Debit card not working?

[dog428]

Here's why:

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060620215409990007&_ccc=5&cid=842

Stopped by a store to get a bottle of water this morning on my way to play basketball and my damn card wouldn't work. I had no cash on me, so I had to stroll back to the fridge and put the water back. Kind of felt like a walk of shame, 'cause I know everybody in there was thinking, "What a damn bum. Doesn't have a buck-25 in his account."

Called the bank to see what was up and found out they had arbitrarily issued me a new debit card and switched off my old one. Said it was some sort of fraud prevention thing.

 

[imjustagirl2]

When was the last time yours worked? That article says they were sent out last week, so if mine worked over the weekend, I'm good, right?

 

[Starman]

Here's why:

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060620215409990007&_ccc=5&cid=842

Stopped by a store to get a bottle of water this morning on my way to play basketball and my damn card wouldn't work. I had no cash on me, so I had to stroll back to the fridge and put the water back. Kind of felt like a walk of shame, 'cause I know everybody in there was thinking, "What a damn bum. Doesn't have a buck-25 in his account."

Called the bank to see what was up and found out they had arbitrarily issued me a new debit card and switched off my old one. Said it was some sort of fraud prevention thing.

My bank did the same thing to me on Memorial Day weekend.

No cash, no gas, no nothin. Bank's 1-800 service number was down all weekend, of course.

When I did get ahold of them on Tuesday morning, it was a 2-hour wait on hold. Finally get connected to a real operator, who says she can provide "temporary authorization" to reactivate my old card, so I can go out to the ATM and get some money. "If there's any problem, call us back immediately." Fine.

Nooooo, wait. I jump in the car, head out to the ATM. "CARD USAGE UNAUTHORIZED."

So I scorch rubber, screech back into my driveway, dial the 1-800 number, wait on hold another 45 minutes, and I am connected -- to the same exact operator. (For all I know, she was the only one working that day.)

Her: "Gee, that's strange, it should have worked. Oh, I see, somebody overrode my authorization order. OK, I'll put through a special order which will specifically activate your card for the next 24 hours at BANK ATMs only."

Me: "Swell, terrific, groovy. That's what you told me last time. How long will it take for the new card to arrive?"

Her: Seven to ten business days."

Me: "Hold it, that ain't good enough. I use this card for everyday living expenses. I got no gas in the car, I'm eating dried ramen noodles because I got no food in the house. I need a card here, like TOMORROW. FedEx it to me. "

Her: "I'm sorry sir, it's already been sent, we cannot order a duplicate unless we certify the first card didn't arrive. My advice is to go and take out enough cash to cover your living expenses for the next 10 days."

Me: "Then, put an authorization order for me to continue to use this card until the next one gets here."

Her: "I'm sorry sir, you can only put ONE re-authorization order on a specific card. Once the 24-hour period is up, that card is permanently deactivated."

Me: "So, after 24 hours, I am **** out of luck until the next card gets here?"

Her: "Not if you take out enough cash to cover your expenses for 7-10 business days."

Me: "Hold it. You say 7-10 BUSINESS days, not 7-10 calendar days. It is Tuesday, May 30, and it's 4:30 p.m., so this whole transaction won't get processed until tomorrow, right?"

Her: "Most likely."

Me: "So, 7-10 business days means -- Wednesday, May 31, Thursday, June 1, and Friday, June 2, are Business Days 1-2-3, right? Then, we have the weekend. Monday-Friday, June 5-9, are Business Days 4-8, right? Then, we have ANOTHER weekend. Then, Monday and Tuesday, June 12-13, are Business Days 9 and 10. So, I am not really very likely to receive this card until Tuesday, June 13, correct?"

Her: "Most likely."

Me: "Oh, THAT'S great. I spend $6-8 bucks a day on gas, maybe $5-$8 on food. So I'm supposed to go take out $200-$300 in cash, and walk away from the ATM, in the middle of the hood, just cuz the bank screwed up MY debit card?"

Her: "I'm afraid so."

Me: SLAM.

In addition, almost all of my recurring monthly bills (utilities, phone, internet, etc.) were being done through debit card -- so now, they're starting to bounce back. Already had my cell phone shut down for four days until I could get THAT **** straightened out.

Thanks a ****ing lot for all your "help."

Postscript: I recieved the new card on Friday, June 9. Woo Hoo. : :

 

[leo1]

i've never had this particular problem but whenever i get screwed by some massive company and talk to a faceless, nameless phone operator i like to make them miserable. i know they're just doing their job and it's not their fault they work for a ****ed up mega-corporation. but instead of yelling at them, i ask things like "do you know why [Comcast] is the worst company on earth - and i mean that sincerely - i really want to know the answer to this question" or "besides you, because I know this isn't your fault, do you have a single competent person working at [Comcast]?"

 

[CentralIllinoisan]

This is why my cash is under my mattress.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Am I the only person in America who still has a checkbook?

 

[imjustagirl2]

I have one, but I only use it to write my rent check. That's it.

 

[Bubba Fett]

I have one, but I only use it to write my rent check. That's it.

Same here.

 

[Starman]

Am I the only person in America who still has a checkbook?

I have one, but I never, ever, ever use it -- and a lot of places won't take them anymore.

 

[JayFarrar]

Am I the only person in America who still has a checkbook?

I was kinda wondering the same thing. Wal-Mart takes checks, so does Sam's.
You don't have to write the check out, just sign it and they run it through a printer. Done.
Kroger, the grocery store in my neighborhood, takes checks as well.
You can even write checks for cash there, and I think Wal-Mart lets you write over the amount and will give the cash difference.
That takes care of food and gas, pretty much everything.
So I don't see a problem, or am I missing something?

 

[Dyno]

I still am not convinced that I need a debit card. I just have a plain ol' ATM card and some credit cards (plus a checkbook; I still write a few checks a month). I've heard too many stories of people having trouble with recovering money after their debit cards were lost or stolen. I also don't like the idea of some places not requiring that you enter a PIN when you use a debit card for a transaction either. Too easy for money to be stolen. The story linked above could apply just as easily to an ATM card, too, so I'm not specifically referring to that, but I know a few too many people who've had debit card issues to want to have one. Of course, my bank doesn't see it that way and it's always been a hassle to get an ATM card, not a debit card.

 

[KYSportsWriter]

I have one, but I only use it to write my rent check. That's it.

Ditto. And I use it to make my car payments each month.

 

[dog428]

When was the last time yours worked? That article says they were sent out last week, so if mine worked over the weekend, I'm good, right?

Mine worked as late as yesterday. And from what I understand from the bank, they started sending out the new cards last week. Doesn't mean they got them all out last week.

And I've got a checkbook, but like others, I rarely use the damn thing. If I could pay my mortgage and car payment online, I wouldn't use it at all.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Am I the only person in America who still has a checkbook?

I was kinda wondering the same thing. Wal-Mart takes checks, so does Sam's.
You don't have to write the check out, just sign it and they run it through a printer. Done.
Kroger, the grocery store in my neighborhood, takes checks as well.
You can even write checks for cash there, and I think Wal-Mart lets you write over the amount and will give the cash difference.
That takes care of food and gas, pretty much everything.
So I don't see a problem, or am I missing something?

Not to mention the fact you can go to your bank and write a check for cash.

 

[Weekly writer]

Happened to my buddy in Vegas. Apparently his pin # is 6 digits and the ATMs out there dont recoginize that. He had no cash on him and luckily realized early enough on Saturday so he could hail a cab to the nearest branch of his bank. Needless to say it would have been a long weekend cuz we werent in any position to let him borrow.

 

[Starman]

Am I the only person in America who still has a checkbook?

I was kinda wondering the same thing. Wal-Mart takes checks, so does Sam's.
You don't have to write the check out, just sign it and they run it through a printer. Done.
Kroger, the grocery store in my neighborhood, takes checks as well.
You can even write checks for cash there, and I think Wal-Mart lets you write over the amount and will give the cash difference.
That takes care of food and gas, pretty much everything.
So I don't see a problem, or am I missing something?

Not to mention the fact you can go to your bank and write a check for cash.

Yeah, great, write a check for 2 weeks of living expenses and walk around with hundreds of bucks of cash in your pocket. Sounds eminently sensible.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Well, I wouldn't write one that big. They'll let you come back and write another one.

 

[SCEditor]

This happened to me a few months ago. I'm sitting in a bar, drinking up a storm with friends and I go to pay the bill. Pretty bartender comes back, "Hey SCEditor, your card didn't go through." I don't know why. I call the 800-number to check my account and I've got more than enough to cover the bill. The bartender's a friend, so she says just pay for it tomorrow. So I hit the ATM on the way to work, get the money and stop by the bar to pay it. Well, I've got a bunch of bills that go through my debit card and none of them get paid, because my debit card isn't working. But, for some odd reason, it works at an ATM machine.

Turns out, that my debit card was deactivated unless I put the four-digit, handy-dandy pin number in. Nobody at the bank can tell me why. Nobody can tell me when it happened. It just "happened." So after having it out with the bank, I get them to send me a new card. But the same day they send me a new card, the bank finds out somebody stole some Debit card numbers or something or other. So they can a bunch of cards and decide to send out new ones. Did they tell me? Nope. So I get my new debit card, take it to the ATM, do all the stuff you do to activate it. I go to the bar the next night and my new debit card doesn't work.

So I'm back on the phone with the bank again trying to get my third debit card, which they mail out. Only, they didn't tell me they had already mailed out a third one because of the theft or whatever. So I get a third card, activate it and stuff, go to a restaurant and my m***** f****** card isn't working still.

So I have to call back again and I finally get somebody to explain to me what the problem was. In the process of explaining it to me I find out another card is coming (from the previous call) and that that one will work.

All total, I probably, no kidding, spent 15 hours on the phone with the bank and I was without a working debit card (with the exception of ATM usage) for 2 months.

 

[kingcreole]

Am I the only person in America who still has a checkbook?

I have one, but all I use it for is to pay bills and pay for my daughter's school lunches.

My family relies almost exclusively on our debit card. If that **** happens to us, I'd be in a literal panic. We use very little cash, mainly for vacations and small purchases.

 

[Monday Morning Sportswriter]

This happened to me a few years ago.

Baby MMSW and I were an hour from home. Just us and the bank debit card; that was all. We'd made a special trip to a supermarket that specialized in locally grown/produced foods and filled the card. We had to leave a bag full of groceries in the cart in the front of the store. It was one of the most humiliating moments of my life.

What's coincidental is that I had made a large cash deposit a few hours earlier, using that card to access my account at a nearby supermarket's courtesy desk.

A few lessons learned the hard way.

-- Don't rely on one card.
-- Always have a local bank, at least as a backup.