So tonight I had supper and drinks with Well Known Person and her extremely entertaining husband. We had a fantastic time – genuinely fun. Even if we were not working on a big, huge media project together, this was fun – straight up. She’s great. He’s great.I can see us being friends under any circumstances.
We finished dinner & drinks and I handed over my credit card to the waitress (who had been borderline annoying all night anyway).
DECLINED.
My credit card was….DECLINED!
Quelle Horreur!
I’ve been broke before in years past. There have been times in my life when I would have worried through the whole meal that my credit card would be…DECLINED. But this is not one of those times. There is absolutely NO REASON WHATSOEVER that my credit card should have been refused…by a chirpy 22 year old waitress…while out with really terrific people whom I intended to entertain (did I mention that they are more than a little well known? Did I mention that I actually, genuinely liked them and we had been having a fantastic time?)
They were terrifically polite. We all tried to pretend my card had not just been declined. They offered to pay; I shrugged it off, attempting to make excuses, while realizing that the more I protested, the more pathetic it sounded.
Thank God Dr. Neighbor was sitting with us. He swooped up the bill, changed the topic with finesse, and we all moved on.
But despite how much fun we had, and how great and full of promise the project is, all I can think about as I get ready to hit the sack for the night is how embarrassing that was. My best guess is that due to the way the evening played out, I used the card four times in a short time period at several different downtown Knoxville venues.
They (credit card company) were suspicious. But I was mortified.
I will be calling Citiband (Chase?) tomorrow.
Sigh.
17 Responses to “The good, the bad, and the declined”
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I had the same problem three times with Citibank…they said I made too many charges (though still waaayyyyy below the card limit, adn bill was paid in full each month) and just cut off the card with no notice. Very embarassing! I ended up cancelling the card because they did it multiple times…
Sorry that happened! Can be a bummer…no one ever carries cash, either. At least I haven’t in years. Bright side: unexpected free meal.
First thing I gathered from this post: Dooce is in Knoxville. Oh. My. God. Isn’t Dooce too huge for Knoxville? I literally cannot imagine her fitting in Knoxville, and I mean that in the nicest way. I love her.
My mother has had similar problems with American Express instead of Chase. She used her card three times in an hour (She was in Wal-Mart for Pete’s sake.), and the credit company cut her off. On the one hand, it’s a nice security feature just in case your card is stolen. On the other hand, it’s a huge inconvenience if it happens to you instead of something pretending to be you.
I’m sorry it happened, but I guarantee Heather and Jon are not sitting in a hotel thinking about your credit card. We’ve all been there, and at best, they were embarrassed for you in the moment and then forgot about it. Don’t sweat it… We’ve all been there!
“Isn’t Dooce too huge for Knoxville?”
Well she’s from Memphis (Bartlett to be specific), heck.
Glad you had a good time out with them, Katie, sorry about the credit card mishap – yuck. All these credit card horror stories in the last year or so continue to make me kind of relieved I don’t carry one anymore, even tho I do miss the convenience a little.
They are all getting so paranoid. I have my bank debit card and a PayPal debit card, and PayPal’s annoyed me a few times calling and making me verify my last several transactions, but they didn’t freeze my card – if they had that would have been HIGHLY annoying & inconvenient, just like your situation. Granted I can appreciate that it’s a safety measure but that’s going a little too far, and your experience with this occasion is a perfect example of why.
Like Katie C., the first think I thought when I read this was VERY WELL KNOWN PEOPLE ARE IN KNOXVILLE!?!? We should have TOTALLY had a party for them!
And Citibank is the WORST about things like that…the timing is ALWAYS bad.
What a bummer. Our Mastercard freezes when it thinks we are charging strangely, and it’s SO embarrassing. It doesn’t like it when we travel or buy a lot of stuff in one day. I got it declined at the grocery store a few weeks ago – which would have been an enormous bummer had I not had another method of payment. And I hate the way the clerk says it: “Sorry, it was DECLINED.”
It’s new security and happens all the time with every bank company. It does suck, but it protects us!
I have other credit cards that are never used and always work as good back up!
So, inquiring minds would like to know where you decided to take these well know people for a a night on the town in Knoxville???
You had dinner with Heather and Jon!! So jealous, glad you had a good time, sorry your card was declined though, that sucks. Are the very well known people still in Knoxville?
I hope you don’t make her next blog post!
I am now officially jealous of you Katie and think your job is fantastic if it allows you to do top-secret media campaigns with Dooce and Mr. Dooce. Wow. I am so impressed, I forgot what this post was about. And in Knoxville! Where I went to grad school! Wow.
So jealous you got to meet Heather and Jon. SO jealous!
And I’m sorry to hear you got declined — I think we’ve all been there at one time or another, for any number of reasons. Hope you get it resolved soon.
Oh man, that’s awful, I’ve had companies call me about suspicious behavior but never decline… Wow. Hope you gave them some what-for… geeze
I am thinking you have a really great neighbor. Carving pumpkins, picking up dinner tabs. I have to find a neighbor like that.
I’ve had my card declined a couple of times; once on a field trip when I was paying for lunch at the Hard Rock in Nashville for several students and other teachers! How embarrassing! And the credit company said it was because I was “in another city than usual”…..
On a side note: I feel so left out because I have no idea whom Dooce is? Do I live in a hole????
I’ve never heard of this Dooce either.
That’s very embarassing about the card. I rarely have any cash on me. I didn’t know this type of “decline” was so prolific. I’ll keep that in mind when traveling, etc.
Now I want to go stalking around town looking for Heather and Jon. So jealous.
I carry cash. I have no credit cards. I do have debit cards.
Credit card companies are not protecting you by declining your card. They are protecting themselves. Since they now make almost all of their money by charging fees and obscene interest rates (that were illegal until the supreme court judged that usury laws were under the jurisdiction of the lender rather than the borrower) they don’t really care about transaction fees. They are thieves. I refuse to do business with them.
I didn’t know who Dooce was either, but I loved them.