anyone tried using a visa debit card on lastminute.com?

artyeva

well as the title says, WE are trying to use a visa debit card from ulster bank to purchase a holiday with lastminute.ie [lastminute.com].

the system will allow us to input the details, then it brings you to the ''verified by visa'' section, which we've registered for. when we put in our password it comes up as being declined by our bank. we called the customer service number on the ''verified by visa'' page and spoke to someone there and they said that there is an issue with either the address, or the security code on the back of the card.

we contact the bank and they say the address matches perfectly, and the secuity code on the back of the card is fine, so we go back to lastminute.ie and try again - same thing.

we tried phoning them, and on the phone the agent says it's been declined and we need to contact our bank. now as i've worked in customer service dealing with credit cards and authorization centres for nearly 7 years i understand that sometimes when a vendor says ''declined'' their system may be actually saying ''referred'' in that they need to call the visa authorization centre [streamline, etc.,] to get the actual authorization code. but lastminute were refusing to do this. they said they ''didn't have the facility'' and that ''they had never have to ever do that before''.....

now i've worked in retail too and in an average day we'd have to do this at least twice or three times so that doesn't make much sense. anyway, eventually, after 2 days of being on the phone to them they eventually agree to call streamline. and streamline are telling the agent that we need to call our bank. so we contact the bank [for the 8th time now to confirm this]... that the issue is NOT with the card or the card details, but rather the issue lies with lastminute's system - that it's not ''set up properly'' to take the payment.....

we'd go to another holiday company in a heartbeat at this stage but they're coming out over €400 cheaper than anyone else and that's €400 we'd rather have in our pockets

has anyone else had an issue with using an ulster bank visa debit with these guys? how did you resolve it?

Zarabrod

Could the problem be that not all visa cards have a valid from date, we have an on-line store and this can cause problems so we recommend people just put in any date and that lets it through. May not be the issue but worth mentioning. Going anywhere nice at the lastminute ?

artyeva

thanks for the reply. nah - the card has a valid from date alright but lastminute.com only asked for the expiry date. ridiculous customer service from both them and the bank imho. when i worked in customer service and you came across issues like this you always just tried to go that extra mile for the customer cause in the case of a dispute or difference of opinion or whatever you always tried to regain the customer's respect. even if you couldn't physically DO anything you turned over every stone to find out WHY it happened just to inform the customer so the customer went away thinking ''well it wasn't their fault but wow they were so helpful about it''

neither lastminute nor ulster bank have offered or seem willing to actually get to the bottom of what the issue is. which is pants :mad: why bother telling people they can use visa debit cards on their system if you in fact can't. and why tell people there's no problem with your card or account when there in fact is...

/rant

61319680

im not going to be any help to you but just wondering if you could help me given your background in customer services. i tried to book a flight to orlando last week with lastminute and when i got to the final stage it said there was an error i was nt sure if i had made the reservation so checked my emails to see if i git any flight info i never got any email confirming the flight that night i began to search flights again and managed to secure a flight within my budget with go hop .ie last night i discovered that 770 euro went from my account to lastminute for the first flight i still have no email with any flight info ive been ringin their customer service all day they said they sent the email confirming the flight which i stil havent recieved. they contacted continental airlines the airline the ticket was booked with. the outcome was that i was not entitled to any refund i rang the airline and they cant do any thing as all the itinery info is with lastminute everytime i ring im transfered to a call centre in india could you give me any advise im thinkin of going to bank to dispute the transaction thanks

*Simone*

Hi artyeva,

I know this thread is a bit old now, but I just stumbled across it and I would really like to hear how you resolved this, as I have a friend at the moment who is in the EXACT same situation.

She booked with her Ulster Bank Visa Debit card on lastminute.ie, and they said there was a problem with the details and that she needs to contact her bank. She went into the bank, they said all the details are fine, so the problem is with lastminute.

She's been back and forth with her bank and lastminute for the last few days now, with no resolution in sight, and shes really quite upset by it all now.

So how did you sort it out? Was it by lastminute contacting the authorization centre like you mentioned?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as she is quite distressed at this stage. Thanks.