Frustrations en masse
Check out the time on this post. I had planned to be up at this time, but not for the reason that I am, which is only compounding the frustration.
Earlier in the week I tried to pay my zakat, only to discover Islamic Relief, my charity of choice because it has a four-star rating on Charity Navigator and is fully cooperative with the U.S. government, doesn’t take American Express. In April, my old Visa got converted to an Amex by my credit card company, and since I’ve always been a one-card-only girl, I don’t have any other credit cards.
I know. I should have applied for a Visa or a MasterCard the day they converted me to an Amex.
I do have my Visa check card, though. And though it makes me uncomfortable to use it like a credit card, I didn’t want to deal with the hassle of mailing in a check, haunting the mailbox for the tax receipt, and then remembering where I filed the receipt come tax time. Doing it over the Internet is just so much easier.
So I used the check card. I wanted to break my zakat up into three payments (really, mistake number two), so I only charged $X on the first transaction. It cleared just fine. The next seven equivalent transactions were all declined.
Two and a half frustrating hours of talking to Wachovia later, I was told that it wasn’t Wachovia but Visa that was blocking my donation. They said Visa has flagged Islamic Relief as a “fraud site” and therefore wouldn’t allow me to charge anything to IRW on a Visa card.
I’m perplexed. If it’s a fraud site, how did my first charge go through? How are all the other charges going through? IRW only accepts three credit cards, so surely there are other people out there donating with a Visa card. In fact, before April, all my donations to IRW were on my Visa.
(I did get fraud-alerted last year, but only after I’d made all my donations, and that was somewhat understandable as it’s not my normal spending pattern.)
More importantly, WHO flags a CHARITY as a fraud site?
I kind of have to wonder if the Wachovia fraud department just got tired of me calling them. I think I might try again tomorrow to see if it goes through then; if it doesn’t, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Anybody have suggestions for good Islamic charities that aren’t in trouble with the government, won’t get in trouble with the government, and transfer a high percentage of their donations to their recipients? (I think IRW is at 98%, which I find impressive.)
I will say, though the experience of continuously calling Wachovia and being told I’m getting cleared only to still be declined was… not my favorite, the Wachovia customer service team was exceptional. I never had to wait long to talk to someone, and that someone was always courteous, helpful, and understanding. It was a customer service experience unlike any other I’ve ever had. Even the fraud department was polite and helpful, although I still think their resolution to my problem is circumspect.
Try calling the charity – they may be interested to know that a credit card company to whom they have been paying processing fees considers them a fraud.
Heather
11 Oct 07 at 8:12 am
Honestly, I had been a Wachovia customer for over ten years before the recent move pushed me out of their service region. I never had a problem talking to them, nor did I feel that they “walked over-ya” to poorly quote the phrase bandied about Georgia Tech.
I’m glad you had a good experience with them even if the circumstance and the outcome was poor.
Realistically though, you do need to get another credit card. Mastercard and Visa are a defacto monopoly and employ shameful practices keeping cards like Discover and American Express out of businesses and websites, but probably one of them is accepted everywhere.
I can’t imagine you’d have much problem getting one or both types of cards without having a major impact on your credit score. Especially as it raises your overall credit limit. Just make a charge or two on the new card per month and pay it off each month and any dip in your score should rebound fairly quickly
Dan
11 Oct 07 at 9:51 am
That’s outrageous!!! I agree, Islamic Relief might reconsider their stance on AmEx when they find out Visa’s being discriminatory! I’m going to forward you an e-mail on some of the charities that others are donating to.
Sadia
17 Oct 07 at 10:01 pm
Some good legal places to contribute:
IQRA: they write, develop and publish all the curriculum books that you and your brothers were educated on at the ISA
Kashmiri american Council: totally legal, helping the masses via UN and legal methods
Islamic Schools league of Americas: coodinating the islamic educational process in the USA
Hidaya Foundation
Gulf medical (local i.e. in the USA and middleeast)
IMANA (medical rural projects)
MECA (middle eastern Childrens Alliance)
Ask me for addresses if you decide to go with any of the above.
These are all vetted for legal status, with minimum overhead.
Happy contributing times!
Asma
18 Oct 07 at 2:49 pm
Visa got back to me, and they said blocking accounts is not in their purview, so it had to have been Wachovia. And the next day when I caved and made my IRW donation by phone, they said possibly their system was down, so… I don’t know. It may have entirely been IRW’s fault, which is somewhat ridiculous considering the last few days of Ramadan are prime for zakat donation.
Anyway, thanks for all the helpful responses!!
huda
29 Oct 07 at 9:26 pm
Islamic Relief has a history of obtaining credit card numbers via fraudulent channels, then, charging the cards, with the hope that it will go un-noticed by the card holder. A simple google search shows substantial fraudulent activity. I just experienced two fraudulent charges and had to cancel the credit card. I called to resolve the issue with the company & to have the charges reversed. They were very defensive and would only transfer me to a voice mail with no message system. I am filing the police report today.
Litigator
30 Oct 07 at 1:02 pm
It’s been known for crooks to use that donation site, and others, to test a card number they have obtained frauduently. It has nothing to do specifically with the company itself, but the crooks who decide to use t.
K
15 Nov 07 at 12:21 am