Credit cards and pending charges
 

Hello! I just found out that my bank, BOA, will do NOTHING about a pending charge not even allow me to dispute or file for fraud against it, except wait for it to drop off, even if it takes 14 days, and even, in this case, when the merchant admits they have no record of it.

Thus, I could be in Rome, (which I adore but is the only place my credit card info has been misused) have thousands in charges racked up, have no way to pay my hotel, and they would say -- so sorry you're out in the cold. (I asked them this exact scenario and they agreed that this would be the result.)

Is this true of ALL banks? I also have Cap One, so I am going to check with them, but
Does anyone have a bank that doesn't do this? A bank that lets you dispute a pending charge?

Many thanks,

27again

Your protection against this is to have more than one card.

Chase doesn't allow you to dispute "Pending" charges either. FYI. They must become processed. But it takes a day or 2 typically to do so, not 14.

<i> Credit cards and pending charges
Posted by: 27again on Mar 15, 17 at 5:13pm</i>

Amex does not allow a dispute against a pending charge either.

Maybe you can report your BoA card as MIA. They will cancel it and send you a new card with a new number. I don't know if this will clear the pending charge since all recorded activity will probably transfer to the new card.

Yes - have more than one card for sure.

This is the second time I've had a pending charge take a zillion days to fall off. It goes through quickly when it becomes a real charge, but not, apparently, when it is an authorization, and then you pay in a different manner, such as paying in cash.

I would bet that we don't get refunded the interest charge for those 7-14 days either! (It is billed to our account immediately of course.)

27A

Interest normally doesn't start accruing until the due date; if the balance is not paid in full. The only interest that starts accumulating immediately is when you take cash out of ATM with a credit card which is essentially a cash advance [a very bad thing to do under normal, non-emergency situation]

I would never travel overseas with just one credit card either. You never know when one will fail (like the time, inexplicably, our Mastercard wouldn't go through in Cambodia but our Visa did), or eaten by an ATM, or even just lost or stolen.

Yes good advice to keep in mind thanks. I have two but the second has a lowish limit and not going to go up.

I don't remember from last time, do debit credit cards work just as well? If so I'm fine.

Thanks again!

Pending charges count only against your credit limit. They are only potential, actual charges and until they are actual charges, there is nothing to dispute. They have nothing to do with interest either, at least not until they become actual charges.

For many people, pending charges mean nothing. They might become a limiting factor as your expenditures approach your credit limit.

Asking your bank to raise your credit limit should eliminate any problems with pending charge float limiting your ability to make purchases.

I've had Pending charges take several weeks or more to fall off. If they aren't confirmed and the vendor doesn't cancel, it will be removed in 30 days. But if the amount is large I guess it will be applied against your max.

I've noticed Gas stations in Banff and Jasper in Alberta putting a pending charge of $100. on my card prior to filling, then put the exact of the purchase thru the card and never remove the Pending charge. That's not fair but with that amount I didn't complain.

What if a hotel did the same thing for a few thousand?

It's just one of the ways you pay for the convenience of it all. Plenty of safeguards have been mentioned: bringing along multiple cards, upping the limit, also upping the daily withdrawal limit on a debit card that draws from a checking account where, of course, the balance must be sufficient; and telling each issuing bank about the trip dates and countries so no attempted transactions are denied due to "suspicious foreign activity".

All this may seem like a hassle, but - remember the days of travelers' checks, money belts and huge wads of cash? I'll take "pending charges" any day...