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Latest post Mon, Nov 13 2006 7:26 AM by nona the brit. 6 replies.
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Anonymous  +  291706 Sat, 11 Nov 06 04:24 AM

Hello everybody,

I would like your opinion on which words are better suited to use in the following situations:

Situation 1. I have phoned my credit card company to report my credit card stolen/lost/PIN number compromised/whatever/etc. What would you say happens as a result of that to:

  1. my credit card: the credit card is blocked/frozen/put on hold/has a hold on it/deactivated/cancelled/annulled/locked (please enter your own suggestions if any)
  2. my credit card account: the credit card account is blocked/frozen/put on hold/has a hold on it/deactivated/cancelled/annulled/locked (please enter your own suggestions if any)

Situation 2. I have checked into a hotel or rented a car and they swiped my card and blocked $500. Again, what would you say happened to my credit card and my credit card account (the choices are the same as above).

Which words would you say are used by laymen and which by banking professionals. I am also interested if there are regional differences, i.e.: British usage vs. American vs. Canadian vs. Australian

Thank you very much for your input.
Anonymous
Grammar Geek  +  291889 Sat, 11 Nov 06 04:32 PM

I don't quite understand what you mean in Situation 1.If your card is stolen, that's very different than having a hold on it.Are you trying to ask what you say to the company when you call, or what the result will be?

In Situation 2, I believe I've heard it said that "a hold" has been placed on your card. If you have a low credit limit, by "holding" that much for themselves, the hotel ensures that amount is available to them so other vendors can't use that money. Otherwise, it could be possible that when you go to check out and they want to charge your card for the amont of you stay, you could have reached your limit and they would not have any funds available to pay for your stay.  
Grammar Geek
Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006
Veteran Member 19,650
Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!
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Anonymous, 3 yr 10 days ago

Thank you for your reply, Grammar Geek. I do understand the difference between having a card stolen and having a hold on it. I also understand what putting a hold on a card means. What I am asking is to indicate which of the suggested words (perhaps you could add to my list as well) will be more appropriate in these two very different situations.

For example, in Situation 1, is it appropriate to say that after I had called the bank my card is blocked or is it better to say my card is deactivated? Or, perhaps, both phrases are OK. In this case, would a lay person is more likely to say it is deactivated and a banking professional would say it is blocked? Would, say blocked will be more used in England than in the States? This is what kind of info I am looking for. Thank you.

Grammar Geek  +  292013 Sun, 12 Nov 06 12:52 AM
I think I would say that the card was deactivated, and the account was frozen. I have no idea what terms the credit card company would use.
Grammar Geek
Anonymous, 3 yr 9 days ago

Thank you.

I would love to have input from other members of this forum. All opinions will be greatly appreciated.

nona the brit  +  292443 Mon, 13 Nov 06 07:25 AM

This is just my personal take but

Situation 1. I have phoned my credit card company to report my credit card stolen/lost/PIN number compromised/whatever/etc. What would you say happens as a result of that to:

  1. my credit card: the credit card is cancelled/
  2. my credit card account: the credit card account is frozen
  1. Situation 2. I have checked into a hotel or rented a car and they swiped my card and blocked $500. Again, what would you say happened to my credit card and my credit card account (the choices are the same as above).

I'm not sure what you mean by they blocked $500? Who blocked it? The hotel? They charged $500 to my account? Or they tried to charge $500 and couldn't because there wasn't enough credit? Or they tried to charge $500 because for some reason my card had been cancelled/account frozen?
nona the brit
Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004
England
Veteran Member 11,713
The name says it all.
nona the brit  +  292444 Mon, 13 Nov 06 07:26 AM

This is just my personal take but

Situation 1. I have phoned my credit card company to report my credit card stolen/lost/PIN number compromised/whatever/etc. What would you say happens as a result of that to:

  1. my credit card: the credit card is cancelled/
  2. my credit card account: the credit card account is frozen
  1. Situation 2. I have checked into a hotel or rented a car and they swiped my card and blocked $500. Again, what would you say happened to my credit card and my credit card account (the choices are the same as above).

I'm not sure what you mean by they blocked $500? Who blocked it? The hotel? They charged $500 to my account? Or they tried to charge $500 and couldn't because there wasn't enough credit? Or they tried to charge $500 because for some reason my card had been cancelled/account frozen?

Anyway, if they try to charge something on a card and it won't work for whatever reason (not enough funds etc) they just say 'it's been rejected'.
nona the brit
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