Miami (again)
Checking out of a hotel

‘That will be $360 sir’

And I hand over my Barclaycard. My brand new (having broken the previous one trying to get back into a shitty bed & brealfast room I had locked myself out of in Manchester the previous weekend, but that’s another story – and yes, afterwards I realised I should have just gone and asked for a spare key) couriered to me three days earlier in London, only twice used, Barclaycard.

‘Um…sorry sir, your card has been declined’

So I spend the next two hours on the phone. First to my Mum, who has to give her card details over the phone so she can pay for the hotel I am trying to check out of, and then to Barclays, trying to figure out just what the fuck is going on.

And, I swear, this is what I was told (when I finally got through to someone that was actually willing to fucking speak to me).
‘You had a transaction at WHSmiths at Heathrow airport at 7am on Friday. Then you withdrew £1,000 in cash in Rio De Janeiro at 11 am on Friday and then used it again in Miami at 9pm. You are up to your maximum balance’

‘Excuse me, can you explain that again?’

And they did.

And I asked ‘Just as a passing thought, do you think it is likely that I was able to get from WHSmith in Heathrow to Rio De Janeiro in the space of four hours? And then managed to get to Miami in time for a late dinner?’

‘Well, sir, our records show…’

‘No, I am asking if you think it is possible that I got from WHSmith in Heathrow to Rio De Janeiro in the space of four hours and then got to Miami for dinner’

‘Our records indicate…’

‘Once more, DO YOU THINK IT IS POSSIBLE THAT I…etc…?’

And on and on this went.

Until she said ‘Well, sir, I don’t know how far apart they all are so it might be possible’

Give me strength…




I did, eventually, get my money back. But my sanity was a lost cause.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 12:01, 4 replies)

Usually the system works better than that.
My girlfriend and I were driving down the M6 earlier this year. She used her bank card to pay the M6 toll. A few minutes later, her mobile rang. It was her bank, wondering if she was on the M6. When she replied in the affirmative, they said that it was therefore unlikely she was trying to withdraw $400 from an ATM in Toronto!

Fortunately, the Canadian withdrawal attempts were denied, but she still had to have her card cancelled and a new one issued.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 12:38, closed)

Haha, something similar happened with my husband
He was at work in Manchester and put some petrol in the car, using his debit card to pay. He then drove to Birmingham for a meeting and tried to pay for his hotel room with the same card. It was declined. Barclays reckoned he'd gone from Manchester to Birmingham 'a bit quick' (five hours!?) and blocked it.
(Northern Lovely, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 12:51, closed)

A bit quick?
60 mins is a bit quick! But the M6 is a tad busy to do that these days.
(Kip, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 21:37, closed)

soon we will have the techmanology
to do something like this to spakkers on the phone:

tinyurl.com/lk6bvx
tinyurl.com/m8bbra

That'll shut the knob up. Or not. Probably get a reply like 'I'm sorry sir, I'm not authorised to think'
( Sextant goes to him is emotionally erect, on this day, Mon 20 Jul 2009, 1:06, closed)