sal_68

I am a uK citizen on holiday in america. I went to mexico and used my debit card there. as a result my bank blocked my debit card. now i am back in america and cant use my atm. my bank is lloyds tsb. i have no money at all to call my bank. i have emailed them to no avail. Can anyone suggest any help?

Dorothy

Ring your family reverse charges and have them send you some cash via Western Union?

kimilseung

Use cash - you say you have no money, so I guess not
Cash a travellers cheque - you say you have no money, so I guess not (too late now, but a lesson for the future, do not put all your money in one basket when travelling)
Sell something
Beg money
(I am not being facetious; I was in China, no money, no passport, some people helped my out, I sold my camera, reverse call home got money sent out)
Call/email family or friends to send money (Moneygram)
I do not know if these are free numbers or not
International Lloyds number 00 44 1733 347 007
lost or stolen card number is +44 (0) 1702 278 270

ljaw2002uk

Where are you staying? are you in a hotel, if so they would most likely be able to assist you with calling abroad. Staying with friends? can none of them can loan you a couple of bucks until you have resolved the problem?

ian-mstm

For future reference (and for anyone else reading), you should have contacted your bank prior to travelling to tell them that you will be using your card in one or more foreign countries.

That said, I suggest you either sell some personal items to raise some cash, or see if the airline will consider an earlier return flight.

Ian

caleyjag

I've been in a similar situation before, although it was in Poland. I had my wallet and passport nicked and was destitute.

In my case I pleaded with the management of the hostel I was staying in to let me continue staying there while I sorted myself out. Not only did they do that, they helped me contact my family so I could get funds sent over. So hopefully you can find a good samaritan. If you don't ask, you don't get, I guess.

One important lesson I learned: don't depend on the UK consulate/embassy to help you out.

What city are you in?

md95065

Well, at least the OP has internet access ...

... which is interesting because if I were in his situation I would be emailing family and friends asking for help not joining an internet message board that I had never posted on before ...

caleyjag

Their family is probably asleep. If I was in their situation I would be in an all night internet cafe trying to stay warm and safe. And posting on random internet messageboards in the hope of finding a guardian angel.

kimilseung

When you are in the s#it, there are people who do not believe you, think you are trying to con them, whatever; its horrible when you get that response, it is one thing people not being able to help, or not wanting to help, but it is a moral knocker when you realize people think you are making it up. I'll give people the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.

materialcontroller

This happened to me in Cyprus once, and I did eventually manage to borrow the money to call my bank (NatWest). After lecturing that denying me access to my own money was for my own good as it helped prevent international fraud and money laundering ( ), they ever so helpfully told me that I could have reversed the charges to their call centre. So perhaps you can try this with your bank. Good luck and I hope you manage to get out of this awful situation.

Scouse Express

I think you will find this page of great assistance. It is courtesy of the British Embassy in DC;

http://ukinusa.fco.gov.uk/en/help-fo...ong/lost-cards

Jim.

nethead

My sister and her husband have been to visit me here 3 or 4 times, each time they informed their bank that they would be in the US and using their debit card/credit card. And still they've had trouble using them on a few of those trips.

sir_eccles

Interesting, most emergency overseas numbers to banks are toll free.

Bob

But sometimes not 24/7, but regular business hours.

To the OP, with the benefit of the doubt. Get in touch with local Brit consulate, they would be able to help contact friends/family in the UK at the very least.

discoviking

Good advice, and I agree 100%. In addition, I would recommend contacting your bank to notify them(for those of us living in the US) if you are travelling domestically, and will be far from home. I learned this the hard way on one of my cross country roadtrips, using my ATM card to gas up every 300 miles or so along I-80.