Do you have the L.L. Bean credit card? I do. I don't use it often, but when I do, I like accumulating points and then getting the $10 gift certificates in the mail. I put them in my wallet and let them add up and then I go to the L.L. Bean Outlet and buy cool stuff at great discount prices. Sometimes, I buy from them online because shipping is free. Free is good.
Yesterday, I ventured out to finish up the Christmas shopping. I hadn't used my card for past purchases, but we decided we'd use it for the last few purchases. So I got what I needed at Wal-Mart and headed over to Toys R Us because although Wal-Mart didn't offer the DSi bundle packages with preloaded games, maybe Toys R Us still had some.
Surprisingly, they did, even though they weren't the Mario Karte bundles, and I figured free games were still better than none, so I got three, intending to return the three I had just purchased at Wal-Mart. But my card was declined.
"But I just used it at Wal-Mart without any problem at all," I tell the associate.
"Did you make a large purchase?"
"Yes, I bought the DSis but they didn't have the bundle, so I'm going to return them as soon as I leave here."
"The card is flagged because of the purchase," the associate says to me. "That's why it is being declined."
So another associate goes and calls the credit card company while I wait, and then she comes looking for me because I need to talk to the credit card representative and answer questions that will convince her I am really me, that the card is really mine, and I am the one making these sudden large purchases after the card hasn't been used for some time.
I pass the test, the purchase goes through, and I return to Wal-Mart to return the unbundled merchandise.
Later, when I return home, G tells me I need to call the credit card company right away, because they called, apparently right after my first purchase at Wal-Mart. I had already spoken to them, so I don't call them back. Later later, when I am checking emails, there is one from them. The title reads: ALERT: Possible Fraud Activity
This is an email alert from the LL Bean Visa Card Fraud Detection Unit regarding your Visa® Card ending in XXXX.
As a security measure, we routinely monitor account activity to prevent fraudulent use of our customers' accounts.
During a recent review, we identified activity on your account that may be related to fraudulent usage and need to
speak with you as soon as possible to verify if the activity is valid.
Please call us toll free at (800)541-8471 and provide the following case number: 543834. Representatives are
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
So. That is why I love L.L. Bean. You would so not get the chance to use my card if you ever tried to steal it from me.
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