Loading ...I have a local bank MC credit card with Hawaiian Air miles that is administered by Barclays. I rarely use it… mainly for online purchases. Always pay it off. Keep it mainly to keep my local airline miles account active.
Today I received a letter in the mail from Barclays saying my account had been blocked because they ‘tried to reach out to me’ and had no contact, and the Patriot Act requires them to verify identity… blah blah blah… Just sign in to your account online and…. (I had received NO prior notice of them wanting this information.)
DAMMIT! I do not do my credit cards ‘online’. I dunno what my account name and PW are. Tried following instructions to set up online account access… bounced. “Already Existing Account; Half an hour of frustration before the denial page FINALLY gave me a phone number.
Upon finally working thru the phone tree and getting a real, live, customer service agent, she said she could help me. The ONLY ‘patriot act’ question they wanted from me was…
“Has anything changed about your name, address, or income status in the past year?”
AYFKM? NO!
For this they blocked my account and hassled me. I was a millisecond away from cancelling the account and sending the card pieces back to them. Even the customer agent was a little amused when she said “That’s all they wanted!” She was nice about clearing my account and said she understands about not wanting online access… she does not do it either!
*#!% (Grumble)
Freaking unPatriot Act. Identity does not change. I receive my mailed statements, I pay my bills with a check with my account information from the bank. They have all the information they need. It is absolutely WRONG of them to assume everyone has online access and proficiency with their online account… and to not provide easy phone access to ‘customer services’.