Tuesday, 25 November 2008
Card declined!
Just at the time when the banks are desperate to ensure what little money I have stays in their possession, I seem to have ended up with two cash-cards - both unexpired - for the same account. One works, and one doesn’t (and that’s probably the reason I was sent the second, but I’ve long forgotten about it). I can never remember which one’s which and I can’t risk cutting up the valid one, so sometimes I stand cursing at the cash-point as the card comes back without the cash or – worse – at the supermarket checkout looking flummoxed while the girl announces that my card has been refused. Since quitting ‘work’ (ha – I’ve never worked so hard in my life!) we’ve gently suggested to Sally that there might be a little less money than there used to be (and even less than that, thanks to the collapse of global capitalism). So it was hardly surprising (but deeply embarrassing) the other day to hear her tutting at the checkout as my card was declined again - ‘We’ve run out of money, haven’t we Daddy?’
Shall we cancel Christmas now?
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I wholeheartedly sympathise, The Dotterel. It looks as if the banks have swallowed up the Government's money (our money) to shore up their ailing balance sheets and will not lend a bean to us lot. I reckon bankers are getting a worse reputation than estate agents (with due apologies to estate agents) and I can say that as an ex-banker myself (!)
ReplyDeleteMy fingers are crossed for you and us all. I hope that some sanity will return and that Christmas will not be cancelled!! When does your book come out? :)
Oh i do sympathise. I feel really sorry for some people at my checkout when their card is refused. I'm embarassed for them and blame the machine. Then i have to call the manager who looks after their shopping until they've been to the cashpoint!
ReplyDeleteNo wonder a lot of people pay with cash!
Horrible moment... my card was blocked when we went to Spain a few weeks ago... I could not work out why I was told over and over that the card wasnt working. Yuck. Finally rang the bank who said they had blocked it as there was suspicious activity. Suspicious activity? That was us having a nice time on holiday. They told us to inform them next time. Crikey! Whatever next...
ReplyDeleteI was at the supermarket with my son once and forgot my purse, and he pipes up 'shall I pay, mummy?'
ReplyDeleteWhile everyone was 'ahh isn't he cute' ing I was really tempted to make a run for it!
I didn't
Come and visit us here in Romania, Dot. Nobody makes a big deal of present buying here, and the plane fare is probably cheaper than a trip to Tescos!
ReplyDelete'shall I pay, mummy?' - oh that's is cute though.
Actually I'm surprised Darling didn't recommend cancelling Christmas in his pre budget doodah yesterday. Or would he be recommending Christmas every day? The government giveth and the government taketh away and all that...
ReplyDeleteI'd burn both cards: they're evil (speaking as someone who is slave to his own little rectangles of plastic).
Coincidentally, my card was refused at the supermarket yesterday. Lots of wiping and cleaning the card by checkout woman. She was quite nice about it and I explained there was nothing wrong with my card (fingers crossed behind my back). Supervisor called and, after 10 minutes, it was discovered the machine was wonky. New machine installed and my card worked. Phew!
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then I have a "senior moment" and just forget the number of my card. It is the same number I have had since I was about 18 so how I can forget it I just don't know.
ReplyDeleteGo to the cash machine when you don't desperately need money. Only take one card. If it works, as soon as you get home cut the other one up and if it doesn't then cut that one up. It won't work if you just take a marker pen or whatever cos you'll have a panic attack when you get home that you marked the wrong card. But if you keep them separate you'll cope.
Ot take both and when one is refused and the other accepted, fold the refused one and you'll know which one to cut up at home.
ReplyDeleteAnd Sally is a rascal!
Happens to me so often, always at Tesco, their machines are so overused the rubber pads get sticky; well that's my excuse as the queue behind me gets longer and I've forgotten the nummber of my second [for emergencies only card] The checkout girl looks bored and yawns widely and loudly, my heart starts to thump and I smile weakly and sickly at the line, shrug and simper 'wait till you get old'.
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm so glad it's not just me! It's amazing how the banks can swung from one extreme to the other, Hadriana. Although I'm still getting almost daily offers of new credit cards!
ReplyDeleteI want to shop at your supermarket, Jenny. How civilised is that?
Oh yes, LBM - Big Banking Brother is watching you!
My daughter probably could have paid for the shopping, Tara. Should have let her, shouldn't I?
I'll give it some thought, Gadj. Certainly the idea of somewhere less materialistic than here appeals strongly. do you know today is World Buy Nothing Day?
Are you sure he hasn't, Steve? Or that he won't suddenly double VAT next week?
I've been there too, DD. Only in my case, the 'it must be your machine/it worked perfectly elsewhere' was due to my mix-up with the cards.
That sounds like a very practical solution, RB. I shall try it next time I'm not in desperate need of cash. (Which will be sometime in 2012, I think!)
She is, Z!
Why is there always a long line of impatient customers behind you when this happens, Moannie? They seem to appear from nowhere.
Actually, I've just found out 'World No Shopping Day' is this coming Saturday. You heard it here last, folks!
ReplyDeleteKids tell it like it is, don't they? Why not take both cards to the shop next time, and if the first one is accepted, tuck the other one in your pants or some other suitable place, so you can cut it up when you get home. Or if the dodgy one is proffered first tuck it in your pants ... you get the general idea, I'm sure.
ReplyDeletex
My heart misses a beat everytime I present a card of any sort. Don't know why, and in the same way I feel guilty everytime I see a policeman. Mind you on the odd occasion it's happened, I just giggle...
ReplyDeleteOh - please don't tell my husband it is World No Shopping Day on Saturday: I'll not get anything for our anniversary!
ReplyDeleteI think there's a lot to be said for cash, although I guess it would get a bit lumpy under the mattress (if I had enough of it). In Africa virtually everything was cash based: I had a friend who kept her wages in the freezer!
A few years ago my main credit card was refused in Tesco. They offered to phone the bank for me and get an authorisation but I decided that it would be easier, quicker and less embarrassing to offer them an alternative card. When I phoned the bank they thought that there was a second card in circulation but nothing that was not mine ever appeared on my statements. Makes you wonder where they get their info from.
ReplyDeleteMy husband will be pleased to hear that Saturday is World No Shopping Day.
Hi The Dotterel...an award is waiting for you over at mine...
ReplyDeleteSounds like an opportunity to me.
ReplyDelete"Yes, darling, we've run out of money"
ergo, no more mithering!!!!!!!
Oh whups! lolol
ReplyDeleteGood one, Sally! x
ReplyDeleteWhat a sensible girl. I'm sure there are many parents wishing it could be cancelled!
ReplyDeleteAww, bless. What would she have said if you had agreed to cancel I wonder?!!
ReplyDeleteNo its not just you!!
ReplyDeleteOh, heartbreaking....Just wanted to say thanks for helping me find you, and I put you on my list on my blogsite.
ReplyDeleteOooh, No, we can't possibly cancel Christmas! Become an Avon Lady, that brings in commission!
ReplyDeleteCJ xx
Thanks for the advice, Kitty (although I don't fancy tucking the card in my pants!).
ReplyDeleteI know that feeling, NB. And one of my best friends is a policeman!
Well, I could keep it quiet I suppose, Catharine. It'll probably make no difference in the UK; no-one's shopping anyway.
They do seem to know an awful lot about our movements, CW. I don't know whether to be pleased by that or not.
You're too kind, Hadriana.
I can see this could be used to my advantage, WM. Just wish I'd thought of that earlier.
Whups or whoops indeed, TG (and don't go encourageing her, Katy!)
The trouble is, AM, I like it too. I'd miss it if it were cancelled. Sally, on the other hand, would probably have been very stoical, Suburbia. She's like that now she's ten!
I'm very glad to hear it, Jen.
No problem, Sue. (I'm not sure what I did, but glad it worked).
An Avon Lady, eh? Now that's something I hadn't thought of. I must mention it to Dave.
Oh, so cute, hee hee. I say carry scissors, and next time it is declined chop it up straight away.
ReplyDelete