My credit card was refused on Friday. In a shoe store in Montreal while standing with my mother my credit card was refused.
Of course this was a slightly embarrassing situation, exacerbated by the fact that my mother was standing there, and knowing that my balance should have been more than sufficient to cover the two pair of shoes, I was slightly miffed so I called Wells Fargo Visa and asked them what was going on.
It seems that my card was flagged by their security department. Analyzing my spending patterns they made a decision that there was something hinky, and they called me to check. Of course since I had forgotten to give them my new phone numbers when I moved they were unable to reach me, so they felt that they would rather be safe than sorry and flagged my card. The entire situation was resolved in a phone call when they asked me various bits of information that I should hope nobody else would know off the top of my head, decided that I really was me (why someone would claim to be that was not is beyond me), and about four minutes later I was free to spend again.
It seems that credit card companies have computers that track things such as spending patterns and such. As this was probably the first time I had tried to make any significant (!) purchase in the province of Quebec and I had never bought a few hundred dollars worth of shoes before a flag went up. The young lady that I spoke to at Wells Fargo was named Melanie and I told her that I appreciated the efforts that they made to protect my money, and would be glad to suffer any minor embarrassment any time she felt that I might not really be me, as long as my true identity could be established relatively simply.
The next call that I made was to Rogers Wireless – my Canadian cell phone provider – because I wanted to pay my bill. Wanted is of course a bit of a stretch, but it seems they get irritable when I do not so I try to do it every month. Every time I call them I end up on hold for anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, and I will admit here and now that I am probably not in the best of moods when that time is up.
At the beginning of this call their automated system asks me for a few bits of information to identify myself, including my wireless phone number. I comply because by not doing so I might be wrongly perceived as being a difficult person. It is usually once I have complied that the system puts me on hold for what generally seems like an eternity, but can usually be measured by the mood at the beginning of my call in relation to my mood at the end. They then play a combination of bad music and ads mixed in with an oh-so-incorrect message thanking me for my patience, which the first few times I hear it I politely reply ‘thank you’ and by minute seventeen has me shouting obscenities into the phone.
Eventually someone comes on the phone and again asks me for my phone number. Depending on how long I have been waiting I have been known to tell them to look at either their computer which has already asked me that, or their call display, a feature that I am sure they can afford as they are the ones collecting the money. They then asked me for my birthday and postal code, ‘for security purposes.’
I have two arguments with. Firstly they are asking for information that they consider identifying – something that only I should know. Both of these pieces of information are available on Facebook, along with a thousand other places. This information is public domain, and anyone who wants them frankly does not even need a computer to find them out.
My second argument is that if any of you feel like contributing to my phone bill I would like for you to be able to do so. If you feel that my blog brings you happiness and that you want to repay me by paying my phone bill, I will graciously accept your donation. Unfortunately Rogers Wireless won’t, unless you happen to know my birthday and postal code.
Some time ago I wrote an article here about the difference in customer service between Canada and the United States. Maybe this is a part of that, and should be an addendum to that. I know that Cingular (the New AT&T) has never kept me on hold for more than a minute. They did once cut off my phone because they thought my Social Security Number was phony. This was clarified by my explaining that I did not have a SSN, and to make it up to me they credited me for a month of service. I do not remember the last time Rogers credited me with the time they kept me on hold, let alone anything serious.
So kudos to Wells Fargo Visa and lemons to Rogers. I will continue to use their service until my US cell phone offers me a complete North American plan... but believe me, I am not happy about it.