Question
I have read a number of posts where people have received poor service from First USA Bank on different affinity cards they hold, and I'd like to report an example of excellent service I recently received on my Marriott Visa.
I was charging gasoline near home, and the charge was declined. "That's impossible", I told the attendant. "Swipe it again". Same result. I called the number on the back of the card while still at the gas station, and was transferred to First USA's "security department". After properly identifying myself (mother's maiden name, last 4 digits of SSN), I was asked about a $3,000.00 charge from "American Buyers' Service" in Chicago. I replied that I'd never made such a charge. Seems they got a request from this "company" to authorize a $3,000.00 charge, but because it had been "keyed in" (rather than swiped), and because my past charging profile did not typically include purchases that large, they had declined the authorization and had frozen the account. Also, when the request from the scamsters originally came through, they had replied (electronically) that the "merchant" should immediately call them for authorization. Guess what? Right. They received no call. In addition, they've had suspicions about this outfit for a long time, so they decline ANY requests from them, asking to be called instead. That's why I could not use my card for gas! After thanking the person, I paid cash for the gas and drove home. Called the First USA "security department" again from home, and reviewed my charge slips with them, one by one, to check if anything else was phony. No other fraudulent charges, thank goodness. The agent noted that the account should be permanently closed, that legitimate charges should be transferred to a new account, and that new cards should be sent out.
I thanked them again, since even though I would not have had to pay for the phony charge(s), who needs those kind of headaches?
Received the new cards today, with correct Marriott number on them.
I have no idea how the crooks got my number, but it could have been just about anywhere. Just thinking how long your credit card is out of your sight when you send it away with the waiter to pay a restaurant bill gives me the creeps!
Also, we have recently returned from some international travel, so the possibilities that someone lifted my number are endless.
While I have found our group on FT very willing to criticize poor service from merchants or banks, I think we also have an obligation to commend good service when we receive it (which we do, but not as often). I'd call this excellent customer service, wouldn't you?
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While you did receive good customer service, I don't think that it is outstanding ~ after all, you had to call THEM!
My two experiences with 2 other cards -
DHs Visa was stolen while he was comuting on the train to work. He didn't have a clue until CHASE called him at the office & said that there were unusual charges to his card. So, he found out his wallet was missing from Chase & not the other way around.
With Amex - they call ME everytime I go on a shopping binge to make sure it was actually me shopping.
I consider that EXCELLENT customer service!
Not to dimish First Cards service (which I have found to be generally poor) - heck, at least their security dept disable your card pretty quickly http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif.
Mary
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I concur with Mary2e, and have had the same experience. Good service is when your card company calls you when something happens and they're disabling your account, NOT when they leave you stranded at a counter with egg all over your face.
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I thought the Marriott Visa was issued by MBNA.
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On the road, In the air,
I enjoy travel, From here to there.
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I'm with you Captain Mike-I had a similar experience with First USA and found them to be excellant. And they did call me, thought they shut down the "bad" charges first.
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Originally posted by ontheroad:
I thought the Marriott Visa was issued by MBNA.
Mine is First USA.
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Marriott Visa moved to First USA a couple years ago. Before that, a Chicago-based bank had the business.
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Originally posted by ontheroad:
I thought the Marriott Visa was issued by MBNA.
Starwood used to be with MBNA before moving to Amex.
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I had a similar experience with First USA. We have a UA Mileage Plus card. My wife called me from a dept store, upset and embarrassed that her charge had been declined. I called the bank and they told me they had seen a "suspicious" charge and had shut down the account.
Sorry, but I do not consider this good customer service. They should have called immediately to alert us to what they were doing rather than leaving my wife stranded with a useless card and embarrassed about the decline.
One other time we had a suspicious charge with an MBNA card - they called us first to ask and when it turned out it was not our charge, they shut down the card - but not before they warned us. MBNA is a 1st class company - all of my interactions with them have been excellent. First USA is just the opposite, in my opinion.
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Hmmmm... maybe I should think twice about getting a Mileage Plus card from FirstUSA. I agree that freezing accounts before your contact the cardholder is very poor customer service.
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Chase ha sEXCELLENT customer service. i too lost my Chase Visa a few years back, and didn't even realize it until they called me, insisting that some odd charges had shown up on my account. The card turned up, it had been mailed to my dad's house, as I had lost it in Atlanta, and he was the only member of my family there in the phone book. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif
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FirstUSA has a very happy trigger with cancelling cards when charges do not agree with patterns. Been there.
Also, they are not protecting YOU but protecting THEMSELVES by closing down the account. You are not responsible for fraudulent charges anyway!
So, I concur: This is not an example of excellent customer service (that would have been calling you when they closed the card so you don't have to be embarrassed at the store).
It's an example of First USA looking out for themselves pretending they're looking out for you.
[This message has been edited by Droneklax (edited 02-14-2002).]