So, while I'm over here in the US, I figured that I'd avail myself of a
shiny new Sony notebook. It's the SRX87 in the US, which is the rough
equivalent of the SRX51 in the UK -- tres cute - really small, built-in
802.11 wireless etc.

Apparently these things are rarer than hen's teeth -- I've been dragging the
guys to every computer store between Seattle and San Jose in search of one.
Everybody seems to have one in stock, but it always turns out to be the
display model.

This morning, I rang CompUSA in Santa Clara, and to my delight, they had 6
in stock. Unfortunately, they _still_ have 6 in stock :-(

We drove over there this evening and I attempted to buy one. Unfortunately,
I left my passport in the hotel, so I used my UK photo drivers license.
This has allowed me on planes, post-9/11, so I guess it's good enough for
the FAA.

Unfortunately, it's not good enough for CompUSA and VISA, because after the
manager spent 30 (thirty) minutes on the phone, they declined my card.

Bummer.

That's not all, though. They also asked the retailer to _hold_ _my_ _card_
and post it back to VISA. Considering that I'm just starting a two-week
holiday (g/f joins me tomorrow), this is a bit of an arse.

I took the phone from the manager, and gave the VISA bird a bollocking, and
fortunately, they let me have my card back. Of course, now I'm going to be
scared to buy a bagel with it in case I get arrested and sent to Cuba for
fraud.

When the UK wakes up in a few hours, I'm going to have some choice things to
say to Lloyds Bank and VISA.

Rant over,
Roger.

Did they give you the "it's for your protection" BS even though you are only liable for the first 50.00 if the card is stolen. (at least in the USA anyway)

Wankers.

It reminds me of the occasion when it took me 20 minutes to convince a liquor store employee that a US Residence Card was an acceptable bit of ID. It's probably the most forge-proof piece of plastic I've ever seen. LOL.

Wow. That one got straight through the anti-swear censor.

Jeez, Roger, don't you know Instant Karma when you see it?

What were you thinking, trying to buy a new laptop the day before your girlfriend arrives for an overseas vacation?

What were you thinking, trying to buy a new laptop the day before your girlfriend arrives for an overseas vacation?

That's easy -- "If I can hide it in my suitcase until we're getting on the plane to go home, she can't make me return it!"

I used to be with Lloyds Bank. I wont go into details, but let's just say they are utter wankers. I have since used cahoot and Virgin One accounts, both have been brilliant.

My co-director was the subject of a fairly substantial credit card fraud, in fact it was featured on a UK television programme.

One of the things that came out was how their computers monitor untypical usage, leading on from which, which they don't seem to publicise, if you tell them when and where you are going on holiday/business, it can take account of that in monitoring.

I can't say whether that would have helped you, but it might have done.

Have you ever had any fraudulent charges on your card? Your acccount may have been 'locked down' to only accepting UK transactions (even if the fraud was UK based). If that is the case, then you'll need to notify them of all foreign spending.

We got this quite often when processing orders for the empeg eStore.

their computers monitor untypical usage

This is Roger we're talking about. Buying expensive laptops on the other side of the world the day before his girlfriend turns up is typical usage...

Peter

Yeah, I suspect that he's more pissed off about the fact he can't use the old "Oh, that? Had it for months, didn't you notice it?" excuse when she turns up....

Seriously - I have had almost exactly the same experience with a Lloyds VISA at the head of a lengthy queue of impatient people with over 500 pounds of spare parts lying on the counter, only two hours away from a flight to NL. It was refused, and they were told to withhold the card. When I spoke on the phone to the bloke at the VISA office, I was told the same thing - "Untypical spending". Apparently, me spending money at a parts counter that I use all the time, with more than enough to cover the amount in the account, was "Untypical". This, in spite of the fact that the signature matched, that I had provided the asked for identification (driver's license with photo).While I applaud their attempts to be alert and pre-emptive, asking for the card to be withheld by the guy serving me (who is a personal friend, for God's sakes, and authenticated me over the phone) was what utterly ticked me off.

Buying expensive laptops on the other side of the world the day before his girlfriend turns up is typical usage...

If he's always doing it, he must have a heap of lap tops in his corner, I'm in Peterborough, friday, could I pop down and relieve him of one?

I always travel with four credit cards, kept in a location almost as secure as my Empeg. Although I generally only use the one, it has got me out of this precise situation and, more frequently, got me cash from choosy ATM's.

Can't the poor lad tell the girlfriend that the Company has provided it for his work and it shows how highly regarded and valuable he is to the team!

Does a girlfriend have a right to get upset because her boyfriend bought himself a toy? Gee, I wouldn't think so.....
I would hope that she wouldn't care.

I was over in NY last month and found that two days into my trip, my Egg card had been frozen. But get this, it wasn't for the transactions I had made whilst over there, it was because I had two purchases from Amazon US within a couple of days of each other. Needless to say, I gave the person on the other end of the phone a good talking to and the phone call didn't cost me penny either! That said, it nearly cost me my trip to the empire state building which, when ascending the lift attendant gleefully reminds you that post 9/11 it is now the tallest building in New York again. Can't say it made me feel much better....

I went to Japan about 4 summers ago. When I came back we got a call from VISA about the charges that were made there, checking to make sure my card wasn't one of many stolen at the Nagano Olympics

I would hope that she wouldn't care

Precisely my thinking when I bought the Empeg.....An AudiTT....An MGf....4 Sony CD changers....A Hymer Motorhome....A 42" Plasma Screen...Heck, I wish she'd put her foot down, it was a good year and a fantastic bonus, but heck, I've run out of cash!

In reply to:

---

Precisely my thinking when I bought the Empeg.....An AudiTT....An MGf....4 Sony CD changers....A Hymer Motorhome....A 42" Plasma Screen...

---

Jeepers H Crackers!!!

What on earth do you do? I could probably afford the TT if I stopped paying my mortgage...

That last posting looks ao arrogant, I'm embarrassed!

I'm not so far from you in Leeds, I used at one time to also run a Manchester Office, I've been MD of my own business for 20 years, when you open your MEN and look at the job ads. I'm the largest regional independent advertising agency designing, writing and placing those advertisements.

Own up time:
I sold the TT because I didn't like it, I also sold my wife's Range Rover and bought her a Honda CRV( Which she preferred), when I saw the new company car tax bandings. Then I bought the motorhome.

I first saw and ordered the MGF when I was shown it in the Rover design facility ( A pal of mine was a Director until BMW nuked him! ). Three years later I won the same car, fair and square, in a Daily Telegraph competition.

When I first saw plasma screen TV's, they were £10,000 and I said that I would get one when they we're under £2,000, I relented on a special deal at £2,499.

Where I should be putting money into a pension fund (although I'm not so sure at the moment), I spend it on CD's to add to my 2,000 plus LP's and cassettes, hence the 4 CD Changers, which are linked by a Slink-e from Nirvis.com to a PC, which allows me to reach on CD or MP3, all my collection over 40 years.

My Empeg is used for a large selection from that collection either called up by playlist or at random, plus my entire collection of talking books, but most of the week, whilst driving, I listen to MP2's of BBC radio ( you'll be pleased to hear) particularly: Bob Harris, Paul Jones, Mike Harding, Jools Holland - recorded as DAB on two Wavefinders.

I use a variety of software on two PC's to achieve all this, but only 3 years ago I didn't own a computer and recorded radio programmes on a double cassette deck with an immersion heater timer.

But yes, I've done pretty well in business, considering Robert Maxwell bust me when he fell of the boat and I virtually had to start again and near lost my house.

Hope that answers all your questions and let's me off the hook for making petulant, arrogant postings! I would have sent it to you personally, but I wanted to excuse myself to the whole community.

No, I've never had any fraudulent spending on my card.

The card's been working fine for paying for hotels, etc.. Moreover, the reason that the VISA bird gave me on the phone is that they weren't able to verify the number, not because of atypical spending patterns.

I'm guessing that VISA's computer systems suck, and the fact that I used a form of ID unfamiliar to the manager of CompUSA meant that he got in touch with them. If I'd used my passport, perhaps it wouldn't have got that far, and I'd have been able to walk out with the laptop.

On the bright side, it's meant that I've not had to pay for dinner while we've been here .

I have her permission -- well, I told her that I intended to buy it, and she didn't complain -- which is good enough for me.

I phoned Lloyds this morning. They have no record of the card being declined. I guess this means that VISA US didn't actually bother to check the card thoroughly. They've also said that I should have no further problems with the card.

Either way, I'm going to be careful with it until Jen turns up -- at least that way, we'll have a spare card to use. When I get back to the UK, I'm going to get another credit card, just to be on the safe side in future.

Yeah, I've run into this exact problem before with my credit card... Being a student at a large university requires one to wait in line for ungodly amounts of time to get the priveledge of spending insane amounts of money on textbooks. Last semester, after waiting for forty five minutes, Visa's system was down and couldn't verify my credit card so instead of approving the purchase, they declined it... Of course, at this point, the bookstore wouldn't let me pay by check because they assumed those were bad as I admited they were linked to the same account. (won't do that again) I called my bank and complained, and they said the transaction had never even reached them and there was nothing they could have done...

Matthew

Which screen did you get?

I'm in the offing for one at the moment, and looking at the 42" panasonic, but can't find it for < £3,500.

Just curious.

Paul.

You only have one credit card? What kind of consumer are you?

I have one true credit card (with an amazing $200 limit), and a CompUSA store card. My other "Credit card" ties directly to my bank account. Thats the way I'd like to keep it (and once I pay off the CompUSA card, it's probably going to be canceled).

I prefer my debt to only be on large things, like my car. The only reason I got a loan on my motorcycle was for the credit raiting, I plan on selling stock next year to pay it off.

Does a girlfriend have a right to get upset because her boyfriend bought himself a toy? Gee, I wouldn't think so.....
I would hope that she wouldn't care.

The right? No. The likelihood? Definitely. After all, that's money he could have been spending to get her perishables like flowers and chocolates.

Are you sure you're a woman?

I think that in my case, her reason for getting upset would be more that I can't actually afford a new laptop -- I'm buying it on credit. This is not a big deal -- I'll have the card paid off in a couple of months, probably.

It's just that she's trained as an accountant, and doesn't understand the concept of "retroactively saving" for stuff .

... retroactively saving ...

I believe that's known as ``deficit spending''. You could at least try telling her that.

After all, that's money he could have been spending to get her perishables like flowers and chocolates

Imagine my girlfriend's suprise when I told her the change in my coin bank was going towards the new computer, then I use it to take her out to a nice dinner and a musical she wanted to see. Racked up many points for that one