Barclays fraud wrecked holiday

My wife and I were recently in Antigua and were dependent on our Barclays Infinite card to meet some quite hefty bills. I am the main cardholder, and while in Antigua I was informed by the Barclays fraud department about suspicious transactions on my wife’s card. We did not recognise them.

The fraud department blocked both cards and, despite several phone calls attempting to reach some solution, it was not until two days later that Barclays agreed to send emergency replacements. However, a week later they had not arrived and we were nearing the end of the holiday with bills looming. I contacted Barclays and was informed that the earliest a card could be with us would be in nearly two weeks, by which time we would be back home.

As a final insult, our phone company then blocked my mobile as a result of the cost of the 29 calls we made to Barclays while away. PS, WEST SUSSEX

Initially you had been told wrongly that you could still use your card. As a result you nearly missed an internal flight while you tried to sort out a payment you had thought could be made with the card. Then the bank promised that a card would be coming shortly, when it wasn’t.

Fortunately you were able to pay the bills using funds in your current account. Barclaycard, which issues the Barclays Infinite card, said: “We sincerely apologise for the frustration and inconvenience Mr S has experienced in regard to his Barclays Infinite card.”

It explained that it had been necessary to stop the cards as a precautionary measure against fraud. It added: “Unfortunately, the correct procedures for replacing Mr S’s cards were not followed, meaning his new ones were delayed.”

I asked for more details about the expectations of such a card. It said: “When a Barclays Infinite customer requests an emergency card while abroad, a replacement will be delivered to the cardholder to almost any location in the world within one day. Owing to financial sanctions, there are a very small number of countries where emergency cards cannot be sent and these countries change from time to time. Should cardholders believe they are visiting a country that may be subject to a financial sanction, they should contact Barclaycard in advance for advice.”

Antigua was not on the sanctions list and your emergency card should have been received within one day. You have now been paid £750 as a gesture of goodwill and to cover the costs you incurred.

I understand training and support is being provided for the customer service agents involved to make sure a similar situation does not occur. This is a salient lesson to always have a fallback and not to rely on one means of payment.

Even a credit card like this one, which is supposed to totally focus on your needs, may not live up to the hype if things go wrong.