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Christmas is coming ....so they tell me....
As I hate any type of Christmas shopping that involves going into shops, I have a mantra.."If it can't be bought online...it doesn't get bought'...(It works for me....usually) 
Last night at 22.15, in an effort to kick off my present buying I went into the Carphone Warehouse online site
I purchased, without problem a Samsung Gear watch......(or so I thought)....
I received the email order acknowledgement and went to bed happy (thinking as you do...that was another present bought) 
This morning, I received a text from my bank asking if I had attempted a purchase for £249..If Yes I was to press Y and they 'would unblock my card'....I pressed Y..and had another text back saying 'we have now unblocked your card.Please re-order the item'....
No problem I thought, this bank is putting into place good security measures.....
So I went in and filled in all the purchase details again...time consuming...but hey?.. However, before I pressed buy now..I rang CPW (I wanted to make sure I didn't buy 2 watches) 
Lovely guy on the phone...Assured me he would cancel the first order and stay on the phone till the second order was cleared...
He waited....and waited...and waited (as did I).....
The second transaction did not go through.... 
I rang my bank ...enraged...
Apparently my text did NOT unblock my card immediately as promised. Bank CS had to go through to their Fraud Dept and get them manually to unblock it...
Here is the 'joke' of all this easy online ordering malarky
For the THIRD time I needed to re-order this watch...which I did...and then ring CPW again to check that the 3rd transaction had gone through...
Eureka ...it has been processed apparently...and I am assured by CPW...I should get this watch tomorrow.....
Will I get one watch or three...?? We will see...
Moral to this tale.... Online shopping aint all it is cracked up to be...
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Was this because you were trying to make the purchase from abroad?
The problem wasn't with CPW, but with your bank, who obviously need to sort out their security checks. I'm sure you would rather them have their fraud security working properly than not at all. Sounds as if CPW did all they could to assist you.
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Security is obviously there to protect us all but I'm guessing the guy picking up text messages had gone walkabout or busy online ordering his own Christmas purchases. 
These things, as you have found are much better over the phone. If I take a call in the bank it's an immediate release if I remove a fraud alert from a card after the initial security checks.
Hope your lad enjoys the phone:smileyhappy:
My Christmas shopping is so very easy these days. Transfer money into ny sons' accounts and leave them to choose what to buy for the family. Amazon vouchers for my best mate and boots vouchers for his wife. All delivered painlessly and easily on line leaving me to get on with all the necessities in Thailand.:smileyhappy:
Now, shopping for a certain lady over there can be a little traumatic.....
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I'm sure you'll happily enjoy the trauma.
Have a safe trip.
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In fairness and in relation to bambinos question about being abroad...No I am back in the UK...but this is the first time I have used this card since returning from Spain...so in a way I can understand it
I have no problem with CPW...they went out of their way to give excellent customer service...
The bank in its own way was also good by querying this amount...
BUT my anger is aimed at the system of texting by the bank to check...and the delay in lifting the block
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Annoys the hell out of me, not when they do it, but when decline and say they'll be in touch to confirm before allowing the transaction.
Last time I did it, i tried the transaction at approximately 10pm and up popped the message saying I would be contacted to confirm the transaction.
3am I got an automated message asking me to press 1 to accept the transaction, 3am!!
Last time I did it, i tried the transaction at approximately 10pm and up popped the message saying I would be contacted to confirm the transaction.
3am I got an automated message asking me to press 1 to accept the transaction, 3am!!
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@Cleoriff wrote:In fairness and in relation to bambinos question about being abroad...No I am back in the UK...but this is the first time I have used this card since returning from Spain...so in a way I can understand it
I have no problem with CPW...they went out of their way to give excellent customer service...
The bank in its own way was also good by querying this amount...
BUT my anger is aimed at the system of texting by the bank to check...and the delay in lifting the block
Sorry. Wasn't sure where you were. If you've been using the card in different countries, then that's probably the reason why that happened. My bank doesn't use that kind of system. I never receive texts. It only uses Verified by Visa, which always works.
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Last time I tried booking the flight to Thailand (September) with a credit card that I use very infrequently, I got a message that I would receive a call from the fraud department to verify the usage as it was out of my normal spending pattern. I attempted the transaction at 9am and the call came through at 4.45pm!
Needless to say I had already used a different card to secure the flight.
