guest booked their car first, the car company holds an excessive amount of money on the card, so if they were 'close' they are now over.
I am in a sympathetic mode right now because I just bounced 4 checks. It was an error on my part in transferring the funds, I did not complete the transaction so the money never transferred. So, for 3 days, my checks bounced, adding NSF fees to every one of them, meaning I had less and less money everytime one of them bounced. It's very easy right now to get in deep very quickly. It was $120 in fees from my bank and then another $55 in fees from the folks whose checks bounced.
So, if a payment isn't applied to a cc on time, the card holder has fees tacked on and their interest rate jumps and that can be if they had a problem with a completely different card!
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
Someone on here had her card declined at her local grocery store because her husband was using the joint card in another country at the same time (go figure). So the cc company declined HER use of the card at home (again, go figure).
Gomez used our new card to buy something online and used the wrong zip code (which could also be a problem with your guests) but the charge went thru. When he tried to use the same card in another country the following day it was declined (much to his embarrassment as he was with family at the time).
OTOH, yes, people do have problems keeping track of what's on their cards at any given time..
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
That is why when we travel abroad, we contact the CC company ahead of time to tell them we are going and the length of our stay.
 
And the problems are getting worse!
AM- EX is now putting limits on business cards, much to the dismay of my guests. I have a repeat guest (every week for the last 6 months) that has started having issues when using her business card. Due to the lower limits she has, she sometimes has to pay down her card 3 or more times a month just to be able to travel. Because I know she is 'good for it' I have started having her business send me payment via check each week. She said that has helped her so much. The issue is that she has 2-3 other employees also traveling and their flights, rental cars and hotel expenses are all held on this one card. With rental deposits so high she sometimes has thousands of dollars just put 'on hold'.
And with the CC companies imposing more fees and higher rates before the new law kicks in, I think we will find more and more people traveling with their debit cards and cash only using a card to secure or for online purchases.
 
Sometimes it's a matter of transposed numbers when entering the info. Other times, if the guest booked their car first, the car company holds an excessive amount of money on the card, so if they were 'close' they are now over.
I am in a sympathetic mode right now because I just bounced 4 checks. It was an error on my part in transferring the funds, I did not complete the transaction so the money never transferred. So, for 3 days, my checks bounced, adding NSF fees to every one of them, meaning I had less and less money everytime one of them bounced. It's very easy right now to get in deep very quickly. It was $120 in fees from my bank and then another $55 in fees from the folks whose checks bounced.
So, if a payment isn't applied to a cc on time, the card holder has fees tacked on and their interest rate jumps and that can be if they had a problem with a completely different card!
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
Someone on here had her card declined at her local grocery store because her husband was using the joint card in another country at the same time (go figure). So the cc company declined HER use of the card at home (again, go figure).
Gomez used our new card to buy something online and used the wrong zip code (which could also be a problem with your guests) but the charge went thru. When he tried to use the same card in another country the following day it was declined (much to his embarrassment as he was with family at the time).
OTOH, yes, people do have problems keeping track of what's on their cards at any given time..
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
That is why when we travel abroad, we contact the CC company ahead of time to tell them we are going and the length of our stay.
.
catlady said:
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
That is why when we travel abroad, we contact the CC company ahead of time to tell them we are going and the length of our stay.
He 'overstayed' his time limit. You can't change it once you're gone because you have to call from your home number. They told me (to tell him) to put me on the card next time he travels so I can make changes if need be.
 
And the problems are getting worse!
AM- EX is now putting limits on business cards, much to the dismay of my guests. I have a repeat guest (every week for the last 6 months) that has started having issues when using her business card. Due to the lower limits she has, she sometimes has to pay down her card 3 or more times a month just to be able to travel. Because I know she is 'good for it' I have started having her business send me payment via check each week. She said that has helped her so much. The issue is that she has 2-3 other employees also traveling and their flights, rental cars and hotel expenses are all held on this one card. With rental deposits so high she sometimes has thousands of dollars just put 'on hold'.
And with the CC companies imposing more fees and higher rates before the new law kicks in, I think we will find more and more people traveling with their debit cards and cash only using a card to secure or for online purchases..
I'm all for guests paying in cash!
We've stopped using our cc for 'dining out' and now pay cash. I used to just leave the tip in cash, now it's the whole bill. Of course, our last 'night out' the bill was $20, so that's not a big deal. But I would happily leave off using the cc for personal expenses.
We started using the cc for all biz expenses to cut down on using checks or the debit card because the bank charges us after 75 'transactions.' That includes deposits made from our cc processor. It was VERY easy in the summer to rack up fees just buying groceries and receiving the deposits, much less anything else.
Which reminds me, I should go see what I have in 'rewards' on my cc.
 
Sometimes it's a matter of transposed numbers when entering the info. Other times, if the guest booked their car first, the car company holds an excessive amount of money on the card, so if they were 'close' they are now over.
I am in a sympathetic mode right now because I just bounced 4 checks. It was an error on my part in transferring the funds, I did not complete the transaction so the money never transferred. So, for 3 days, my checks bounced, adding NSF fees to every one of them, meaning I had less and less money everytime one of them bounced. It's very easy right now to get in deep very quickly. It was $120 in fees from my bank and then another $55 in fees from the folks whose checks bounced.
So, if a payment isn't applied to a cc on time, the card holder has fees tacked on and their interest rate jumps and that can be if they had a problem with a completely different card!
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
Someone on here had her card declined at her local grocery store because her husband was using the joint card in another country at the same time (go figure). So the cc company declined HER use of the card at home (again, go figure).
Gomez used our new card to buy something online and used the wrong zip code (which could also be a problem with your guests) but the charge went thru. When he tried to use the same card in another country the following day it was declined (much to his embarrassment as he was with family at the time).
OTOH, yes, people do have problems keeping track of what's on their cards at any given time..
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
That is why when we travel abroad, we contact the CC company ahead of time to tell them we are going and the length of our stay.
.
catlady said:
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
That is why when we travel abroad, we contact the CC company ahead of time to tell them we are going and the length of our stay.
Funny, we did that and STILL had problems in Europe. Luckily we had cash but I was peeved. When we got home I had a message to call my CC company. They said they received a flag of use in Monte Carlo and they were calling to make sure the charge was ligit becasue it had been used in Barelona about a week earlier. Since we did not answer or return the call, they froze the card. When I told her that I had called PRIOR to our trip to state ALL the countries/areas we were visiting she checked and saw the documented conversation. She then said 'well YOU should have contacted the fraud dept. too.' WHAT!!!
 
Sometimes it's a matter of transposed numbers when entering the info. Other times, if the guest booked their car first, the car company holds an excessive amount of money on the card, so if they were 'close' they are now over.
I am in a sympathetic mode right now because I just bounced 4 checks. It was an error on my part in transferring the funds, I did not complete the transaction so the money never transferred. So, for 3 days, my checks bounced, adding NSF fees to every one of them, meaning I had less and less money everytime one of them bounced. It's very easy right now to get in deep very quickly. It was $120 in fees from my bank and then another $55 in fees from the folks whose checks bounced.
So, if a payment isn't applied to a cc on time, the card holder has fees tacked on and their interest rate jumps and that can be if they had a problem with a completely different card!
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
Someone on here had her card declined at her local grocery store because her husband was using the joint card in another country at the same time (go figure). So the cc company declined HER use of the card at home (again, go figure).
Gomez used our new card to buy something online and used the wrong zip code (which could also be a problem with your guests) but the charge went thru. When he tried to use the same card in another country the following day it was declined (much to his embarrassment as he was with family at the time).
OTOH, yes, people do have problems keeping track of what's on their cards at any given time..
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
That is why when we travel abroad, we contact the CC company ahead of time to tell them we are going and the length of our stay.
.
catlady said:
My son had his cc declined in a foreign country, nothing wrong with the card but his cc company thought the card was stolen so they declined it.
That is why when we travel abroad, we contact the CC company ahead of time to tell them we are going and the length of our stay.
Funny, we did that and STILL had problems in Europe. Luckily we had cash but I was peeved. When we got home I had a message to call my CC company. They said they received a flag of use in Monte Carlo and they were calling to make sure the charge was ligit becasue it had been used in Barelona about a week earlier. Since we did not answer or return the call, they froze the card. When I told her that I had called PRIOR to our trip to state ALL the countries/areas we were visiting she checked and saw the documented conversation. She then said 'well YOU should have contacted the fraud dept. too.' WHAT!!!
.
You'd think they'd talk to each other, wouldn't you? Why should YOU have to know each and every dept that needs to be contacted?
 
credit cards! we all have to be careful about them right now.
i have a mastercard i rarely use. i did the old way. buy some little thing and then pay it off and avoid the finance charges. well, i got a letter from my cc company that if i don't use it, they will close the account. also, if i don't charge up a certain amount, the fees will increase.
so i used it for buying some christmas presents and, guess what? got a call they were concerned about the sudden use of my card and wanted to be sure it was me. duh ....
as for guests and credit cards and trying to buy gift certificates last minute and being declined sounds like someone making lots of purchases last minute and maxing out. not good! also, sometimes with joint accounts, one person racks up the charges and the other one has no idea until they go to use it and gets declined.
 
credit cards! we all have to be careful about them right now.
i have a mastercard i rarely use. i did the old way. buy some little thing and then pay it off and avoid the finance charges. well, i got a letter from my cc company that if i don't use it, they will close the account. also, if i don't charge up a certain amount, the fees will increase.
so i used it for buying some christmas presents and, guess what? got a call they were concerned about the sudden use of my card and wanted to be sure it was me. duh ....
as for guests and credit cards and trying to buy gift certificates last minute and being declined sounds like someone making lots of purchases last minute and maxing out. not good! also, sometimes with joint accounts, one person racks up the charges and the other one has no idea until they go to use it and gets declined..
We've done away with all but our Penney's and one CC and we barely use them. But I did during the holidays just to keep a bit of activity on them. Got the letters about increased rates...we always pay ours off monthly.
 
I am totally sympathetic to the "tightness" that many are feeling now, and I'm very grateful that people are still choosing to travel and stay here. But when I've emailed you AND left a phone message stating that the transaction couldn't be processed (I NEVER say it was declined, even though it is being declined, because I don't want to embarrass anyone) but you still haven't called me back to take care of it? My sympathies end there. Stop wasting my time.
 
I am totally sympathetic to the "tightness" that many are feeling now, and I'm very grateful that people are still choosing to travel and stay here. But when I've emailed you AND left a phone message stating that the transaction couldn't be processed (I NEVER say it was declined, even though it is being declined, because I don't want to embarrass anyone) but you still haven't called me back to take care of it? My sympathies end there. Stop wasting my time..
You might need, if you don't, to tell them that the reservation is going to be terminated unless they call back by X:XX time. In this case the phone call is the way to go, many guests don't check their emails at all. If they are already en route it may take them awhile to get their voice messages which is why it is always good to give the cell number when you're traveling close to the date you made the rez.
 
I am totally sympathetic to the "tightness" that many are feeling now, and I'm very grateful that people are still choosing to travel and stay here. But when I've emailed you AND left a phone message stating that the transaction couldn't be processed (I NEVER say it was declined, even though it is being declined, because I don't want to embarrass anyone) but you still haven't called me back to take care of it? My sympathies end there. Stop wasting my time..
Rupert said:
(I NEVER say it was declined, even though it is being declined, because I don't want to embarrass anyone)
That's always a tough one person! I will try the card again and then show the guest the printout from the processor that says 'Card Declined.' Now they may be deliberately using a bad card but I say, 'It could be anything...new card, wrong zip code, too many different types of charges in one day at too many different places, anything.' But, I do verify the NEXT card they give to me has the same name as the previous card.
 
I am totally sympathetic to the "tightness" that many are feeling now, and I'm very grateful that people are still choosing to travel and stay here. But when I've emailed you AND left a phone message stating that the transaction couldn't be processed (I NEVER say it was declined, even though it is being declined, because I don't want to embarrass anyone) but you still haven't called me back to take care of it? My sympathies end there. Stop wasting my time..
Rupert said:
(I NEVER say it was declined, even though it is being declined, because I don't want to embarrass anyone)
That's always a tough one person! I will try the card again and then show the guest the printout from the processor that says 'Card Declined.' Now they may be deliberately using a bad card but I say, 'It could be anything...new card, wrong zip code, too many different types of charges in one day at too many different places, anything.' But, I do verify the NEXT card they give to me has the same name as the previous card.
.
Yes! I usually just say it didn't go through, sometimes it's a bad expiration date, etc. It's funny though, we've had people stand there and go through 2 or 3 cards until one works and they seem completely unfazed by it!
 
Maybe this year (2010) I will be firmer in saying "WE PREFER VISA" to the amex/discovery crowd!
 
Maybe this year (2010) I will be firmer in saying "WE PREFER VISA" to the amex/discovery crowd!.
Joey Bloggs said:
Maybe this year (2010) I will be firmer in saying "WE PREFER VISA" to the amex/discovery crowd!
I know that lots of people want the 'rewards' but I also think this might be the year of the cc revolt. With all the new fees that got added and all the new fees that start on Friday and all the finance articles I've seen lately exhorting people to get off the cc merry-go-round, THIS might be the year to get cash payments.
But, yes, when given an option, I will say, 'We prefer Visa.' Better yet, 'Do you have a plain vanilla, no rewards, no points, no frills card in there anywhere? I'll take that!'
 
From day one I have encouraged CASH, CHECKS, or cc. I tell my guests if they are going to use a debit card they could just as easily use a check instead. Unfortunately too many say - I never thought of that. I left the checkbook at home. DANG!!!
 
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