This happened to my mother this weekend…she was purchasing a new (very large) TV at Best Buy, and the purchase was instantly flagged as requiring authorization. The checker had to call Mom’s credit card company; after verifying the store and purchase amount, the phone was handed to my mother; all she had to confirm was a security question, full name with mailing address, and the numbers on the back of the card. She’s still pretty shaken up about it – she seems to think that the credit card was being rejected.
One thing that did strike me as a bit odd – Best Buy did make a copy of her card (using one of those old-style devices that presses the card into carbon paper) and placed it in a locked drawer, along with the receipt.
Weird. I guess this was to protect Best Buy - so they could prove they really had THAT card physically there, and that its numbers matched the numbers on the card’s electronic strip. In case your mom (noted criminal that she is - NOT!) decided to try to issue a chargeback claiming the card had been stolen or something.
BTW - the stuff I’m reading here just cements my thinking that not only should everyone have two cards (a primary one and an emergency one) but that they should be from two different issuers… and ideally with different combinations of users (e.g. his, mine, and ours). Reduces how screwed you can be in case something happens to one card due to loss, theft, or overzealous “security measures”.
Why else have the damn card if you don’t plan to use it… or if to use it, you have to ask permission first. Sheesh.
It must be random though. I just charged 4 airfares - not an everyday thing - to my Chase-issued card, and have had zero trouble making purchases since then.
My card was put on hold a few weeks ago, while I was in AZ with my wife, and extended family. I found out on the last day, as I tried to fill the gas on the rental car on my way to the airport… of course, they called our home, and left a message to call them.
That works great if someone is home, but not so much if the whole family isn’t at that phone number. Thankfully we had another card to use, but it’s really annoying.
I could see if I had a lot of charges at home at the same time charges in AZ were happening, but you’d think that the Rental car, then other charges over the next few days would have made it obvious that we were on vacation.
I don’t want to needlessly alarm you, but how was it verified that it was the credit card company calling? Your wife didn’t give out her entire SSN and account information just because someone called claiming to be from your bank, did she? That’s not an uncommon scam.
It occurs to me that fraud concerns may be the reason that many cards now seem to be offering bonus points for certain kinds of purchases – If the holder gets into the habit of using a card primarily for those types of purchases, a stolen card or number may show up more readily as disrupting that pattern.
Another personal anecdote – A friend of mine’s father just passed away. He arranged a lunch for about 20 guests after the funeral, and was annoyed to find his card was on hold. He’d bought a suit for the funeral the day before, and that purchase, together with the large lunch, apparently aroused suspicion.