Transaction Denied, Not Happy, Credit Union

GordonD on 27/10/2023 - 20:45

I had work done on my car. Went to pick it up. The bill was pretty much what I expected. $2036-40.

Tried to pay with my Visa debit card from my credit union. Waved it over their new Commonwealth Bank EFTPOS device. Input my PIN. Denied. I look puzzled, insist I have way more than enough in the account. Business says it doesn't know what the problem is. We wonder if there's a $2000 limit, so we try an amount of $2000. Denied. We try $1000. Accepted. So we try another $1000. Denied.

Fortunately, after wasting about half an hour, we were able to come up with another way for me to pay the other $1036-40. So I got my car back.

So I check the credit union's documentation of the transaction limits on the account type. Nothing stands out as limiting either the amount, or the daily amount.

I try to send the credit union a message asking why the transactions were denied. There's no email address for that to be found. The only option is to ring them, and wait to get to the head of the queue. I try that. They tell me they should get to me in about a quarter hour. After half an hour I seem to be barely closer to be attended to. This happens a number of times more until I gave up.

So I go to the local branch to complain. I ask them why the transactions were denied, why it isn't anywhere in their documentation of that account type saying there is any limit that I exceeded, and what the hell is the use of an account with them if when I need to pay a bill to get my car back, I can't. The staff member starts telling me what I have to do so the same doesn't happen next time. I tell her that's not the issue, its that there was NOTHING warning me that it wouldn't work this time, or explaining why it wasn't working. Her excuse is that its not actually them that imposes the limit, its the tap and go system, and that belongs to someone else, so its not their responsibility to tell me what limits it has. I point out that I don't have a business relationship with tap and go, the credit union does, so how the heck was I supposed to know what limits they impose. THEY have to warn me.

Am I reasonable being annoyed with them?

What she claimed was that tap and go imposes a $2000 limit, even with a PIN. So if you want to go over that you have to physically insert your card in the EFTPOS device's reader. But it doesn't tell you that in the denied message. And, anyway, we tried $2000 and it didn't work. And after I did a $1000 transaction it wouldn't do a second one. So her story didn't correspond to what I experienced.

Does anyone know what the facts are? I tried googling and can't find anything that helps. I would have thought a lot of people would experience a similar situation when they are buying furniture or, say, coffee making machines, which seem to cost thousands of dollars.

Financial

Comments

  • Iwantthebestprice on 27/10/2023 - 20:46
    +9

    My god! Can we please get a TLDR on this post. I lost track after you were able to pay $1000..

    • freefall101 on 27/10/2023 - 22:03
      +6

      OP is annoyed that tap and go has a different limit to regular card transactions and that they didn't know what the limit was. Apparently "just insert the card next time" isn't a good enough answer for OP either, they need detailed information for their next coffee machine purchase.

  • jjjaar on 27/10/2023 - 20:49
    +4

    Had you previously made any other transactions that same day? If it was a 2k daily outgoing limit, and you’d already spent $10, the most you could spend is $1990.

  • AndyC1 on 27/10/2023 - 20:54
    -1

    The same system is used for Debit and Credit cards. The limit is via the bank and may vary between selecting debit V credit. I would ring up and ask for the retention team as you are going to another bank/credit union unless you can get a straight answer in the next 10 minutes and then ask them the same questions you asked the teller who had NFI.

  • boomramada on 27/10/2023 - 20:54

    Whats the issue OP? Credit Union transaction got denied?

  • garetz on 27/10/2023 - 20:57
    -2

    Banks and credit unions do not like you using too much of your money in any transaction, that's why they impose limits. When you open an account with any credit union or bank they have terms and conditions that you should read to understand what you can and cant do with your account.

    Its entirely your fault you did not know these, not the banks. It's not their responsibility to teach you to be financially literate.

  • randomusername2017 on 27/10/2023 - 21:45

    👴📣☁️☁️

    There are some things money can't buy; for everything else, there's Mastercard

  • Muzeeb on 27/10/2023 - 21:46
    +1

    More importantly, to me anyway, what mechanical work was performed that cost $2036-40 =$1996 in total.

    That's a big bill.

    • kerfuffle on 27/10/2023 - 21:58
      +2

      I don't think OP knows how to use full stops to denote dollars and cents in this case.

      • GordonD on 28/10/2023 - 09:05
        -3

        I don't think OP knows how to use full stops to denote dollars and cents in this case.

        I was around when Australia adopted decimal currency. The standard this country adopted was the dash to divide dollars and cents. And I was in banking at the time so I know what the correct usage for this country is. In a bank its pretty important to know whether the amount is $203640 or $2036.40 and you don't want it confused by the presence of absence of a fly speck on the paper, or a not clearly enough written period. It has been confused since by the fact that software generally expects a full stop as a separator.

        • DoctorCalculon on 28/10/2023 - 19:47
          +2

          FFS! Your explanation for using - instead of . would make sense if you were writing the amount on a piece of paper.

          Also, why won't you name the Credit Union?

    • DashCam AKA Rolts on 27/10/2023 - 22:02
      +1

      That's not a big bill! This is a Big Bill.
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoebill

    • GordonD on 28/10/2023 - 09:02
      +2

      what mechanical work was performed that cost $2036-40

      Its a Renault Clio Sport. Changing a timing belt is not easy because the 2 litre engine is a tight fit in the small engine compartment, and it is required regularly. Mine was way overdue. Everybody I've ever spoken to, dealer or independent mechanic, charges about $1500-$1600 for parts and labour, And usually involves replacing the water pump which adds another $400.

      • Muzeeb on 28/10/2023 - 12:20

        That makes sense. Cheers. So many people skip this necessary maintenance item. Big risk.

  • Kail on 27/10/2023 - 21:56
    +8

    You need to insert the debit card and select credit to bypass the limit.

    • trustnoone on 27/10/2023 - 23:52
      +2

      Was told this before too. Have had to do it when buying a new laptop both times.

      • Mechz on 28/10/2023 - 00:28
        -1

        You pay for your laptops? What a sucker.

  • Agarwal on 27/10/2023 - 22:28

    Which Credit Union?

  • jv on 27/10/2023 - 23:46
    +7

    insert the card, don't tap…

    I thought everyone knew that…

    • FocusRider on 28/10/2023 - 07:43
      +2

      Clearly not this bloke..

  • Nutrino on 28/10/2023 - 00:22
    +3

    Insert the card, Everyone knows this.

  • Hybroid on 28/10/2023 - 00:24
    +4

    As mentioned above, contactless payments have set limits to limit fraud as there's no authentication. So if you dropped the card or someone stole your wallet, there's a limitation on large purchases being made.

    Apple Pay with the same card has no limit, as you're authenticated.

    Inserting card and entering PIN has no limit, as you're authenticated.

    Really basic stuff.

    • Stewardo on 28/10/2023 - 13:20
      +4

      OP gets card skimmed, they take 5k
      OP blames credit union for not having adequate security.

    • cookie2 on 28/10/2023 - 21:34

      But doesn't it just ask you for the pin anyway, like if you'd inserted it? I'm not familiar with as haven't made a big purchase on a card in a long time really.

  • onceupon8 on 28/10/2023 - 07:33
    +2

    Yes many credit unions and banks impose limits on tap & pay transactions. You need to insert the card into the machine - not tap it.

    I don't think you're reasonable being annoyed with them:
    - Have you read the full PDS?
    - It's common these days to have to wait up to an hour on the phone calling banks. This is the price we pay for having bank accounts that have no or low monthly fees. Would you prefer to pay a $20/month fee?

    Welcome to life. See things in a positive light and in a learning way. You have now learned this and you will know for the future. Remember that there are many others in third world countries who would like to have a bank account & a car.

  • FocusRider on 28/10/2023 - 07:42
    +1

    Any other insignificant things you want to complain about today OP?

    • Will Mcdonald on 28/10/2023 - 11:05
      +2

      So out of all the comments, i actually have a credit union account. When they changed over to Greater Southern bank there was a change in policies and within your online account you may have noticed these changes. If u want to change the limits u need to log in and manually edit those values. Also FYI $2000 for only a water pump and timing belt is an excessive cost.

    • Muzeeb on 28/10/2023 - 16:52

      Looks like public forums on the Internet are not for you

  • MeesusEff on 28/10/2023 - 16:23
    +3

    When tap and go came out, it was announced that they imposed limits. This is to minimise the amount a thief could get if they stole your card. Not sure what your mad about, if tap didn't work wouldn't the next logical thing be to swipe/insert?

  • Aust on 28/10/2023 - 16:31

    CUA now GSB tap up to $1,000 and insert over $1,000.
    Mods, please close thread.

  • John Kimble on 28/10/2023 - 16:43

    What were the decline response codes? 05?

  • Meho2026 on 05/11/2023 - 12:53

    What happened with your last colonoscopy?

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