Apple ID Anyone hit this issue before - credit card not authorised

[wayne_rowley]

This is a strange one:

Last night I tried to buy a MacBook from the Apple website using my default payment method/credit card. I received an authorisation refused message on the Apple website. Shortly after my phone pinged - it was my bank doing a fraud check. I confirmed to them that it was me doing the purchase and they removed the lock - all good.

Since then I have re-tried the purchase several times from the Apple website and get the same error! A smaller purchase worked (I upped my iCloud to 2TB), but I can't buy a MacBook.

I've contacted Apple Support - they can't tell me any details about the error or issue. I've done all of the usual - checked addresses etc. but none of these have changed recently.

I've contacted my bank again and there is no issue they can find - and the interesting thing is that they can't see any attempted further transaction from Apple since the original one last night! Even though I have retried several times, Apple has not tried to re-authorise with the bank. It's almost as if Apple has cached the first authorised refusal and now won't even try!!

Anyone else had this before? Anyone know how to fix it? Neither the bank nor Apple can tell me what the problem is.

Thanks,
Wayne

 

[Marc_S]

Clear your cookies and previous 24 hours browsing history (before you tried to place the order), then do a malware scan using Malwarebytes to be safe. After that restart your MacBook and try again.

 

[wayne_rowley]

Tried that, tried different devices etc. - I've even tried ordering over the phone! Rejects the credit card without saying why, but my bank insists that they've had no auth requests from Apple (at least since that first one last night).

 

[DeltaMac]

My bank debit card is a Visa card, and in this situation, Visa would be my "first point of contact", I think.
Have you also tried contacting the credit card company?

 

[Marc_S]

Damn! I only faced that issue once and after my bank issued the authorization I had the same problem as you. That's when I cleared all recent cookies & web browsing from my MBP restarted and it worked. Sorry, can't help further but can only think there must be some corruption of the authorization process somewhere.

 

[wayne_rowley]

My bank debit card is a Visa card, and in this situation, Visa would be my "first point of contact", I think.
Have you also tried contacting the credit card company?

Yes. It's the credit card company telling me that they are not seeing any addition authorisation requests from Apple since the first.

Something is messed up in Apple's payment process it seems.

 

[DeltaMac]

So, you have talked to both your bank, and your credit card company, and both tell you that the card should be good?
Several possible "fixes":

1. Remove your default card from your AppleID account, then re-add the same one.
2. Wait a few days - maybe 5 business days - then try again.
3. Call Apple customer support/AppleID support. Ask to speak to someone who is authorized to give you a reason for refusing your card, in spite of the fact that your bank and your credit card company both tell you that your card is good.
4. use a different credit card.

 

[wayne_rowley]

So, you have talked to both your bank, and your credit card company, and both tell you that the card should be good?
Several possible "fixes":

1. Remove your default card from your AppleID account, then re-add the same one.
2. Wait a few days - maybe 5 business days - then try again.
3. Call Apple customer support/AppleID support. Ask to speak to someone who is authorized to give you a reason for refusing your card, in spite of the fact that your bank and your credit card company both tell you that your card is good.
4. use a different credit card.

1. I’ve done that. I’ve also added PayPal as an alternate payment method.
2. I’ll have to wait now - the MacBook I wanted is now out of stock!
3. I did try that - twice. On both times I was told that they don’t have that data.

It‘s all strange. Once the laptop I want is back in stock I’ll try again.

Thanks,
wayne

 

[wayne_rowley]

The issue seems to have resolved itself. Not sure exactly what the fix was, but I both deleted and re-added my credit card to my iCloud account and also waited 24 hours before re-trying the purchase. No issues this time.

Wayne