Credit card annoyance

[redbird]

This isn't a problem right now, but it could have been:

I have a credit card that expires 1/25, meaning in less than two weeks.

I haven't received a replacement, so I tried calling to ask if they had mailed me a new card, and if so, when. The 800 number on my current card led to a system that told me the office is closed, gave me business hours, which are something like 8-8 Monday-Friday, and asked me to leave a detailed message.

I then googled for "5star bank visa," and found a website. There's a chat option there, which does respond on Saturdays. I'm pretty sure I was interacting with a robot, but it grabbed the right keyword from my question, and told me new cards are mailed around the 16th of the month they expire in.

I asked about lost cards and fraud, and the robot gave me a different contact phone number, which I haven't tried; if something was mailed around the 16th, I wouldn't expect it to arrive by the 18th.

So, I will not (yet) worry about the card possibly being stolen--but I am NOT happy about the fact that if I did want to report fraud or a stolen card, I would have had to google for the bank name, open a chat window, and ask the robot for a phone number that might be answered on weekends. I am--I think we all are--very used to being able to reach my credit card companies 24/7, using the number printed on the card, which I could store as a contact on my cell phone.

Comments

[ranunculus]

If you are working with the USPS delivery could be up to 10 days, even if it is usually only one or two.

[redbird]

True. I'm not expecting it Monday, and won't call them about it until a week from Monday.

[gatheringrivers]

I'm surprised they don't mail them out earlier - mine does.

[redbird]

So am I. I think they mailed the current card earlier, though that may be partly that the postal service has slowed down in the last few years.

[sraun]

I would feel tempted to call the number on the back of the card during theoretically open hours and ask them what they expect the procedure to report a stolen card is. If it's 'call this number', I'd be very tempted to ask what your legal obligations are regarding charges between when you noticed it stolen and were able to report it stolen.