AARP Barclays Mastercard Account Alerts

[jd8793]

I would like to receive a text notification immediately after a charge has been made to this card but it doesn't look like a text message option is available. I receive emails 3 to 4 days after a charge has been made to the card which is kind of a case of closing the barn door after the horses have bolted. After all, isn't the purpose of these email notifications supposed to help minimize fraud? I used to always receive instant notifications from Chase (both test and email) when a charge was made which was nice since I knew exactly what was going on.

I did however recently receive a instant fraud alert from Barclays regarding a charge that was indeed fraudulent on my spouse's card. So why can they send an instant text fraud alert and not a regular non-fraudulent purchase and how do they no the difference?

Then when I contacted Barclay's about the the fraudulent charge they canceled our cards and sent me a new card in 7 to 10 days. A faster option was available for a $15 "Fast Card Fee". They didn't, however, send my spouse a new card so I had to call them again (I just love wasting my time on things that aren't done correctly in the first place-I sure hope that comment hasn't offended someone.. the poor baby). They said it would take another 7 to 10 days for my spouse to receive the new card. So I said why would my spouse have to wait another 7 to 10 days for the replacement card since they erred in the first place not sending my spouse's card with my card (once again, I'm really sorry if that last comment was to harsh, you know asking why someone didn't do their job can be devastating). The guy I spoke to said that he would send it in three days and that there would be a "Fast Card Fee" of $15 that had to be posted to my account but that his supervisor (who conveniently wasn't around to credit the "Fast Card Fee" at that time-I think it was a set-up) would credit my account later that day after my helpful agent reached out to him.

I wouldn't recommend this card to anyone because it just seems "classless" compared to the Chase Visa card that AARP used to use. Thankfully I only use this card for non-Amazon purchases so I don't use it much. If I do use it, it will most likely be through PayPal which should make it safer to use.