LL not to blame for this one! Card company is!

Every month my modest $15 tier is questioned by my card company as they seem to have a policy of checking all payments to Linden Labs. Every month I say that they needn't check if it's under $25 but they still ring for clearance. This month, despite clearing the payment my account is still $15 in the red. I'm caught between a rock and a hardf place as I'm being put in arrears to LL by my card company, which doesn't like making payments to LL even when I authorise them. I blame the card company - it's good they have anti-fraud precautions but even after I've said these small payments are OK each month they query them and put me in arrears.

I add that my RL has never had any issues with credit and their credit history is impeccable.

I'd call the credit card company and threaten to close the account and transfer any balance to another card if they don't stop questioning these LL transactions. Don't forget that YOU are the customer!

Out of curiosity what card? VISA? MC? American Express?

Also did they start calling you on every charge within the last three months only? (Assuming you were using it for the last 6 months or so)

My card company calls about the LL charges too! It's a VISA card. Probably because I was in the habit of only buying 1000 lindens at a time.

I would just close the account and open a new one, when they ask why, tell them what you just told us. But that's if I used credit cards. I don't. I'm not rich, or even "well off" for that matter, I struggle, but I dont see a need to pay a percentage of what I spend to someone else just to be fronted the money.. I "act my wage".

I'm not rich either and don't use a credit card for much other than for small payments to SL (because I have to, as it's the only way I know of that I can pay LL). The payment still hasn't gone through on my account even though I authorised it with the card co, 3 days ago.

My card company also questioned charges to Linden--twice. I had charged around$5-$15 each time, but only $1 several times. The card company was concerned that the multiple small charges may have indicated some time of fraud. After speaking with my card company, all is OK now, and all charges are accepted. Overall, I'm glad that card companies are now more diligent in investigating potential fraud, as it is rampant, and I was a victim once.

Avanti

How strange! I'm going to assume that your CC company called you and you approved it (duh) and that the charge still hasn't gone through?

Next question would be: So WTF happened to the charge? If the CC called, one would assume that LL tried to charge the card. You approved the charge and all should be right in the world. So, what happened to the charge after that? Did it just vanish? Did they 'reverse/deny' the charge in spite of your approval of it?

Yeah, sounds like the CC needs a call back.

Explaining, in a calm but firm way, that what the company is doing will make it necessary for you to close the account and get a new credit card with [name of competitor here] tends to do wonders. Especially when the issue is as petty as a $15 recurring item you have already repeatedly approved. Problems like this are often a combination of ill-programmed computers and unthinking low-level clerks. When that sort of thing happens, you usually need to get a somewhat intelligent person into the loop somehow. Call their 800 customer service number. If the representative can't fix it on the spot, ask for their supervisor - politely, and without faulting the rep. Stay on until you get one; number of calls they handle in a day is one of the metrics the reps are measured on. Go from there.

I see you are in the UK, your card isn't with RBS is it? They have suspended my card twice (might be 3 times) because they thought the small credits to LL were evidence I was being defrauded. Every time I tell them to process anything from LL but they don't seem to get the message.

It's good that they are trying to protect me, but at least once the first I knew there was a problem was when I tried to use it at Tesco with a long line of other people who obviously thought I was either a crook or broke because my card was refused.

It may be LL after all. You may need to re-enter your CC as your payment info, and make a purchase of L$ to "reset" it.

Happened to me. Also I ended up putting $25USD into my account (minimum you can do) in order to get my premie, membership renewal back on track when this happened to me.

Sometimes you just have to jump through some hoops to throw your cash at LL.

LL refused my attempts to buy L$ and the website told me to re-enter the CC details.
It was my attempts to re-enter the CC and buy L$ that led to my card being suspended. LL send a "test" request for money to the CC, and the CC company saw it as likely to be a test by someone about to defraud the card.

This is common enough. CC companies are very wary of online fraud to the point of shutting things down procactively "for your protection" (really to protect themselves, since your losses are limited to $70). I remember I had my card declined at Einstein Bagels, called the card company right there and screamed at them, and they explained they had turned the card off because of LL charges -- they turned it back on and it hasn't happened again since, but it was very irritating to say the least. Seems like many issuers are doing this.