This was so embarrassing for me! My normal method of paying for things is using my iPhone, instead of normal bank cards or even cash. All good, until a few days ago, when it was a bit awkward to say the least.
First problem was in our plumbing and bathroom supplier, a local shop in the next town. I was there to buy a new vanity unit (code for over priced small kitchen unit) for £535.
As per my usual practice, I hovered my iPhone over the shop’s card reader machine, my phone lit up and I pressed my thumb on the home button. I must have done this hundreds of times before – big and small amounts, here in the UK and abroad. Within a second a nice ding was heard on my phone, together with a reassuring blue tick. All good until DECLINED showed up on the card reader machine.
I was embarrassed, the staff looked awkward, undoubtedly wondering if they had a fraudster of a customer. We tried again and the same thing happened. So they kindly suggested they could email the invoice and I could arrange payment.
With my tail firmly between my legs, I set off to Waitrose for a little spot of good food shopping. I bought a basket of food costing £21.
Again, DECLINED! FLIPPIN DECLINED!!!!!!!
As I had no cards with me or even enough cash, I asked if they could keep my shopping and I’d be back in about an hour.
Sitting back in my car I thought about this. Have we been hacked? Was the vanity unit cost over some kind of limit? The signal on my phone was weak, just 1 bar of 3G, so I called Rachel. She checked and said the account looked okay. Phew.
So I drove home feeling slightly adrift. Was I now penniless? Has all the money run out? Is this early retirement lark a great big joke and I’ve been conned? Someone trying to tell me something? Will I have to go back to work? Those irrational fleeting thoughts only lasted a few seconds but I still felt unnerved.
I got home and the plumbing supplier’s email was there, so I went online and paid the invoice. I grabbed my wallet, complete with bank cards and headed back to Waitrose.
The customer service assistant was just going off duty when I explained I’d come to collect some shopping that I’d been unable to pay for.
Ah yes, I heard about you. Please wait a moment Sir and I’ll get your shopping for you.
What did she mean by “ah yes, I heard about you”. This was not exactly helping my increasing levels of paranoia.
A few minutes later my shopping arrived. It had thoughtfully been kept in a chilled room, so even the trolley was positively cold to touch! I paid with my bank card, it worked much to my relief!
Trying to get to the bottom of this
I called Lloyds Bank and they weren’t aware of any problem. I checked the Apple Wallet app and everything was in place. I double checked the card’s expiry date. All good.
I went to buy some petrol, again DECLINED but I did have a bank card, so at least I could pay for the fuel.
And then yesterday, at our village shop, I popped into buy some milk and it worked fine. Whatever problem was lurking there has been fixed. I know I’m not alone, I put the issue out into the land of Twitter and a stranger replied to say exactly the same thing happened to him.
The moral of the story? Doug, you should have a back-up means of payment, always. Don’t just carry your phone and expect it to do everything for you.
Lesson learned. Phew.