First post but long time lurker here [spanish granny, penis beakers, etc
Am wondering if there are any people here who made the fatal error of paying Ikea by credit card in the last week and have then had their card declined when trying to pay for food at the supermarket.
Not my situation but after several hours on the phone to my bank and to Ikea I have discovered why my card is blocked.
Ikea have told me they have an ongoing system problem that their system is rejecting orders after the bank has approved the payment. However the payment for the order is left as a reserved amount on the card account. If you put the order through again [and again] it may get accepted but the previous [approved with a one time passcode by the bank] payments will be a reserved amount on your card. Ikea accounts c.s. line has said they cannot remove those reservations and they remain as reserved amounts on the card for 10 days until they time out.
If the total of reserved amounts goes over the credit limit, the card will be declined as insuffient funds. Even when the balance is less than the credit limit. Even if you pay the entire balance and create a positive balance on your credit card as I did. The card will still decline and the computer will say insufficient funds.
It has taken me hours to get to the bottom of this. First customer service guy from the bank was usless and told me my card was not blocked. Easy to check it still was.
So thought it may be useful to others if they have a mystery card blockage. Also a warning to be careful if you need your card and are thinking of buying from Ikea this week [don't or call them first to ask if they have fixed their computer system].
In my opinion Ikea should be investigated and punished for this abuse of the credit card processing system by VISA and I've asked my bank to do exactly that. Anyone know anything else I could do, please tell, am more than a little annoyed.
Ikea have no complaints process and off only "feedback" or manager call back. Asked whether the manager could take any action, answer was no, they will just give more annoying mealy mouthed words of apology / explaination [I understand it already] / justification [there isn't one, if your system is broke turn it off and don't subject customers to this].
P.S. Daily mail or other journalists please pick this up and give it some exposure so others don't get caught out.