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It seems I lost my wallet last night.

So it's time to cancel my cards but I'm on the other side of the world.

In my experience in the hospitality industry and having lost Visa cards twice before while abroad, I have learned that reporting your card lost directly to Visa results in much smoother and more efficient help than reporting your card to your bank.

Now the country I'm in doesn't have a Visa Card office. Visa's website has a page of general help and a page with free phone numbers for many countries.

Here's the catch. Since they are all toll free numbers and they are all in other countries I can't call them from here!

Now they do have another number I can call reverse charges from anywhere in the world, but my Georgian friends have never even heard of this concept and don't know how to make such a call.

So how can I report my Visa card stolen when I'm in Georgia?

  • Is there a way to call say the toll free number in Turkey?
  • Is there some other list of phone numbers which are not toll free?
  • How can I make a reverse charge call from Georgia?

The answer to any of those will answer my overall question.

(I ended up calling my Australian bank via Skype but I would still like to know the answer in case it happens to anybody else.)

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    Doesn't the answer in your other linked question work for you?
    – Ankur Banerjee
    Dec 10, 2011 at 16:56
  • No, the only answer there is "basically you can't" plus a link to a Skype help page for some exceptions where toll free numbers do work, but Turkey is not amongst them.
    – hippietrail
    Dec 10, 2011 at 18:28
  • No I'm wrong, I just didn't notice it so I'll turn it into a proper answer so the next person doesn't have to hunt for it while in the fog of "lost wallet"...
    – hippietrail
    Dec 10, 2011 at 18:36
  • I should have clarified. Basically you can't...from a normal phone.
    – Ankur Banerjee
    Dec 10, 2011 at 22:30

3 Answers 3

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It turns out I didn't put 2 and 2 together because the answer is not spelled out obviously enough for somebody in a mild panic to spot.

You can call the US "Global Card Assistance Service" from anywhere in the world using Skype even though it's a toll-free number:

+1 800 847 2911

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The service "home country direct" connects you to an operator in the home country:

In Georgia:

British Telecom 8 0200,
MCI 8 024 995,
AT&T 8 0288,
Sprint 8 0100,

Whether any Australian telcos are partnered I don't know; but at least those numbers should get you an English-speaking operator.

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The very website you link to has the answer: "If outside the US please make a reverse-charge call to +1 303 967 1096"
In other words you can call collect directly to Visa in the US.

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  • For this, you will presumably need operator assistance of some sort to make a collect call, which often does not exist on mobile networks and landline networks in many countries, or the operator might not speak your language.
    – Ankur Banerjee
    Dec 12, 2011 at 13:08
  • Thanks jwenting but as you see in the question none of the Georgians I know seem to know how to place a reverse-charge call here.
    – hippietrail
    Dec 12, 2011 at 13:11
  • I don't know about Georgia specifically as it stands today, but in many countries (and certainly in the USSR it used to be) the easiest way would be to either go to your hotel lobby and ask there at the reception desk, or go to a post office.
    – jwenting
    Dec 14, 2011 at 7:29

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