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Techie problems with French N---t ?


chessie
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Hello fellow shoppers

I know, I know - in these days of lockdown etc we shouldn't be buying anything - no new clothes, no pretty dresses, no fancy shoes - nowt.
But some of us can't help ourselves.
I've tried to order some items on-line from the french Next web-site.
I have run into huge problems.
I have a UK credit card linked to UK bank.  I have never had any problems until last few days.
I tried to order some items - card was refused.   Reduced order to 1 item - card was accepted.
Tried to order another item - card was rejected.
So tried using french bank direct debit card - not even a credit card - and the card was rejected..
This time I received info from the french bank which stated that the third party security authorisation did not work - the third party had not communicated the necessary validation/authorisation codes which meant the french bank couldn't accept the charge on the debit card.

What the -----------------

Seems as though all this 3rd party validation, extra security blah blah designed to 'protect' the customer - is actually preventing the customer from spending any money.
Well, yes, I can see the logic in that - I know OH would certainly agree to anything to stop me spending !!!!!!!

But on a serious note - has anyone else had similar problems with Next, or any other french based on-line shopping ?

Chessie

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We have found that our American credit cards are rarely ever accepted by any French online retailer (La Redoute is an exception).  Can't be verified.

However, ALL of the French retailers accept the same American credit cards IN their bricks and mortar stores.  So, just not online.  Amazon.fr accepts all our cards.

Can be quite frustrating, but it is what it is.

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Although not directly related, Les Echos had an article on 17 Mar concerning problems customers of the "neobanques" e.g. Revolut, N26 were having with receiving salaries, paying for goods and services, etc. as the IBAN (bank identifier) showed it to be not France-based.

"In an attempt to combat this obstacle to their development, several European fintechs have launched a platform to allow their customers to be heard. At the initiative of TransferWise, they joined forces so that "all cases of IBAN discrimination reported on acceptmyiban.org are transmitted to the competent authorities" and thus force the national banking authorities to act."

https://www.lesechos.fr/finance-marches/banque-assurances/des-neobanques-lancent-une-plateforme-pour-signaler-les-discriminations-a-liban-1298966

or https://tinyurl.com/yjdy6t97
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Maybe buy clothes etc. on aliexpress.com - much cheaper than N**t. Free or very cheap delivery mostly, although you do have to wait up to 3 weeks - but the anticipation makes up for it. You have to ask where n**t buy their stuff from.......

Worth a go perhaps. They accept French cards without problems.

Hope that helps.....................
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~Chessie I have been buying nice things, and quite a few recently........ and WHY NOT!

If buying in France I use my french card, and that has my UK address, but seems like as long as stuff is being sent within France, there is no problem, although I have not done this this year.

We were discussing cards the other day and all the problems we had over the years with them. Our bank would say give us Mastercard, and we would go to another country and they would only accept Visa, even for withdrawing cash. Or vice versa. It was a nightmare sometimes.

There is no excuse for all this stuff not to be sorted and yes, we need to spend money to keep the economies going......

I have never used aliexpress, isn't that one of those chinese companies that can get very bad press, also, I don't usually buy directly from China, as I never trust that returning stuff would work out well.

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I have used Revolut in France (French address) in shops and on line without a problem. However, I have noticed when txing money from a UK bank in sterling to do an exchange, you have to go to the bank site to do the double authentication whilst still keeping the purchase page open.

Using an ING card on Esprit, I had to do the whole order twice before the order was completed.
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chessie wrote the following post at 18 Mar 2021 15:18:

Seems as though all this 3rd party validation, extra security blah blah designed to 'protect' the customer - is actually preventing the customer from spending any money.

Well, yes, I can see the logic in that - I know OH would certainly agree to anything to stop me spending !!!!!!!

You are going to run into problems unless you set up a validation procedure with your UK or French Banks .. most now require you to (at least) register a mobile no with them .. so on the validation page of your purchase you can input the code the Bank will send you by SMS.
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Interesting comments - modern technology, three stage security, passwords. scream...
Sue - I have set up validation process, and security stages with my UK bank.  And with the credit card company.   In fact I re-set my password for my credit card; I was given, on-line a code number, I was then phoned on my landline and had to input on my landline phone the numbers displayed on my computer screen - and that worked.   So the CC company security system is is fine.   I have not had any problems with any other company either here in France or using a UK site.  It is just N---t.

There is an eu diktat which states that no-one should be prevented from using cards etc if they do not have a mobile.  The bank has to accept your landline number - and that applies even after Brexit; customers cannot be prevented from using financial services if they do not have a mobile and the financial organisation has to accept landline numbers as an alternative.  As I've explained above, I've done that - and the CC company, and my bank, have accepted my landline number.  So that's not the problem - the validation is there.  I just don't get the chance to validate.....

The problem is that N--t are using one of these financial systems (third party) to check the transaction, and act as a security check on the transaction between N--t and the credit card company.  The problem is that this third party financial whizz set-up doesn't display long enough to input the security numbers needed before handing on to the security system at MBNA.   There is no link between the financial 3rd party - it looked like WorldX something but it only displayed for a few seconds - but it is not making the link.   (For the 2nd purchase, using my French debit card, according to my French bank, it was dob and card expiry date that was needed; which is exactly the same info that MBNA ask for when they do the security check)..

It is a technical glitch, or someone, somewhere has overlooked something.

But the big puzzle is that I was using the French N--t website for the second try;  I was using my French bank card with my french address - and I still got nowhere.

N--t are going to lose customers if this carries on.   I was just wondering if anyone else had attempted to order something from the french website, using an MBNA card, linked to a British bank account.  Or even using a French card on the N--t French website.   Basically, anyone having problems with the N--t French website.

Oh I hate this modern world; this modern technology - the clever people in charge who are too damned clever, and have made life difficult.
I only wanted a pair of shoes.........!!!!  (Well, 2 pairs but I'm not telling OH !)

Chessie

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Idun - oh thank you for the support - glad it's not just me.
You're quite right, if we don't spend then we're not supporting the economy, and keeping the money moving around.
It's all in a good cause isn't it !!!!
And anyway, think we all need cheering up, and having something new (or several !) to look forward to wearing when we start to get back to normal is rather enjoyable - and much needed.
So thanks for the encouragement - I'll stop feeling guilty now.
Chessie

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Had my Nationwide CC refused when trying to pay the eye specialist and he is a man I have paid many times in the past with the same card.

Contacted Nationwide who said there was nothing the matter with the card nor with my credit.

The only online french company who I have found not to accept my UK card has been Zalando.

Yves Rocher also used to refuse it but, once I set up an account, it is now not a problem.

Used to have refusals in the past even for buying petrol but, in recent years, all that has changed and the card is accepted at even small family-owned specialist shops.

Id, if I buy anything from China (and sometimes it's just that the things I want are not made elsewhere, at least not with the same specs), I only buy if they are covered by the Amazon guarantee.  I'd never dream of shopping direct from an outfit like Aliexpress or whatever they are called.

PS Ali Baba, are they having a laugh?[:D]

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Have you thought of opening a Paypal account?

I have just looked at Next FRance and they accept Paypal. See below.

I don't have a paypal account but my husband does. He is cautious with it, like alerts that aren't from them, so ignores them and checks on his account. BUT they have been good when things have not turned up, or been faulty.

QUELS MODES DE PAIEMENT PUIS-JE UTILISER ?

Nous acceptons les cartes de débit et de crédit suivantes : Visa,

Mastercard, American Express, Maestro, Carte Bleue, Carte Bancaire et

PayPal.

La carte doit être enregistrée à la même adresse que le compte.

Nous ne sommes pas en mesure d'accepter les cartes qui vont expirer

dans les 5 jours qui suivent la commande. Les informations de la carte

sont contrôlées et vérifiées par un tiers et les produits sont expédiés

une fois que l'autorisation

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After all your lovely helpful replies thought you'd like an up-date.
There is no problem with my UK bank - none.
So over to my credit card MBNA people.

After the usual palaver about inputting numbers on phone to get into the right queue, and having to wait, I spoke to an extremely pleasant and helpful woman at MBNA,   She checked, and confirmed - that there is NO problem with my account; the address I gave Next is correct, the expiry date and security codes are correct.  As far as MBNA were concerned they had not rejected any request from Next for payment, validation or anything at all.  And she went on to say that they would have had no reason to refuse such a request - but, with the exception of my first purchase, there had been no further requests from Next....
It's as I thought - a seecurity techie problem at Next and its payment platform.

So I wrote to International Complaints at Next about the problem, explaining that they have a technical glitch preventing orders on UK credit cards being accepted on their French website, from UK citizens living in France.   I also said that as a customer I was not happy; but as a share-holder I was quite concerned because this glitch would affect profits - and my dividends....

Took them 3 days to respond; courteous e-mail, which confirmed there was no block on my account, but that the technical issues I had raised would be 'passed up the line'.

Was also given special link to connect straight back to my account so I can start spending - whooopeeee...... !!

Idun - as for PayPal, well yes I did have a PayPal account linked to my own UK bank account; sadly because of computer problems and clear-out of cookies I lost that linke between this computer in France and my UK PayPal account.  Once you lose that link - you can never get it back.  PayPal are now trawling through, and doing a sweep, because (as we're all fraudsters etc !!) we are only allowed to have a PayPal account linked to a bank in the country in which we live.  Live in France, it has to be linked to your French bank account.   Well, my UK bank account is my own, personal money;  I would rather not 'hit' our french bank account with my spending........the French account is for our general living expenses out here plus the other treats etc;  but I prefer to have a bit of money of my own to spend on family, him, or myself when and where I want.

Sometimes it pays to persist - it's not always 'our' fault, or the credit card company - sometimes even big companies mess things up.

Bit of a hassle, but worth it in the end (at least I hope so - haven't put an order in yet so fingers crossed it's now sorted).

Chessie

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