The account is in my husband's name, but I have my own card, and have been using it exclusively for the past eight or nine years, always paying on time... Actually way before it's due... And almost always in full. My history of payment is so good the credit line has been raised a number of times, starting out at $500.00 in the beginning, and is now nearly $8,000.000. My usage is never more than I can comfortably pay off and I have kept the purchases down to less than $500.00 per month.
When it was owned solely by Juniper Bank, there was never a problem... I had used it both in real stores and in online transactions... Some of these companies I have used consistently for years, and some I have active accounts with.
So it was a major surprise last summer to find a few of my transactions being placed on "hold" because there was "trouble with my credit card". Calls to Customer Service at Juniper/Barclay are an exercise in frustration, but basically, the first time my husband got through, he was told that the transaction I wanted to make (less than $35.00) had to be AUTHORIZED by him because he was the owner of the account.
In no uncertain terms he told them never to do this again, and they agreed.
A few months go by and again I try to purchase something online (less than $30.00) and after yet another frustrating phone call, he's told that it's some sort of "account protection" deal. He told them to remove it and NEVER put the card on hold again because it makes us look like deadbeats.
It happened a third time... Again another phone call... Same demand they not do this. Same "Yes sir, we'll make a note on your account".
And now today, I get an email from Netflix (whom I've been getting movies from for the past four years, at least) sends me an email saying my account is on hold because of a "problem".
Yes, I can see the need and desirability of having credit monitoring in case of fraud, but these amounts are so small, and the merchants having trouble processing payment are companies I've patronized for YEARS. I mean, it's the same charge month after month on my credit card for places like Netflix, etc. Now all of a sudden Juniper/Barclay is deciding it's suspicious activity?
We'll be cancelling the Juniper/Barclay Master Card because of this aggravation.
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