In the past couple of weeks, it has come to my attention just how addicted we are to our little plastic cards. Now unlike some folks, I don't have a wallet full of the things, just two, a credit card and a debit card. That is to say, I used to have two. At the present time I have no valid plastic.
Let me explain. Some time around my birthday, my credit card was refused by Amazon. Knowing that I had no payments past due, or even due, and that I was far away from reaching my limit, I contacted the card company to see what the problem was. (Contacting the company was a whole nuther hassle, but that's a story for another day.) I was informed, probably by an AI entity, that attempted suspicious charges had necessitated blocking my credit card. My card had obviously been hacked. So I told the entity to please cancel the card and issue me another one. It said it would, and I subsequently received and email to that effect. I was told the new card would arrive in 7-10 business days.
Yesterday being more than two weeks since that communication with no new card showing up, I went to the credit card site, clicked on "check status of new card" button, and learned that the card had supposedly been delivered. I have no idea who might now have my new credit card, but they can't use it. Because now I have cancelled that one and am supposed to received another new one in 7-10 business days.
But that's not all of the story. As I was dealing with the credit card problem, I received a call from my bank (a real person this time). She told me that they had noticed several suspicious charges on my debit card. I pulled up my account online and sure enough, there were numerous charges that I didn't make. After a protracted phone session with the bank rep, we got all the suspicious charges flagged and I was told I would receive a new card in 7-10 business days.
Fast forward until today. I have not yet received a new debit card. I checked my online account and, lo and behold, there are more unauthorized charges. All in all, the unauthorized charges amount to several hundred dollars stolen from my account. So I called the bank.
It was a nightmare. The poor woman (or girl, she sounded like) had a very thick foreign accent. I was able to catch about one word out of ten.* We had to go through the whole month of March again, asking me if I recognized each charge. If she told me why my card had not been cancelled and a new card issued, it was during one of those times that I didn't understand a word she said. The call was long, very long, about an hour and a half.
Anyway, I think she told me that an investigation would begin and I would get a refund. I should also receive a new debit card within, you guessed it, seven to ten business days.
So now I'm without plastic--no credit card, no debit card. I had to write a check at the grocery store yesterday. I'm glad I remembered how. But I'm sure I'll have my bright and shiny new cards in about seven to ten business days. But, just in case, I might better order some more checks.
*Note: I have no negative feelings nor bigotry about the woman's accent. I mentioned it only to point out the nightmare this long long call was. I hate talking on the phone anyway. The woman on the first bank call had an accent too, but it was something like Brooklyn. She was also hard to understand but no so much as the one today.
