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The money that disappeared
in the night
I have a Witches and Wizards Bank credit card; the bank
is now owned by Mutant Corp. I proceeded, as usual, to make payments
on their Web site. I made two payments in the space of a few days;
a large amount was sent first and then a small amount several days
later.
The large payment of $4,583 was cleared by my bank
and, 10 days later, was still pending at Mutant Corp. and had not
been applied to my balance. The small payment of less than $200
came and went without incident. They told me, after lengthy discussion,
they put up to 15-day hold on large payments. It's in the fine print,
and they do it because they can. No explanation as to where the
money is. It's gone from my bank and apparently stuck in the wires
somewhere.
Bank of the brain-eating zombies
My wedding dress came in nearly eight months after I ordered it,
though it was supposed to have come in within six. I went to
pick it up at the bridal salon and asked that the remaining balance
be placed on my debit card. The salesclerk swiped it and declared
that it was rejected. I asked her to swipe it again. Rejected again.
Embarrassed, I told the salesclerk I'd be right back and went to
my car to retrieve my checkbook. I came back in and wrote them a
check -- only to be told that if I left a check I wouldn't be allowed
to leave with the dress until the check cleared. That, she told
me, would take two weeks.
I didn't live in the town where the bridal shop was located, so I explained that I could not come back to pick it up. She said the only way I could leave with it was to get cash.
Meanwhile I called my bank and was told my card was rejected because the computers were down. With no other option but to pay in cash, I drove into town and got $620 from three different ATMs and then drove all the way back to the salon to pick it up.
A week later, my debit card was turned down again at a grocery store.
When I called my bank, I learned a fraud block had
been placed on my card. I had to confirm all the ATM withdrawals
I had made in one day for the dress in order for them to remove
the fraud block. When pressed why a fraud block was put onto my
account without notifying me, I was told, "It was an automated system."
As if that weren't enough, a week after that, my parents
received a voice mail message declaring that there was a problem
with my account. It was the fraud block, back on again even though
I asked to have it removed. Why they called my parents, they never
explained.
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