To think my bank shouldn’t be able to stop me?

[MovinginCircless]

I’ve been trying to make a purchase for the last two months from Dior. It’s a one off treat that costs £600ish.

Every single time I’ve gone to buy it my payment gets declined. I’ve contacted my bank numerous times to ask if there was a block. After a month they finally admitted they had been blocking the payment. Confirmed block lifted but I’m still being declined.

I’ve now been told today that they will never allow me to purchase from Dior as I could say it’s fraud and sell the item on at full price. Surely if I have the money then I can spend it how I want??

I assume it's a pair of shoes or a SLG. Perhaps get in touch with Harrods and order via them. That way it won't show up as Dior on your transaction. 😉

Are they banning you from purchasing from the Dior website? Can you buy it through Net-a-Porter or something similar?

And if someone'd been scammed they'd be making a fuss and insisting the bank refunded them. Banks have to be really strict now. So many fraudsters. And people don't take responsibility any more - they often make stupid decisions, don't check, don't think and then run crying to the bank or the papers if they get scammed.
It doesn't help legitimate purchasers however, ( as you are OP)

Just get a credit card, but it and pay off the amount with your debit card

Thinking along the same lines 🙂

NatWest are twits.
They put a stop on my salary coming into my current account 2 days ago.
A salary that has come from the same place for nearly 6 years.
They called and it passed all their checks then said it might take 5 working days to come through.
This was yesterday. 5 working days would be by next Wednesday.

I am in a position where I could shuffle money around so my DDs and SOs would be paid, but if I wasn't then I would have gone overdrawn (which no doubt they would have charged me for).

I am thinking seriously of moving from NatWest, with whom I have been with for over 30 years. Their customer service is appalling.

Do you have a spend limit on your debit card eg maximum transaction £200 ?

The Halifax used to block my phone payment every month , about 6 months after the payment started coming out, they all of a sudden decided to was fraud and they'd block my card. I had to switch the payment to my dh account instead. The fraud team where about as helpful as a chocolate teapot

They can , they have done it to me before .

It was a payment online to a company i'd dealt with before , not only did they stop the sale they cancelled my card and didn't even tell me !

That was NatWest as well

Banks are heading towards total digital currency, hence the branch closures. Everything online and trackable and that sounds fine but even at this stage, before total digital money, your online purchase is being blocked. Now imagine you want to buy something after criticising the government...

I know of someone who was told they couldn't take £5000 of their own cash out the bank to pay a contractor. They rang the cops to say it was a theft in action. Money was handed over. But the fact is, if we don't all wake up tout sweet, this is the road we are going down. Only sanctioned transactions allowed. I've even noticed how tight it is to do a weekly online shop, prove who I am over and over despite a password.

I thought that you were going to say that it was HSBC! I have had something a bit similar to this s couple of times. Once I had to pay a caterer - I received a service then received the invoice. I double checked the account details over the phone like they say you’re supposed to and I still had to virtually fucking beg HSBC to pay the invoice!!! Also getting some cash out. It’s MY MONEY!!! Just bloody well give it to me!!

NatWest messed me around a few years ago and after getting nowhere with customer services I made good on my threat to close all my accounts and move my business to Lloyds. Oh the satisfaction!

Of course they can stop you. It's your money but it's their service you want to use to make the purchase and they can stop any transaction at any time going through, for whatever reason they want.
And people don't see the harm in a cashless society!

Why don’t you use Klarna as a workaround to get what you want? Dior accepts them, you create a single use Klarna card, you pay 1/3 of the transaction as a payment to Klarna and they fund the rest of the purchase. You can either pay them back in two payments, at 1 month the. 2 months or pay it off it one go at any point. No interest.

Then close your account at NatWest. Check out money saving expert to see what bank will pay you to switch!

Nat West are mother fucking bastards who were so unhelpful to my poor 80 year old mum after my dad died. I recommend that anyone who has an account with them changes bank. Sorry to interrupt, I'm now on my way to carry on my crusade elsewhere.

I knew it would be them. They are linked with Royal Bank of Scotland and I've had this numerous times. I rarely use my card for online purchases and I once tried to buy a Christmas gift from Next and got declined! They are a nightmare.

Argh banks can be so frustrating. A bank I have a card with continually declines my partner's card on the account whenever he tries to use it, even if we've approved the purchase in the app, for no reason. Every time we ring them they say there's no problem when clearly there is. No resolution. Nightmare. I've also had my bank try to block me from taking money out as my partner waved at me from out the front of the bank and they decided I was being coerced, and multiple times been unable to make payments because the bank heard someone in the background telling me the amount of money I needed to send (e.g. a flatmate re a bill). Totally understand why they'd want to double check and get you to confirm 'I am who i say i am and am doing this of my own free will', but after that they need to let you make your own decisions on how you spend your money!

So frustrating for you OP but at least they've told you why, now you can complain formally that this is idiotic and get a new bank.

This is so wrong isn't it?

I know it’s not what you want to hear OP but the lack of credit is the most likely issue. If your entire credit history is “maybe two loans” then banks will look sideways at you. They don’t see it in terms of “look at this responsible person that doesn’t use credit” but rather as “why can’t this person get credit?” Past loans that you have paid off don’t tell them anything about your current credit status, especially if the loans were 2+ years ago.

Obviously that shouldn’t stop you making a debit purchase but apparently with this bank it does. Use PayPal to purchase your item. Then switch banks to one that doesn’t suck. Then apply for a credit card and built up your credit so you don’t have any future issues.

I started to have problems when I was doing work at home and playing a lot of bills in a short space of time. Each time I had to call and say it was real purchase, why etc etc. That was all ok, but then I started having trouble paying for groceries online, had 3 deliveries in a row cancelled because the bank stopped payment. Called and they were telling me about fraud, but it did not sort it. I think that as the rules force banks to compensate clients more often, they start putting in ridiculous rules like this. I would contact Martyn Lewis or Rip off Britain. It is such bullshit and is making what should be a nice treat for you into a hassle.

I work in probate and NatWest are hideous to deal with (looking at you digidocs 🤬).

Fucking NatWest, I had an issue with them and after 3 houses getting passed round in a circle it didn’t get resolved. All I wanted was to move some money….it finally got resolved! I wouldn’t touch them with a shitty stick!

Do you only have one card? That's a bit risky isn't it?

You could be left unable to buy essentials let alone whatever luxury you're trying to buy from Dior if it gets lost, stolen or your bank has a problem.

I'd just get a credit card ASAP rather than go to the hassle of trying to get round Natwest's weird logic.