AIB have frozen my credit card because I travelled abroad.

Andy!!

I've been saying for years that I've had it up to here with AIB, yet they are the bank that keep on giving (grief). :mad:

Their latest escapade was to freeze my credit card because I travelled abroad and that must mean it got stolen, because people never travel!

But thanks to their awful customer service, I cannot find the right email address to report this on their website. I'm not calling them, it's expensive and their screw-up. Does anyone know what email address I should send an email to to have them unfreeze my card? How long will it take to unfreeze, should be automatic right?

Any help would be appreciated.

Brokentime

Andy!! wrote: »

I've been saying for years that I've had it up to here with AIB, yet they are the bank that keep on giving (grief). :mad:

Their latest escapade was to freeze my credit card because I travelled abroad and that must mean it got stolen, because people never travel!

But thanks to their awful customer service, I cannot find the right email address to report this on their website. I'm not calling them, it's expensive and their screw-up. Does anyone know what email address I should send an email to to have them unfreeze my card? How long will it take to unfreeze, should be automatic right?

Any help would be appreciated.

They won't do it by email, Andy. Get a male friend back home to call them. Something similar happened me in China; got my Dad to call them, problem sorted.

ScouseMouse

In the day and age of scams, scams, and more scams, I think you are being a bit unreasonable.

Do you do much travelling? I am just back from the states and I took the precaution of notifying my cc company. I would much prefer them to be on guard than lax.

If your card gets skimmed or stolen, you will be glad they are watching.

Swampy

Common procedure. Call the number on the back of the credit card.

hognef

Andy!! wrote: »

I've been saying for years that I've had it up to here with AIB, yet they are the bank that keep on giving (grief). :mad:

Their latest escapade was to freeze my credit card because I travelled abroad and that must mean it got stolen, because people never travel!

But thanks to their awful customer service, I cannot find the right email address to report this on their website. I'm not calling them, it's expensive and their screw-up. Does anyone know what email address I should send an email to to have them unfreeze my card? How long will it take to unfreeze, should be automatic right?

Any help would be appreciated.

Same thing happened to me several weeks ago. Spent a considerable amount of money calling them - phone number should be at the back of the card. Although they haven't accepted any fault, they have eventually agreed to refund me for the phone calls. I've only just sent them a copy of my phone bill - hopefully will have the refund soon.

speedboatchase

I'm moving in three weeks but plan on continuing to use my CC for iTunes purchases and the likes - should I call the number on the back of the card to tell them beforehand?

ScouseMouse

Moving to where? If you usually use your card on itunes, they should not flag itunes as its normal. If you move to russia/nigeria/china and start using it in shops, expect it to be blocked unless you tell them.

I was in work one night and paid three euro online for something. Within FIVE minutes, MBNA rang my shop number and mobile querying it. I was happy to know they were watching my back:D

speedboatchase

superscouse wrote: »

Moving to where? If you usually use your card on itunes, they should not flag itunes as its normal. If you move to russia/nigeria/china and start using it in shops, expect it to be blocked unless you tell them.

I was in work one night and paid three euro online for something. Within FIVE minutes, MBNA rang my shop number and mobile querying it. I was happy to know they were watching my back:D

I'm moving to Qatar for at least 18 months. I reckon I'll just give them a ring beforehand and explain that.

monkeypants

They're not watching your back, they're watching their own. Fraud will cost them and not you.

Brokentime

speedboatchase wrote: »

I'm moving to Qatar for at least 18 months. I reckon I'll just give them a ring beforehand and explain that.

Can I ask you what you'll be doing in Qatar?

ScouseMouse

monkeypants wrote: »

They're not watching your back, they're watching their own. Fraud will cost them and not you.

If it can be shown you were negligent, it is on your back.

speedboatchase

Brokentime wrote: »

Can I ask you what you'll be doing in Qatar?

Writing for the newsletter and magazine of a fairly well known organisation over there.

Brokentime

speedboatchase wrote: »

Writing for the newsletter and magazine of a fairly well known organisation over there.

Lost job in Ireland, or just a change of scene?

speedboatchase

Brokentime wrote: »

Lost job in Ireland, or just a change of scene?

I think we're starting to get off-topic here! No, I do enjoy my current job a lot and they're sad to have me leave but in terms of bulking up my CV, having a new adventure and earning a lot than my current wage, it was a no-brainer.

Brokentime

speedboatchase wrote: »

I think we're starting to get off-topic here! No, I do enjoy my current job a lot and they're sad to have me leave but in terms of bulking up my CV, having a new adventure and earning a lot than my current wage, it was a no-brainer.

Totally off topic, my bad.

Still, sounds like a good career move.

It's the weird thing about a credit card, though. I mean, you're supposed to be able to use them all around the world, but when you do it causes alerts. Still, I don't know of any credit card company or bank that would accept an email as a way of making any changes to an account.

Thoie

Their systems are designed to flag "unusual" activity, but defining that is difficult. For example, if you only got your card 12 months ago, and have only ever used it within a 5 mile radius of your house, then going to a different part of the country might be considered unusual.

I usually just call my local branch in advance if I'm going anywhere weird, or planning a bunch of unusual transactions in a short period of time.

Brokentime

Thoie wrote: »

I usually just call my local branch in advance if I'm going anywhere weird

Hello, Bank? I plan to go to a lapdancing joint this weekend

Thoie

Brokentime wrote: »

Hello, Bank? I plan to go to a lapdancing joint this weekend

"Where I'll be buying a variety of highly overpriced drinks, starting with a Cosmopolitan."

Knowing my bank, the nice lady who usually answers the phone would say "Ooh, that's lovely Thoie, is it for a special occasion? How are your mum and dad getting on, will they be going with you?"

chris85

Andy!! wrote: »

I've been saying for years that I've had it up to here with AIB, yet they are the bank that keep on giving (grief). :mad:

Their latest escapade was to freeze my credit card because I travelled abroad and that must mean it got stolen, because people never travel!

But thanks to their awful customer service, I cannot find the right email address to report this on their website. I'm not calling them, it's expensive and their screw-up. Does anyone know what email address I should send an email to to have them unfreeze my card? How long will it take to unfreeze, should be automatic right?

Any help would be appreciated.

Chillax man. This happens to prevent fraud on accounts. They are in a catch 22. They must weigh up the risk of letting the card be used (with possible fraud) or freeze it (which causes hassle to the customer).

However I am sure you would be thankful that your card was frozen if you were in Ireland and some randomer was having a happy time on your card abroad.

Email wont work by the way as mentioned. You will need to call them and get it sorted.

kegzmc

They did this to me too when in the phillipines.

Took me about a day of screaming and ranting down the phone to the useless twats to get it sorted.

Stupid fu(king b@stards...

Thoie

kegzmc wrote: »

They did this to me too when in the phillipines.

Took me about a day of screaming and ranting down the phone to the useless twats to get it sorted.

Stupid fu(king b@stards...

Odd - the only time it happened me I called them, said "Hey, I'm Thoie, I'm abroad and my card has been declined, could you check that for me please?". They took my details, got me to answer some security questions, lifted the stop and wished me a pleasant trip.

my UB card got blocked because i tried to make a massive purchase on flights - i'm glad they're so on the ball
politely answered a few security questions and that was that

chris85

kegzmc wrote: »

They did this to me too when in the phillipines.

Took me about a day of screaming and ranting down the phone to the useless twats to get it sorted.

Stupid fu(king b@stards...

Phillipines has a lot of fraudulent activity attached to it. Probably took you so long to get it sorted due to the screaming and ranting. A quick call and ask them to lift the block and its done. Trust me, they want you to be spending money on the card, but will not risk fraudulent activity as costs them dearly.

BuffyBot

Indeed, it's a common security precaution. Call the number on the back of your card - you an reverse the charges and all

Mort5000

Andy!! wrote: »

Does anyone know what email address I should send an email to to have them unfreeze my card?

AIB Contact Points

"Enquiry Form", top-ish right on the above page.

Lemming

superscouse wrote: »

If you usually use your card on itunes, they should not flag itunes as its normal.

You'd think. But when a long running (try upwards of five years at the time) recurring subscription keeps getting flagged, despite constantly having to ring to have your card unblocked and promises of "oh we've added a note/exclusion/insert bullsh*t excuse for this month", I'm dubious of how discriminatory or intelligent their alerts system is.

Swampy wrote: »

Common procedure. Call the number on the back of the credit card.

Oh yes, it was common procedure for me to have to call them. Constantly. Repeatedly. Every other f*cking month. Then I moved country, changed the billing account and all has been bliss ever since. Now to sort out the last of the oustanding bills and I'll wave goodbye to AIB forever.

Andy!!

Mort5000 wrote: »

AIB Contact Points

"Enquiry Form", top-ish right on the above page.

Tried this, they have not responded, hence my asking. I will try to call.

dotsman

Andy!! wrote: »

I've been saying for years that I've had it up to here with AIB, yet they are the bank that keep on giving (grief). :mad:

Their latest escapade was to freeze my credit card because I travelled abroad and that must mean it got stolen, because people never travel!

But thanks to their awful customer service, I cannot find the right email address to report this on their website. I'm not calling them, it's expensive and their screw-up. Does anyone know what email address I should send an email to to have them unfreeze my card? How long will it take to unfreeze, should be automatic right?

Any help would be appreciated.

I assume, of course, that you notified them in advance of your travels? If not, then it's not "awful customer service", merely "awful customer". Think of it this way - in the event that your card is ever used fraudulently, are you happy to pay them back all the money stolen?

Forget emailing. Ring the number on the back of the card and politely inform the person that you are travelling.

monkeypants wrote: »

They're not watching your back, they're watching their own. Fraud will cost them and not you.

Nope, they watching your back. That is why they automatically cover your losses unless you clearly were irresponsible with the card.

kegzmc wrote: »

They did this to me too when in the phillipines.

Took me about a day of screaming and ranting down the phone to the useless twats to get it sorted.

Stupid fu(king b@stards...

You're lucky it only took a day considering you were "screaming and ranting". However, for normal people, a polite 5 minute call is all it takes.

Andy!!

dotsman wrote: »

I assume, of course, that you notified them in advance of your travels? If not, then it's not "awful customer service", merely "awful customer". Think of it this way - in the event that your card is ever used fraudulently, are you happy to pay them back all the money stolen?

A. I was running around like a headless chicken packing, moving out of my place, arranging visas, arranging flights, new job related stuff, and generally preparing to upend myself and leave the country forever. You'll excuse me if I didn't think to tell AIB that I would be doing so. I told them to switch statements back to my family home address etc. but didn't think about the current problem I am having. Maybe they should have mentioned it? Had customer service had 2 brain cells to rub together. I would say this would not even occur to most customers to do, even though it does make sense in hindsight.

B. They have some slight clues that the card was not being used fraudulently, considering I have been paying the bloody thing off. :rolleyes: Had there been something wrong, I would have noticed, and reported it.

C. Why would I be paying the money back if it was stolen? Do you understand the concept of 'victim'? Banks have insurance for this, and are by no means skint (not when it comes to protecting their own money anyway), and have staff dedicated to investigating and getting the money back.

Sorry I'm an 'awful customer' though :rolleyes: Boy, the stories I could tell you about AIB...

ScouseMouse

Andy!! wrote: »

A. I was running around like a headless chicken packing, moving out of my place, arranging visas, arranging flights, new job related stuff, and generally preparing to upend myself and leave the country forever. You'll excuse me if I didn't think to tell AIB that I would be doing so. I told them to switch statements back to my family home address etc. but didn't think about the current problem I am having. Maybe they should have mentioned it? Had customer service had 2 brain cells to rub together. I would say this would not even occur to most customers to do, even though it does make sense in hindsight.

B. They have some slight clues that the card was not being used fraudulently, considering I have been paying the bloody thing off. :rolleyes: Had there been something wrong, I would have noticed, and reported it.

C. Why would I be paying the money back if it was stolen? Do you understand the concept of 'victim'? Banks have insurance for this, and are by no means skint (not when it comes to protecting their own money anyway), and have staff dedicated to investigating and getting the money back.

Sorry I'm an 'awful customer' though :rolleyes: Boy, the stories I could tell you about AIB...

Still think you are unreasonable and as for awful customer, more arrogant customer.

cazzak79

A lot of money is lost due to fraud once a card is used outside the country it's flagged and a stop put to it they have no way of knowing unless u tell them
That your abroad did you give them a reason when u were changing your address for statements
All banks are the same in this way not just Aib
You will have to ring them for security reasons anybody with your email address could email them saying your abroad

alie

Andy!! wrote: »

I've been saying for years that I've had it up to here with AIB, yet they are the bank that keep on giving (grief). :mad:

Their latest escapade was to freeze my credit card because I travelled abroad and that must mean it got stolen, because people never travel!

But thanks to their awful customer service, I cannot find the right email address to report this on their website. I'm not calling them, it's expensive and their screw-up. Does anyone know what email address I should send an email to to have them unfreeze my card? How long will it take to unfreeze, should be automatic right?

Any help would be appreciated.

That also happened to my sister in law when they were in oz , very Embaressing.

BuffyBot

B. They have some slight clues that the card was not being used fraudulently, considering I have been paying the bloody thing off. :rolleyes: Had there been something wrong, I would have noticed, and reported it.

Actually, you would be surprised how many people don't..

ScouseMouse

Its obvious your mind is made up and you dont care what anyone says.

Arrogant is definately the word is :rolleyes:

Andy!!

superscouse wrote: »

Arrogant is definately the word is :rolleyes:

I'm an english teacher (that's what I am doing abroad) and I can help you with your sentence construction. It might take a while but I am a good teacher! PM me your skype and I will send you pricing.

BuffyBot

Kind I remind everyone that courtesy and respect are not optional extras on this forum.

imprezat

All - just an FYI.

I was advised by a friend on the pre-call AIB to prevent being cut off.
I called my branch and they told me they would cut it off anyway - even though I was informing them in advance. This was to prevent an issue (for example someone could steal my card while I was away).

I asked was there anything I could do to ensure I have money there....the response?

"Bring Cash"

I'm sorry but this is not helpful, in a word it's Lazy.

I'm going for months so this is a serious pain.

PS the call was 5 minutes and I was very polite.
Oh and the same phone call with my NIB account went...thank you, we will not lock the card.

Thoie

Report that conversation to the manager of your AIB branch. I usually ring my AIB branch to tell them the same thing, and never received a response like that.

donalg1

Like others have said, anytime I go abroad I let them know the dates I will be out of the country as I dont want this happening, its common practice these days and widely known about. Pretty much everyone I know does this when going abroad.

And making a phone call before I go away is better than having someone in another country running up charges on my card and the CC Company doing nothing about it tbh.

roro2

imprezat wrote: »

I was advised by a friend on the pre-call AIB to prevent being cut off.
I called my branch and they told me they would cut it off anyway - even though I was informing them in advance. This was to prevent an issue (for example someone could steal my card while I was away).

Letting them know about expected travel plans will not prevent a block being put on the card in the event of suspicious transactions appearing, but it may help them decide whether suspicious transactions may be fraudulent. It's not a black and white issue.

No excuse if they were rude though. I haven't had that experience.

chris85

imprezat wrote: »

All - just an FYI.

I was advised by a friend on the pre-call AIB to prevent being cut off.
I called my branch and they told me they would cut it off anyway - even though I was informing them in advance. This was to prevent an issue (for example someone could steal my card while I was away).

I asked was there anything I could do to ensure I have money there....the response?

"Bring Cash"

I'm sorry but this is not helpful, in a word it's Lazy.

I'm going for months so this is a serious pain.

PS the call was 5 minutes and I was very polite.
Oh and the same phone call with my NIB account went...thank you, we will not lock the card.

A can agree its not a helpful response from the branch, thats fair enough, but the advice is sound enough. Always bring some cash to foreign country, dont rely solely on cards for immediate funds. Have some cash as well as card.

Andy!!

roro2 wrote: »

It's not a black and white issue.

It really is. It's either you using the card, or it isn't.

Finally got my card unblocked. I'm shocked that even notifying them beforehand won't prevent the block, that is absolutely ridiculous. Glad I emigrated. Ireland is a sinking ship and the apathy and idiocy of the banks is at the core of it. You know how you have to wait to have a current account card posted out to you and it takes several days in Ireland? I got mine issued to me straight away in the branch upon opening my account over here :pac: And it's as secure as AIB's system because it's all sealed up etc. The Irish banks just do things in whatever way suits them best, and screw the regular joe.

Our man in Havana

I'm shocked that even notifying them beforehand won't prevent the block

Hence I never bother. It is a waste of a phone call.
In 20 years of travelling all over the world I have never had my cards blocked. And I do use them in many strange places.

Andy!!

So, um, what's your secret? If you never notify them beforehand, that is.

wonski

Andy!! wrote: »

It really is. It's either you using the card, or it isn't.

Finally got my card unblocked. I'm shocked that even notifying them beforehand won't prevent the block, that is absolutely ridiculous. Glad I emigrated. Ireland is a sinking ship and the apathy and idiocy of the banks is at the core of it. You know how you have to wait to have a current account card posted out to you and it takes several days in Ireland? I got mine issued to me straight away in the branch upon opening my account over here :pac: And it's as secure as AIB's system because it's all sealed up etc. The Irish banks just do things in whatever way suits them best, and screw the regular joe.

Notifying them beforehand won't prevent the block, it is related to irregular/large amount/potentially fraudable transaction more than to location itself. The fact that you notified them about your holidays may help, but it is not guarantee to have every single transaction accepted regardless what it could be. And rightly so because then you have people with stolen wallets complaining to banks...

I understand it is annoying, but that's how it works.
You can always cancel your cards/close accounts in Ireland, and use local banks... Since you emigrated this would make sense.

minsbarron

Thoie wrote: »

Odd - the only time it happened me I called them, said "Hey, I'm Thoie, I'm abroad and my card has been declined, could you check that for me please?". They took my details, got me to answer some security questions, lifted the stop and wished me a pleasant trip.

Same as, couldn't have been more helpful.

Our man in Havana

Andy!! wrote: »

So, um, what's your secret? If you never notify them beforehand, that is.

I just use them as normal, never had an issue.

Andy!!

The saga with this bunch of incapable muppet lords continues.

So I'm using the card again, but it has been several days and these entries have not shown up on my online account yet so I cannot pay them off, which I need to do (student credit card, low limit). And now the bloody internet banking is down so I can't even check if they have appeared! The worse thing about living in a country that isn't third world like Ireland is that whatever interactions I still have with the Irish 'system' are even more painful...

Andy!!

Andy!! wrote: »

The saga with this bunch of incapable muppet lords continues.

So I'm using the card again, but it has been several days and these entries have not shown up on my online account yet so I cannot pay them off, which I need to do (student credit card, low limit). And now the bloody internet banking is down so I can't even check if they have appeared! The worse thing about living in a country that isn't third world like Ireland is that whatever interactions I still have with the Irish 'system' are even more painful...

Can you not just pay the rough amount and have a negative balance on your card? I've done that myself a few times to save an extra trip to the bank the next month.

Andy!!

I would love to try, if I could even log in. I never thought of paying money off it even if it doesn't show up... you reckon that would work?

Savman

Why don't you get a new credit card in one of those super wonderful countries that's clearly miles better than third world Ireland? You are sounding like a broken record at this stage. If you think Ireland is still in the stone age I suggest you never visit Mexico or parts of Asia for example. First world problems indeed.

Give it a rest already, in case you haven't noticed the mighty US of A hasn't even embraced chip & pin technology and still make you sign for card transactions manually. Your card was frozen by an over zealous fraud team who are entitled to protect their own asses, all banks are the same btw.

Ireland a third world? Spare me please.