I spent too much money last week

[RoJoHen]

And now my bank has temporarily closed my account because they think someone stole my credit card! And of course, it's the weekend, so I haven't been able to call them and tell them that has not been stolen. It is, in fact, in my wallet. I just got bored last week and went a little nuts with the spending.

I use that card to pay bills, dammit! I need to be able to use it!

 

[Hermiod]

^Hmmm, in the UK most banks operate 24/7 helplines.

 

[RoJoHen]

Well, mine might, too (I honestly didn't check), but I don't really feel like dealing with this at 2 in the morning. I just think it's funny that I bought so much crap last week that my bank reacted this way.

 

[Thespeckledkiwi]

Sometimes it's a good thing, sometime it's a bad thing.

My mom's credit card got declined one day and then she realized someone used it to buy concert tickets in CA...

 

[RoJoHen]

Oh, I definitely understand the reasons for it, and had someone actually stolen my card I would be grateful for the service, but right now I just wanna download some frickin music from iTunes!

iTunes is what got me into this mess in the first place. I downloaded some music...then I bought a new iPod Touch...then I bought accessories for the iPod Touch...then I got drunk and downloaded a lot more music...then I bought a new printer because my old one broke...

It probably doesn't help that all of these purchases happened at Best Buy at completely different times over the course of about 2 days.

Edit: Oh, and then I got excited for the new Harry Potter movie, so I bought the first 5. And then I bought Season 5 of Buffy because I just finished Season 4.

 

[Hermiod]

Well, mine might, too (I honestly didn't check), but I don't really feel like dealing with this at 2 in the morning. I just think it's funny that I bought so much crap last week that my bank reacted this way.

They've done it to me with my credit card before. I was lucky enough to be on the list of people who had pre-ordered a Xbox 360 in time to get one on the UK launch day.

Thankfully, my bank locked out my credit card due to a suspiciously large purchase after the order had gone through.

Also, I had a job interview with a company that develops this kind of fraud prevention software. Lucky I didn't get it as a whole bunch of people (at least twenty that I know of) who used to work there work at my present employer now due to all the waves of redundancies they've had.

 

[RoJoHen]

Well, I just checked, and they do indeed have a 24-hour number. I am going to go to the gym (a perfectly normal thing to do at 2am), and then I will call them when I get home.

P.S. I am frickin wired right now. I just chugged a cup of green tea for no apparent reason.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

And now my bank has temporarily closed my account because they think someone stole my credit card! And of course, it's the weekend, so I haven't been able to call them and tell them that has not been stolen. It is, in fact, in my wallet. I just got bored last week and went a little nuts with the spending.

I use that card to pay bills, dammit! I need to be able to use it!

I don't know how it works in the US, but can't you simply use your non-creditcard bank pass and pay your bills by online banking?

 

[RoJoHen]

And now my bank has temporarily closed my account because they think someone stole my credit card! And of course, it's the weekend, so I haven't been able to call them and tell them that has not been stolen. It is, in fact, in my wallet. I just got bored last week and went a little nuts with the spending.

I use that card to pay bills, dammit! I need to be able to use it!

I don't know how it works in the US, but can't you simply use your non-creditcard bank pass and pay your bills by internet banking?

I have absolutely no idea what a non-credit card bank pass is.

I pay my bills online...with my credit card.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

And now my bank has temporarily closed my account because they think someone stole my credit card! And of course, it's the weekend, so I haven't been able to call them and tell them that has not been stolen. It is, in fact, in my wallet. I just got bored last week and went a little nuts with the spending.

I use that card to pay bills, dammit! I need to be able to use it!

I don't know how it works in the US, but can't you simply use your non-creditcard bank pass and pay your bills by internet banking?

I have absolutely no idea what a non-credit card bank pass is.

I pay my bills online...with my credit card.

I looked it up; the correct term is a Debit card.

But how does that work, if you've only got a credit card? I've got a credit card as well, but when I use it to pay something, all I get is a second bill, this time from the credit card company, with added cost, so I usually avoid it and simply issue an automatic direct withdrawal. That way, my bills are paid automatically. If something would go wrong, I'd simply issue a cash-back. Only in times of financial problems would I block the direct withdrawals and pay my bills manually, in order to choose which one to hold back for the month after.

Do you have to go through your bills, and pay them one by one, every single month?

 

[RoJoHen]

Well, I have a credit card and a debit card, both through the same bank. There is no added cost for using my credit card as long as I pay it off at the end of the month. Since it's through my bank, I can pay my credit card bill directly from my checking account.

The only reason I've started using my credit card more lately is because I earn reward points. There are no points for using the debit card.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

Reward points.

Can't you pay your credit card bill with your debit card then? At least, I assume that one isn't blocked.

 

[RoJoHen]

Reward points.

Can't you pay your credit card bill with your debit card then? At least, I assume that one isn't blocked.

What's wrong with reward points? They're a big reason people use credit cards...at least in the US.

I'm not worried about paying the credit card bill. I want to USE the credit card to buy other things.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

And now my bank has temporarily closed my account because they think someone stole my credit card!

That happened to me on the way back from Vegas a couple of weeks ago. I stopped in Baker to fill up on gas, and my credit card was declined. I found out when I got home it was because they said the number of high dollar amount out-of-state purchases over a short period of time fit the profile of a stolen credit card. Or someone who had just taken a trip to Las Vegas, as I reminded them. Fortunately I had my debit card with me as well (and cash just in case), or else I might have been stuck in Baker overnight, which is too horrifying to even contemplate.

 

[RoJoHen]

And now my bank has temporarily closed my account because they think someone stole my credit card!

That happened to me on the way back from Vegas a couple of weeks ago. I stopped in Baker to fill up on gas, and my credit card was declined. I found out when I got home it was because they said the number of high dollar amount out-of-state purchases over a short period of time fit the profile of a stolen credit card. Or someone who had just taken a trip to Las Vegas, as I reminded them. Fortunately I had my debit card with me as well (and cash just in case), or else I might have been stuck in Baker overnight, which is too horrifying to even contemplate.

That's what kind of freaks me out about this kind of stuff. I always have cash and my debit card on me as well, but what happens to those people who DON'T? There are lots of people who rely solely on their credit card to make purchases.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

Reward points.

Can't you pay your credit card bill with your debit card then? At least, I assume that one isn't blocked.

What's wrong with reward points? They're a big reason people use credit cards...at least in the US.

I'm not worried about paying the credit card bill. I want to USE the credit card to buy other things.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with reward points... but I am wondering what their value is.

But if you can't use the credit card, right now, to buy other things, you can always use your debit card, right? Or does iTunes not support debit cards?

 

[Locutus of Bored]

^^^ Don't know about his card specifically, but most debit cards from major banks are debit/credit cards now, so it should be fine to use on iTunes. They might even take plain old debit cards too, though I'm not sure since my debit card is also a Mastercard.

That's what kind of freaks me out about this kind of stuff. I always have cash and my debit card on me as well, but what happens to those people who DON'T? There are lots of people who rely solely on their credit card to make purchases.

Well, there was a bit of humorous exaggeration on my part about having to stay in Baker, as I'm sure I could have just called the 24 hour credit card hotline on my cell or the gas station's phone and cleared up the issue right there. I just had a long road ahead of me and wanted to get home, so I didn't call until the next day.

 

[RoJoHen]

Reward points.

Can't you pay your credit card bill with your debit card then? At least, I assume that one isn't blocked.

What's wrong with reward points? They're a big reason people use credit cards...at least in the US.

I'm not worried about paying the credit card bill. I want to USE the credit card to buy other things.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with reward points... but I am wondering what their value is.

But if you can't use the credit card, right now, to buy other things, you can always use your debit card, right? Or does iTunes not support debit cards?

iTunes already has my credit card info, and I don't feel like giving it another form of payment.

Different reward programs have different values. For mine, I can earn gift cards to various stores and restaurants or points for air travel and hotels. There's a whole list of things.

Ultimately, I can buy things with a debit card and earn no points, or I can buy the exact same things with a credit card (for the exact same cost) and earn points. Given those options, why not choose to earn points?

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

iTunes already has my credit card info, and I don't feel like giving it another form of payment.

Then it's not really a matter of "my account is closed and I need to pay my bills", is it? Your opening post was a bit deceiving.

Different reward programs have different values. For mine, I can earn gift cards to various stores and restaurants or points for air travel and hotels. There's a whole list of things.

Ultimately, I can buy things with a debit card and earn no points, or I can buy the exact same things with a credit card (for the exact same cost) and earn points. Given those options, why not choose to earn points?

Oh, we got those type of thing here, as well; Air Miles, [Gas Station Name] Points, [Retail Store Name] Points etc. But it's proven that people are inclined to buy more junk when they get "reward points"; that's the reason most people I know stay as far away from points like those as possible, even if they believe they wouldn't be influenced. Just to be on the safe side.

I usually shop at a few favorite retail stores; they usually offer me a "points card", but I usually decline. It's not as if, for every 50 bucks you spend, you get a gift certificate for 10 bucks; most rewards aren't that high. In the end, even if you buy something useless only once, the money that you spent on that usually outweighs any reward points you'd accumulate over a year or so.

So, is it not better to simply use your debit card and not worry about any points at all?

 

[RoJoHen]

iTunes already has my credit card info, and I don't feel like giving it another form of payment.

Then it's not really a matter of "my account is closed and I need to pay my bills", is it? Your opening post was a bit deceiving.

Different reward programs have different values. For mine, I can earn gift cards to various stores and restaurants or points for air travel and hotels. There's a whole list of things.

Ultimately, I can buy things with a debit card and earn no points, or I can buy the exact same things with a credit card (for the exact same cost) and earn points. Given those options, why not choose to earn points?

Oh, we got those type of thing here, as well; Air Miles, [Gas Station Name] Points, [Retail Store Name] Points etc. But it's proven that people are inclined to buy more junk when they get "reward points"; that's the reason most people I know stay as far away from points like those as possible, even if they believe they wouldn't be influenced. Just to be on the safe side.

It's not as if, for every 50 bucks you spend, you get a gift certificate for 10 bucks; most rewards aren't that high.

Apologies for being misleading. I am in no immediate need to pay bills, but I will have to do it eventually.

And I honestly don't have time to spend money on stuff. I mostly use my credit card to pay rent. The only reason I made so many frivolous purchases last week is because I was on vacation from work, and I was bored. And the iPod Touch was so pretty.