Is this what it will be like ????

[ladypeartree]

This afternoon I had to go and collect two of my grandchildren so I stopped to buy petrol on the way, used my debit card and set off again

Less than two hours later I stopped to buy something at another store , handed over my card and was told " sorry it has been declined "

I thought there had been a mistake with my pin number or something so I asked the cahier to try again ..I KNOW there are more than enough funds to cover the transaction in the account ( having brought 4 children up with no financial assistance I am not mean but I do know when to cut down and do know roughly what is in the account at all times ) Same answer ..."card declined "

The cashier ( whilst giving me such pitying looks ) suggested I used the cash point machine to get money out so I tried and was told that the card had been declined ( by a machine ) and the machine was retaining my card

Now I understand that this is a security thing but there I was miles from home with only a few pence in my purse and no card .....I do have a second card that I NEVER use but I do not have a pin number for it so it couldnt be used in a shop ...

THANK YOU LORD that I had bought the petrol first .....

So I took my grandchildren home ..worrying all the way home as to what could have happened ..had someone used my card in the past two hours and wiped out my account ???????

What was I to do with no money if the account had been cleaned out or if something had gone dreadfully wrong ????

So as soon as I got home I phoned the bank ( they have a 24 hour service ) and was asked some secutiy questions and was then told that they had no record of an account in my name and no account number either

Now I have banked with that bank since I was 7 years old ( and Yes Sweety they did have banks other than river banks way back then ) ...I even worked for them for a while when I left school but they were telling me that I did not exsist

So the senario was that I was left with less than

[Northern lass]

:emot-nod: How scarey!! But I'm so glad that we have it officially confirmed that you exist!

[meagain]

Oh LadyP, what an awful ordeal for you to have to go through.

.

[O'Dannyboy]

Make sure you keep your thumb over part of the numbers when your handling it. Cameras can now read your card and your pin number so it pays to be cautious. I lady I used to work with had her card info taken when she got gas at a small gas station and charges were on her card that she didn't make. The bank covered the charges but they reminded her to watch how and where she displays her credit card. While the smart cards might eliminate this risk it also opens companies to tracking our shopping habits and possibly retrieving info about you from these RFID chips in them.

[Guest LadyC]

i had something similar happen several years ago on a weekend.... with no way to get money. in my case, it was because of a video rental store. apparently they had a policy in which they could have your debit card suspended if you owed late fees, and that particular video store did it automatically. it was one of those places where your rental period expired exactly to the minute according to their computers. the store was one of my errands for that day, but i went beyond the exact time. as a result i was stranded at a grocery store with a basket full of groceries that i couldn't pay for, and no way to get money for the next three days.

i can't tell you how mad i was.... but i'd sure like to know how many customers the video store lost after i went in there and threw a hissy fit at the top of my lungs.

[MeCajunboy]

This afternoon I had to go and collect two of my grandchildren so I stopped to buy petrol on the way, used my debit card and set off again

Less than two hours later I stopped to buy something at another store , handed over my card and was told " sorry it has been declined "

I thought there had been a mistake with my pin number or something so I asked the cahier to try again ..I KNOW there are more than enough funds to cover the transaction in the account ( having brought 4 children up with no financial assistance I am not mean but I do know when to cut down and do know roughly what is in the account at all times ) Same answer ..."card declined "

The cashier ( whilst giving me such pitying looks ) suggested I used the cash point machine to get money out so I tried and was told that the card had been declined ( by a machine ) and the machine was retaining my card

Now I understand that this is a security thing but there I was miles from home with only a few pence in my purse and no card .....I do have a second card that I NEVER use but I do not have a pin number for it so it couldnt be used in a shop ...

THANK YOU LORD that I had bought the petrol first .....

So I took my grandchildren home ..worrying all the way home as to what could have happened ..had someone used my card in the past two hours and wiped out my account ???????

What was I to do with no money if the account had been cleaned out or if something had gone dreadfully wrong ????

So as soon as I got home I phoned the bank ( they have a 24 hour service ) and was asked some secutiy questions and was then told that they had no record of an account in my name and no account number either

Now I have banked with that bank since I was 7 years old ( and Yes Sweety they did have banks other than river banks way back then ) ...I even worked for them for a while when I left school but they were telling me that I did not exsist

So the senario was that I was left with less than

[carlena]

that is so funny but scary i am glad it worked out for u!!!

[Scarletprayers]

pear does exist, pear does exist, I know she does!

[meagain]

Of course she does. Who else can make lavabread and share it.

[Vickilynn]

Shalom ladypeartree,

Thank you for sharing this, it is something we ALL should think about.

When we were preparing for Y2K (OK, don't laugh, there were some valuable lessons to be learned) we thought about the fact that everything was automated and if the "machines" went down, where would we be. We did prepare by having stored dry goods, extra supplies, extra gas and extra cash on hand, just in case.

Now we STILL do that to some degree, but of course not as seriously as when we thought we were going to live like that, but it's something we should be prepared for.

Good reminder Ladypeartree, thank you.