SifuPhil
R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
- Location
- Pennsylvania, USA
Being the subversive, law-hating and radical little stinker that I am I do not have a bank account. Of any kind - savings, checking, interest-bearing, child-bearing, whatever. I was worked-over too many times in my life by banks so I decided, as with driving, that I would just go without.
Generally it's a very freeing thing, except when you have to cash a check, want to buy something on credit or want to get paid your freelancing fees. That's where my pre-paid debit cards come in handy - I have several with one company that I use (along with PayPal) as my virtual banking system.
Well, Mr. Alzheimer paid me an early visit the other day. I went to pull cash out of the ATM using my debit card, something I've done hundreds of times, and it returned a little receipt that said
TRANSACTION DENIED
UNAUTHORIZED USER
And here I thought all those other times I was actually authorized ... I tried a few times with different amounts, tried twice asking just for a balance - nothing. The store owner came over, pulled the cash drawer out of the ATM and showed me a sheaf of 20's that was about a foot thick - no problem with cash-flow shortages there. I stopped short of suggesting they just give me an inch or so for my troubles - I still have to get my milk there.
Now I recently had someone / some company in Spain trying to charge one of my cards for services I never requested. In contacting them to let them know I was onto them, they pleaded innocent. Funny how the charges on my debit card disappeared right after that email conversation. I figured that the safe way to play it would be to assume that the card had been compromised, and using my 75-WPM typing skills quickly deleted that card from my account.
Turns out I deleted the wrong one - I got rid of the one I was trying to use on the ATM, the one I use almost every day for cash movement, the ONLY one that I can find in all my stuff (somehow the other cards went AWOL during my last move).
So now begins the process of begging / cajoling / threatening / bribing to either get the card re-activated or applying for another new one.
Generally it's a very freeing thing, except when you have to cash a check, want to buy something on credit or want to get paid your freelancing fees. That's where my pre-paid debit cards come in handy - I have several with one company that I use (along with PayPal) as my virtual banking system.
Well, Mr. Alzheimer paid me an early visit the other day. I went to pull cash out of the ATM using my debit card, something I've done hundreds of times, and it returned a little receipt that said
TRANSACTION DENIED
UNAUTHORIZED USER
And here I thought all those other times I was actually authorized ... I tried a few times with different amounts, tried twice asking just for a balance - nothing. The store owner came over, pulled the cash drawer out of the ATM and showed me a sheaf of 20's that was about a foot thick - no problem with cash-flow shortages there. I stopped short of suggesting they just give me an inch or so for my troubles - I still have to get my milk there.
Now I recently had someone / some company in Spain trying to charge one of my cards for services I never requested. In contacting them to let them know I was onto them, they pleaded innocent. Funny how the charges on my debit card disappeared right after that email conversation. I figured that the safe way to play it would be to assume that the card had been compromised, and using my 75-WPM typing skills quickly deleted that card from my account.
Turns out I deleted the wrong one - I got rid of the one I was trying to use on the ATM, the one I use almost every day for cash movement, the ONLY one that I can find in all my stuff (somehow the other cards went AWOL during my last move).
So now begins the process of begging / cajoling / threatening / bribing to either get the card re-activated or applying for another new one.
