On Friday after work I went with the BF to the store so we could each do a little grocery shopping for the weekend. I picked up about $25 worth of stuff, and we headed to the self checkout. When I went to pay, the screen said my debit card was expired. Nope. It doesn't expire until September 2012. I tried a few times and then asked for some help. The woman tried a few things but nothing worked. I was annoyed and confused, since I had used my card that morning on the way to work. BF paid for my groceries, and as we walked out I remembered seeing a missed call from a 714 area code, which is where my bank is located.
Sure enough, I had a voicemail asking to call them. It was after five, but they are available until 9:00pm. So, I called back and sure enough, someone from Galveston, Texas had charged $500 to Walmart on my card. The bank noticed it, cancelled the card, and called me.
All the charges will be refunded and they've mailed out my new debit card already. They said it takes two days once it posts to do the refund, which isn't a problem. Here's why I love my credit union though: those charges wouldn't have shown up until Monday at the earliest. I would have called, but a LOT of damage could have been done by then, causing overdraw on my account if checks went through. But, they noticed right away and called me to take care of it. I'm not paying for the charges, and I should have my new card in the next few days.
Now, the annoying thing is fixing all the places I have auto-debit, since my card is now cancelled. Netflix already emailed me, and T-Mobile should be next. This is also the reason I'm glad I kept one credit card-I can make sure the bills are paid on time, and then pay off the credit card as soon as everything is back in order by the end of the week. So sorry Dave Ramsey; I won't be cutting up that last credit card.
Oh dear! I have had a number of situations like that pop up and I'm also SO glad that my bank (you rock PNC!) took care of the issues quickly.
ReplyDeleteThere are a couple of things I strongly disagree with Dave Ramsey about and credit cards are one of them. I'm a reformed credit card user. I'm back to using my cc for everything and paying it off in full at the end of the month. Why? The rewards! Every two months or so I get a check in the mail for $50...just for spending money I would have spent anyway.
Anyway, glad you got this worked out and keep that credit card! You never know when you might need it.
oh wow thank goodness they caught it and let you know. sorry you have to go through so much redtape to change things over.
ReplyDeleteOh man! That's awesome of your bank for catching it so quick!
ReplyDeleteThat's is awesome that your bank caught. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteOh - BTW - I used to live in Long Beach myself. Used to work for Harriman Jones Medical Group back in the 80's.
ReplyDeleteI used DR and like his snowball method. However, I still keep a credit card and it's been 8 years since I've had any debt beyond the mortgage ... all of my regular monthly bills that I can set to autopay go on it, and I also use it for travel. I don't use it for anything else because I DO overspend (or rather, underestimate what I spend) when using a credit card vs. debit or cash.
ReplyDelete