Credit Agricole Scam?

[Chancer]

I am pleased to hear that the load has been lifted from your shoulders Mr Wiggy, I just hope that the bank will agree and recredit your account quickly, however I have a lingering doubt.

Were the unauthorised debits "customer not present" transactions?

[cooperlola2]

Not sure I'm adding much value to this thread, but when my Barclaycard was abused some months ago, the BC response was pretty impressive. I first got wind that things were wrong when BC rang me here in France to enquire about the several holidays in Japan I'd recently booked. I had? With cooperlola in hospital? Just the time to go, eh? The card was stopped from that moment.Total fraud, all in France, was about £4000 - at which point the card limit was exceeded, so that was that. BC got me a new card with new number quite quickly, and while the next statement inevitably threatened excommunication and burning-at-the-stake, the parallel intelligent correspondence took a more sensible tone, inviting me to tell all. In my case, the only time the card had left my possession, other than to be used in ATMs or Autoroute tolls, had been at a service station in Le Grand Luce, filling up in early October, where there is a manned caisse. It was several months later that the fraud was committed, so I have no idea whether the two are in any way linked. I assume the fraud was online, which of course made BC's questions about my safeguarding of my PIN rather irrelevant - but then we do know someone who writes the PIN on the back of each card for safe keeping! Anyway, BC were really very good, the event cost me nothing in charges, and I received apologetic letters from BC, as if they felt it was all their fault! At a time when banking sector popularity is less than mercurial, this was good service.

[suein56]

[quote user="cooperlola2"] Anyway, BC were really very good, the event cost me nothing in charges, and I received apologetic letters from BC, as if they felt it was all their fault! [/quote]

Good old Barclaycard. Whilst I would wish that this happy outcome might also be achieved if it were a French card that was involved I am somewhat doubtful ...

Sue

[Chancer]

I got a refund from Nationwide after losing £250 to Speedferries on my visa debit card, yes I had a little hassle getting past the goons in the call centre but once through to the disputes department they could not have been more helpfull, the money was refunded within 2 days of logging my claim and it re-appeared retrospectively on my statement on the date it was taken so that no interest was lost (must have been all of 1p!).

Contrast this to an acquaintance, an English guy, bi-lingual who has lived here over 20 years and been with the same French bank all that time, he too bought a block of tickets at the same time as me, to my shame on my recommendation [:(], his bank refuses point blank to even talk to him about it, its tough luck and a shoulder shrug for him.

Its all the more galling when you consider what bank charges he has to pay for the privelege of spending his own money, it is very strange that the French banks empose a plafond on debit card spending no matter how much available funds that you have (for those that dont know you have to pay higher and higher monthly charges in order to be able to spend the money resting in your account using the debit card) yet they seem in this instance happy to let fraudulent activity run up an overdraft.

There are some areas of French life that I will never integrate into unless thay have a big shake up, banking and insurance being the primary ones.

And as for letters of apology or accepting ownership of responsibility........................[Www]

[Hereford]

Having known several people who had cards cloned and used we now check all our bank accounts online every day and also credit card balances.  Only takes few minutes and means that we would know immediately if someone had managed to get at our money or card accounts.

We tell everyone we know to do this.

H.

[teabag]

I was offered an insurance which covers card loss, cancelling of prelevements and I think fraudulant use of the card.  This was from Credit Agricole Britline and it costs 5 euros a month.  It also ensures that if you tip into overdraft you are allowed 400 euros without charge which was extemely useful when the tax office emptied my account without telling me I owed them money.  Something quite unusual for the French banking system.

I can't remember all the details but I am sure if you phone the Britline number they will help and in English which helps in itself sometimes when under stress

[Bluebell]

Its all the more galling when you consider what bank charges he has to pay for the privelege of spending his own money, it is very strange that the French banks empose a plafond on debit card spending no matter how much available funds that you have (for those that dont know you have to pay higher and higher monthly charges in order to be able to spend the money resting in your account using the debit card) yet they seem in this instance happy to let fraudulent activity run up an overdraft.

 

Could you please explain what you mean, J,R?  I haven't heard of this one and don't know what you mean.

[Clair]

[quote user="Bluebell"]Its all the more galling when you consider what bank charges he has to pay for the privelege of spending his own money, it is very strange that the French banks empose a plafond on debit card spending no matter how much available funds that you have (for those that dont know you have to pay higher and higher monthly charges in order to be able to spend the money resting in your account using the debit card) yet they seem in this instance happy to let fraudulent activity run up an overdraft. 

Could you please explain what you mean, J,R?  I haven't heard of this one and don't know what you mean.

[/quote]

I don't know either...

I have an account with CA. The weekly spending ceiling on my CB is set at over €2000 and I do not pay any charges apart from the annual card fee.

[Chancer]

You have answered the question Clair!

I was referring to the fact that there exists a weekly (or in my case monthly) plafond on card spending no matter how much money is in your account, I found it bizarre that my card was refused in a negoce materiaux despite having a balance of  €8k as it would have taken me over the plafond, they were given an "insufficient funds" message yet were happy to accept a cheque drawn on the same account [:-))].

There is on line verification, the bank knows that you have the funds but unless you up your monthly payment (or in your case annual card fee) you cannot spend them using the card.

However, despite the on line verification, the refusal to allow you to spend money that you do have there are frequent reports of them allowing (alleged) fraudulent activity to run up huge indebtedness.

Life is a lot simpler (and cheaper) with Nationwide [:D]

[Clair]

JR, what do you mean by "for those that dont know you have

to pay higher and higher monthly charges in order to be able to spend

the money resting in your account using the debit card"?

[Chancer]

Sorry Clair, I should have explained.

I was paying IIRC around €10 a month for my bank account, it was the formule that "I was signed up for" when my French was non existant, this included a debit card but I wrongly assumed that it would allow me to spend money if I had it and refuse purchases if I had insuficient funds, in fact it had a monthly plafond of I think from memory €1000.

I may have got the figure wrong but I any case it was as much use as a chocolate teapot as at the time I had placed an initial €10K in there to pay for the initial renovation materials buyng furniture etc. The card started being refused after my first big purchase caused me lots of stress as I knew that I had the money, the merchants (with whom I wanted to gain confidence) were telling me I had insufficient funds like all you English and my French was not up to the job.

I went into the bank and they explained that there was a plafond on the card, they were taken aback and unable to answer my question "whatever for?" but explained that I could have a higher limit by choosing a more expensive formule complete with other unwanted bells and whistles (also chocolate teapots).

I chose Nationwide, As for Credit Lyonnaise I now have a cheque book account without charges and the only money that passes through the account is the €29.99 direct debit for my Free.fr tlephone, internet ad Tv as I cannot find any other way of paying it.

[Clair]

When I queried the card ceiling, my friendly (read paternalistic) bank manager explained that all his customers found it "reassuring to know that, should the card be stolen, whoever had it would not be able to spend all their money" [8-)]

I also explained I was quite used to handling and balancing my accounts, and no thank you, I did not need him to make transfers from my savings account to my current account when he thought it best![:-))]

It's a very rural branch where people still think the bank manager works in their interest!! [:D]