Card got declined for online shop

We all do it 😂

The people in the shop have no knowledge of what goes on in your finances and it's none of their business. They only find out that you even placed an order once it has been successful.
The steps are:
1 You fill your online shopping basket and go through checkout
2 The supermarket takes your card details and puts a "reserve" on your account for the amount you are spending
3 The supermarket does the shelf-picking and calculates a final total accounting for any Substitutions or OutOfStock items.
4 Your card is charged

If you have £110 in your account on Tuesday, do an online shop for delivery on Thursday for £100, then try spend £50 elsewhere on Wednesday then the "elsewhere" transaction will fail due to the reserve, unless you have an overdraft facility. Otherwise, the supermarket would have wasted a significant amount of their staff time at step 3 picking and packing an order that you cannot pay for.

If you have no money in your account at step 2 because you are intending to put the money in at step 4 then yes the transaction will fail. They are not psychic and cannot predict your actions.

I used to work in retail (not a supermarket) and couldn’t have cared less if someone’s card was declined

Yeah deffo worrying about nothing. Mine declined because I put the numbers in wrong, then another time because I lost my card and tried to put it through on the old card saved on the system. Another time my husband bought a holiday on my card (with my permission obviously) the bank froze my card because it was unusual activity and then it didn’t work when I tried to pay for something else. I’ve also clicked off the page too fast and it’s declined. So there are lots of reasons

@Tetchy321 I didn't mean for my post to be dismissive of your obvious anxiety. But I just genuinely wanted to share my perspective. I deal with sales that require finance that often get knocked back. It happens all the time for various reasons I don't bat an eyelid. Some customers are aghast and embarrassed but I reassure them that sometimes it's for security reasons. Try not to worry honestly nobody cares about your personal financial situation especially in a supermarket.

My friend once got me to buy her head and shoulders because she was so scared the people in the shop would think she had dandruff.

She was using it to get dye out or something.

Why do you even think the staff would care/ even remember you?
I have worked in retail and most customers just become one blur.

The staff on the shop floor have no interaction with the online payment system, it’s all centrally processed and completely invisible to them. The order just didn’t place. Even if your card is declined when you shop in store, the staff have enough of their own problems and lives to think about that they don’t give a damn why a random customer’s card has been declined.

Will the packers and people in the supermarket know that it was declined?

Of course not. They're not the ones who process the payment. It's all automated centrally and no human being is witnessing it, so don't worry.

Even f your card had been declined in the actual store at the checkout, people who work in retail see issues with customer cards every day and are well aware that there a million reasons a card can be declined; they won't automatically assume you don't have the money. Cards are declined for potential security issues, problems connecting with the bank's servers and loads of other things. You are massively, massively overestimating how much people who serve you in shops actually think about you and your life. Like I say, it's non-issue here because they won't know anyway, but even if they did - they don't care. At all.

Don't be silly. How do you think the millions of people that live hand to mouth deal with the 'shame' of having their cards declined?

They work in a shop. It happens hundreds of times a day. And so what if the shop workers think on that day you had no money? Being broke doesn't make you a leper who should be shunned and ashamed of their own existence.

You will have to buy a wig, dark sunglasses and wear a black hooded cape the next time you go out.

How odd, my card got declined because I had lost it but got a new one but forgot to update my Tesco account so the card was declined not because I didn’t have money. They did actually call me to check what the issue was though so not sure it’s true that no one will know but it’s hardly a big deal?

Nobody will know, your order won’t have been processed unless you phoned in the order- it’s the payment that puts through the list. Don’t worry about it, we’ve all been there x

Absolutely nobody will care. My card / phone gets declined all the time if I've forgotten to transfer money into the account I use for shopping. Most people these days have more than one account and this happens all the time, its no big deal at all.

I work in retail honestly nobody gives a shit.

Don't worry OP. I went to collect my car from the dealership. I'd emailed and phoned HSBC to ensure they knew I would be doing a chip and pin for £12k. Spoken to them in person. Provided the dealers bank details in advance.

The transaction was declined.

It took another two hours on the phone to my bank, in the car dealer, with everyone listening in, to persuade HSBC to release my money.

The banks are a bloody nightmare. They are less and less helpful in making a normal legitimate transaction by the day.

Don't worry OP. Everyone knows it's the banks' fault. They're useless. It's not you.

Cards get declined all the time for all sorts of reasons. The staff won't even know. And if any do (I'm not sure how), they won't care.

A good question to ask yourself here is: why does it matter to me that people dont think im struggling financially? Is it the idea of being talked about at all thats the issue - and if so, why do you think that bothers you so much?

Oh come on OP.

Just how important do you think you are to these people?

Are you famous? An influencer? Politician?

If you can answer no to all 3 of the above, no-one's going to give a shiny shite about your card being declined, which happens to a massive amount of customers.

Its just an automated system the payment will be retaken and then the order will complete. Nobody is going to be running around Tesco gossiping about what a pauper you are 😕it is a bit odd you think people are that interested in you though to be honest.

Did you get something out of being so unpleasant?

I tried to buy some bras on line ive had before because brilliant fit for me and they emailed me and offer. Bank declined to make payment I've lots on money in my account they suspected fraud.

That’s a very odd reaction. Nobody will care, my card got declined, the money was there it was a technical error at their end. Who cares?

They won't know or care about it, so try to put it out of your mind.