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Anyone else have this problem with card purchases?

Susquash

Susquash

Master Class
Founding Member
My son is a truck driver in Alaska. While on the road yesterday morning, 1:00 AM, he ordered online a set of specialty loading dies from Widden Gunworks. He tried paying for them with his Visa Debit Card. His card was declined and then shut off. He paid with another credit card. He wondered what the problem was as he had a good balance in his bank account.

Later in the morning he received a call from his Debit Card issurer's Fraud Department. The woman asked if he had tried to make a purchase at 1:00 AM. He told her he had but the card had been declined. The woman ask him if he was trying to buy bullets. He politely advised her what he was buying was none of her business as long as it was a legal transaction. She then asked him if he had been under duress when making the purchase. He told her no. She advised okay the would reactivate his Debit Card.

My son later learned his bank had recently been purchased by a California bank. He believes this treatment is a result of credit card policy from the Obama era where they tried to make it harder to purchase gun and shooting items using credit or debit cards. Needless to say he is looking for a new bank.

Just wondered it any of our members have had similar experiences.
 
Susquash said:
My son is a truck driver in Alaska. While on the road yesterday morning, 1:00 AM, he ordered online a set of specialty loading dies from Widden Gunworks. He tried paying for them with his Visa Debit Card. His card was declined and then shut off. He paid with another credit card. He wondered what the problem was as he had a good balance in his bank account.

Later in the morning he received a call from his Debit Card issurer's Fraud Department. The woman asked if he had tried to make a purchase at 1:00 AM. He told her he had but the card had been declined. The woman ask him if he was trying to buy bullets. He politely advised her what he was buying was none of her business as long as it was a legal transaction. She then asked him if he had been under duress when making the purchase. He told her no. She advised okay the would reactivate his Debit Card.

My son later learned his bank had recently been purchased by a California bank. He believes this treatment is a result of credit card policy from the Obama era where they tried to make it harder to purchase gun and shooting items using credit or debit cards. Needless to say he is looking for a new bank.

Just wondered it any of our members have had similar experiences.
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With more and more fraud with the recent activity this last year I get text from my bank. This is especially when something is out of the norm? As far as asking what the purchase is/for is odd? When I talk to an agent I just confirm/deny the amount/place of purchase. I was home and received a text about an uber(3) rides (2 cali and 1 nd) in the same night. The text came in at 2:00am and I called the fraud dpt instead of text replying. They have never asked what I was purchasing!
 
Worst I have had lately is I went to my Dr. office and then went out to lunch. The restaurants manager tried to keep my bank card. Lucky for me there was a LEO in line behind me and stopped him from keeping it. I used a different card to pay for the food. Turns out my Dr. is using a billing service in New York City and charged my card for the $40 copay. The bank really did tell the manager to keep my card because I couldn't be at home in KY and NY at the same time. I don't use that bank any more. :cool:
 
I had the opposite experience last year when one of my cards was used to buy ammo. The bank flagged the purchase and called me. I informed the rep on the phone that I have purchased ammo online in the past, but I hadn't done so recently (this was a few months before the ammo crisis). The rep on the phone told me that there had been a string of fraudulent ammo purchases across the country, and insisted that the bank had no problems with people purchasing ammo in general. She stated that everything was flagged on that date because the bank recognized the pattern of fraud. The bank cancelled my card and issued me a new one. His denial could've been something similar to my situation, but I still wouldn't put it past the bank to be up to something.
 
I've had an online tire purchase get declined twice when I tried to order on two different cards by the card companies fraud dept who locked up my cards which required me to call to authorize the purchase and unlock the cards. It was frustrating but I understood why it was done. There has been a huge rise in fraud since Covid with thieves taking advantage of companies who are running short staffed during all this.
 
It’s a catch 22 you want/expect your bank to secure your money from fraud but when they deny your purchases it’s frustrating. When I lived in Texas the bank I used questioned every purchase I made online, I finally started calling them before I made the purchase. When I moved to Louisville KY the information on my debit card was copied down at a restaurant and my account hacked. I reacted quickly and the bank gave me all my money back until they back tracked all the fraudulent card use and then took there money back. It was a win.
A tip is to change out your cards every 6 months with new numbers especially after traveling. Most banks make cards in the bank now and they don’t mind.
 
My bank account is currently locked. My wife is a CPA/ financial advisor and she gets text/ computer alerts on literally everything that happens with our bank accounts. A $14.22 pending recurring auto pay allegedly from Amazon appeared Saturday night. The problem is she has an Amazon card and nothing we have ever bought from Amazon comes from our bank accounts. They were of course closed Sunday and the $14.22 went through yesterday morning although she still couldn’t talk to anyone since it was a holiday. So she locked the bank account until she can get it sorted today. Our bank is real good about fraud prevention and will take care of it. The wife says it’s someone fishing. They put a small charge on to see if it goes through and when it does they go ahead and hit the account with large charges. I F’in hate thieves.

The first time anyone asks me about purchasing or owning anything, especially firearm related, that’s it for them. When I was looking for a primary doctor several years ago one of the questions on the form I was supposed to fill out was “ Are there any guns in your home”. I left it blank and when I got in to see the doctor I told him to F off and I told him why. My primary doctor these days is an avid duck hunter and cusses more than I do. :).
 
I'm getting ready to change banks, just haven't had the time to sit and figure where to go and how to do it without disrupting billing cycles and getting late on stuff. I have an idea where I want to go - either BB&T or USAA due to their more "accomodating" policies regarding 2A - I just need to sit and make it happen.

My current bank will be "overly proactive", I'll say to be polite, with card protections. I live in Maryland, but I have family in Florida. I've had my card shut down while driving south to visit, because (bank's words) "it was being used outside of my normal area". When I call them about it, they tell me "you should have told us you're going away from home".

Um...NO.

You turn off my card when I TELL you to turn it off. Otherwise, I get access to MY money, when I want it, and WHERE I want it.

Same bank recently declined a purchase with a contractor. I own a small business and was purchasing cabinets for a kitchen in a rental property. First interaction with this contractor. Card declined repeatedly (great first impression, eh?). I'd already moved the $7k from my account to the card account, so the money was there...but they declined it. The card has a $20k limit anyway, should have been no problem. Used my personal USAA card, zero problems. Went back to my banking app to put the 7k back into my account where it came from...there's no button for that. Go to the branch - "we can submit a request for that, it'll take about 7 days to process".

Um...NO.

It went TO the card instantly, it needs to come back OFF the card just as instantly. Call someone, tell them to push that button, and get me my money back. I'll wait.

Funny...but whoever was on the other end of the phone? Found that button. My money was back in about 10 minutes.

I love USAA and have been with them since I was 14 - the only holdup for me is, no branches. Maybe I'll split things personal/business, some with BB&T and some with USAA. Might have to open an account at Wells Fargo as well, for some family dealings - but at least they aren't total anti-gun like a lot of institutions are these days.

As far as actual fraud calls, I've had banks ask if I made a purchase "at XYZ vendor recently", maybe a dollar amount, but never asked about what product I purchased. If I ever got that...I'd be searching like I am now. Move your money. We can't vote at the polls anymore in this country - all we have left is voting with our wallets. Show them how you feel.
 
This is why I got rid of all my CC’s, I have none, if I need to order online, I go to my WalMart or Kroger store and buy a Visa/Mastercard gift card, and put on the amount I need to, wait a few hours till it’s activated and then go make my purchases. No issues, plus I don’t have to deal with any bank or there stupid 💩they are likely to pull, my opinion.
 
Catch 22. If my bank let someone purchase enough ton empty the account in KY I would be upset since i don't live in KY. I (personally) can't be upset when they stop an intended purchase in KY. I honestly believe that through my many years of activity out in Google Land has left a huge footprint of who I am so I don't get upset when people (card providers) do something that would make me upset if they didn't. I do believe that my gun loving, gun buying, ammo buying, and love for shooting footprint is out there for many to see. The cards action doesn't bother me nearly as much as the bastards that call looking for money or my damn opinion.
 
That's what the FDIC is for - banks are INSURED against loss. If someone empties my account, and I report it, and it is verified that it was fraud, the bank puts my money back and the government puts the bank's money back. If it's fraud and the bank doesn't put the money back? I take them to court. Simple.

Preemptively shutting down MY card when I'M trying to use it (or HAVE to use it, depending on the situation), is unacceptable to me. It's like a red flag law for banking - stop something they think is a crime, before it happens? No, thank you.

You shut down my card when I tell you to. Restricting MY access to MY money because "you thought" something is unacceptable.
 
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