20050705   

Lost or Stolen Credit Cards

Michael considered fate at 14:23   |   Permalink   |   Post a Comment

Since I just had to go through the ordeal of canceling all my credit cards, let me share my experiences.

1. Credit Card Customer Service 1-800 numbers almost always have an automated system that asks you to enter your Credit Card number before you reach an operator. This is not exactly possible if you DON'T HAVE YOUR CREDIT CARD. In most cases, I had to bumble around the menus for a few minutes before finding the option to report a lost card. Of the cards I cancelled, only Chase had a phone number that was specifically for reporting lost cards.

2. It is almost impossible to find these phone numbers using 1-800 directory assistance. If you do find it, it is likely offline during the night (at, say, 2AM when you are trying to cancel your cards from a hotel lobby). The only card I was able to find 24hr service for was American Express, which also provided the most friendly service.

3. Banks merge ALL THE TIME and tracking down the number for your card can be a pain in the ass. I recently got an Amazon.com Visa because they had a $30 rebate offer.. but the card is issued through a third party bank (Bank One... or Chase.. or First USA.. apparently all the same). It took me a bit of time to track down the correct bank.

Having had this problem, I might now do what I *should* have done a long time ago: save a copy of all the 1-800 numbers from the backs of my credit cards in an email on my yahoo account so I always have access to these numbers if I can at least get to a computer.