I get these calls fairly frequently, from people whose cards decline for whatever reason, and a goodly number of them rant for a moment about how horribly embarrassing it is for them to have the card decline.
I can’t imagine being embarrassed by something like this. I care very little about what random strangers think of me, so perhaps my general indifference to the opinions of others also manifests in my lack of embarrassment about a declined card. Why do people care what some store clerk or waitress, who they may never see again in their lives, thinks about them for the two minutes during which they’re interacting?
I don’t really get the “random stranger” argument. I’d be embarassed if I shit my pants in front of a stranger, too.
Whether it’s a stranger or friend, you’re basically announcing to them, “I’m so bad at handling my money that I’ve maxed out my credit card.” Whenever someone does it who is trying to use a cc at my wife’s business, I tend to think, “dumb ass”. If I did it, then I’d be the dumb ass.
There are a myriad of reasons as to cards being declined, and I’ve had cards declined b/c there’s a fraud protection on them, b/c I haven’t activated them yet, because the bank hasn’t activated them yet, because your check hasn’t cleared, etc etc. Sometimes, though, I’m counting on the card to work because I have nothing else on me. It’s like going to the grocery store and forgetting your wallet- it’s not that other people are going to think you have no money, but it’s such a freakin pain in the ass.
ETA: That being said, there seems to be a stigma in our society about using credit cards to the point where they max out, and I agree with the stigma. If you have multiple credit cards that are maxed out, IMHO it’s an indication of extremely poor money management. Hell, I haven’t worked in months, and somehow I manage not to charge things.
I don’t get embarrassed. Either I think it might be declined, but am not sure, in which case I’d just use another card, or I’d not expect a declination, in which case I’d be worried that my number was stolen or something. Embarrassment doesn’t enter into it.
Yes, I would be embarrassed. It’s not just that the clerk has seen the decline and might now assume I have financial problems, though that is part. It’s also that I’ve now held up the line while scrambling for some other form of payment. It might also be that I don’t have another form of payment on my person, leaving me in the awkward position of having a week’s worth of groceries on the counter (or having just had a restaurant meal, etc) with no way to pay. In that situation I’d be absolutely mortified.
I care about what random strangers think about me. I don’t have an explanation for it, I just do.
I admit to being embarrassed when my Target card declined last week. It only declined because it had expired, and I use it so seldom that I forgot to activate and put the new one in my wallet. The look the cashier gave me, however, was rather disapproving.
And that irritated me more than I’d care to admit.
Yes, I am mortified when that happens. It has only happened once that I can remember, but the mortification is still fresh. It is like announcing “I am a moron who can’t manage to be responsible for my own finances.” For me personally, the reason the card is declined doesn’t even matter that much – trying to use a card before it is activated also falls into the category of “things I was supposed to be responsible for, but failed to do.” Plus there’s the making other people wait thing, if there is a line behind you.
I’d be embarrassed. It happened to me once about 30 years ago, and I never went to that store again. It was like I was caught trying to steal something.
No. As I have a few I just use another one. It’s usually something minor. One time I did have Chase decline a charge and when I called them they said I missed a payment. As the card had a 20,000 limit and a balance of 1000 and I had never missed a payment pryor and didn’t receive the bill that month, I closed the account. It seemed rude they shut the account down over one missed payment.
I work in customer service for a company that services a number of credit and debit card programs. I’m at the other end of the phone number on the back of their cards.
Very embarrassed, for the reasons others have mentioned. Several years ago, I had my debit card declined at the grocery store, had no other means of paying, and had to walk away with no groceries. Maybe for some people this would have been no big deal, but I was mortified.
Even just now as I was typing up this post, I was tempted to make up some bullshit excuse (the mag stripe was deactivated!) as to why the card was declined, to make me look like less of a dumbass. No, I had just maxed out my checking account. Because I was a dumbass. And it was embarrassing.
I do have an “emergency” credit card that I almost never use because it’s linked to a foriegn bank account and is a pain in the ass to pay off, but it has a $2000 limit so I can always count on it to work if I’ve maxed out my debit card without realizing it. Hasn’t happened lately though, thank God.
Long ago in a gas station far, far away, I used to be that kid you came to after pumping your own gas and plunked down your credit card as payment inside the office (before you could do it at the pump). Yup, I’m the same one that tried to ring up your charge but the card was denied. It was also back in the day that the credit card companies told us to confiscate your credit card right then and there, too! That wasn’t difficult because the credit card companies had bounties on their cards, ranging from $10 to $100. I confiscated quite a few cards worth a $100 bounty each.
Today, the card companies don’t do that. They would rather have you max out your card and be declined, because they make just that more blood money with their fees. They really don’t want you to stop using your card, nor want the card confiscated.
I didn’t feel sorry for you back then because you couldn’t mange your money. I don’t feel sorry for you now for exactly the same reason.
Having a card declined announces loudly “She’s irresponsible and has wasted all of her money. Plus, she’s trying to steal from you by attempting to buy something that she knows she can’t pay for.”
So wastrel and thief. I don’t like those labels. Humiliating.
Doesn’t bother me in the least. It’s happened a few times. Once I forgot to pay the bill. Whatever. The other times were mixups with getting a new card or something; I don’t remember the specifics.
The time I forgot to pay the bill I actually knew there might be a problem. I said, “try this, it may not work, but I’d rather use this one if it does,” because I get airline miles for that one. When it didn’t I just used the debit card from my checking account, which I don’t really keep track of but always has a few months pay in it.
No. I just had a credit card declined twice this weekend - it was because I had made a fairly large purchase at Target, then tried to make a much larger purchase at Best Buy the next day when it was declined. It was no big deal because I know that’s how they typically guard against fraud. So I used my debit card because I knew I had plenty to cover it.
I was a little concerned, though, when I dropped by a gas station for some snacks for a trip that same day and was declined a second time, even though the purchase was for under $20, so I called and it was as I thought - suspected fraud. They had my card marked as compromised so they arranged to send me a new one. I think having my card declined is more concerning rather than embarrassing - I keep up on my payments, paying them off completely every month - so getting declined is more likely to make me suspect that someone else has my card number than elicit embarrassment.