A few
month ago I noticed that my credit card was about to expire in
August. I was pretty sure that the bank sends you a new credit card
automatically, but I called customer service just to confirm and was
told that they would send it to my house by the end of August.
It was
nearing the end of August and I was getting a bit anxious. I didn't
want to be in the position where I was stuck without a credit card
for a few days. Who can predict when you'll suddenly need to buy a
plane ticket to the Cayman Islands or withdraw a suitcaseful of cash?
Certainly not me. I mentioned the fact that I still hadn't received
my credit card to my father and he informed me that he and my mother
had received theirs a few weeks before (we'd opened our bank accounts
at the same time). Well that did not bode well for my chances of
receiving it.
I
decided to go to the bank and talk to one of the bankers since
reaching a human being through the customer service number is a
painful ordeal, no matter what company (internet, phone, satellite
company- doesn't matter) you're trying to get to serve you. After 20
minutes and the sum total of 3 people (out of at least 10)
progressing through the line, I decided that recorded messages
telling me to press a succession of numbers were not as bad as
previously considered.
According
to the customer service representative, my credit card had been
mailed to me on July 25th. She made this statement as if
that solved all of my problems. Ah, well, if it was sent out 3 weeks
ago with my parents' cards which were received 2 weeks ago, then I'm
sure it's on the way. Because the post office's track record is so
stellar that I shouldn't even consider the fact that it fell out of
the truck 5 minutes after being loaded into the truck and is
probably even now floating out across the Dead Sea or being snacked
on by Bedouin camels. Thank you so much for your help!
According
to her, I had to wait 20 calendar days (of which I had waited 18) and
that I should call back in a few days if I hadn't received it by
then. I was like, great! Looking forward to speaking to you again in
2 days!
Obviously
the post office didn't magically reappear my mail Harry Potter style,
so I called customer service again in 2 days and the representative
informed me that he'd have to cancel my credit card and send a new
one to the bank, which I'd be able to pick up in 3 business days. I
raised my eyes to the heavens and let out a dramatic sigh.
“Well,
if I've got no other choice, I guess you'd better do that.” Three
business days fell out on a Friday (not part of the official Israeli
work week), my bank branch was closed on Sunday, and Mondays I leave
the house early in the morning for work, the gym, then more work. I
was finally able to go back to the bank almost a full week after
having my credit card canceled (luckily no spur of the moment
business deals or flight from law enforcement officials had arisen).
This required taking a number, and waiting for an hour watching the
arbitrary letter/number system slowly tick by. My number was G104
which was called after F896, which was called after H67 which was
called after G103. Most of the hour was spent listening to people try
to haggle with the bankers over mortgage terms and attempting to
figure out their number system (with little success). Finally, I was
able to ransom my credit card from the hands of the bank, in exchange
for a signature and my soul. I asked the banker if the card was a
different number than the canceled card and she insisted that it was
the same number as my old credit card. I informed her that that
wasn't possible, since they had canceled my credit card in order to
prevent credit theft. She maintained that it was the same number and
asked if I knew my PIN or if she should order a new one, to be picked
up at the bank in another 3 days. At this point I probably would have
signed over my first born as well in order not to have to go back to
that metaphorical pit of darkness so I let her know that I was all
set.
At home
I confirmed that the credit card number was definitely a new number,
seeing as I had to change all of my online credit card information
and one of my credit card payments had been denied. Over the next few
days I made sure that my credit card was in working order and was
quite relieved to find that I could make credit card payments.
Payday
came around (yes, I'm working again, but that's a story for another
day) and I was quite excited to deposit my check, having paid the
4,100 shekel down payment for school. My account was bordering on
empty and in order to renew my gym membership and yearly bus pass, I
was going to need funds. Well wasn't I surprised when I inserted my
card into the check depositing machine outside the bank and my PIN
was REJECTED. Turns out I require a new PIN after all.
I had
to order a new PIN to be sent to my bank branch since sending it to
my place of residence wasn't an option. This means that 5 work days
later, I will be forced to return to the bank and wait for another
hour, listening to people trying to haggle over their loan payments
(this never works) with one of the 2 bankers present (for a
population of 40,000) and attempting unsuccessfully to decrypt their
number/letter cipher (which was clearly set up by the Soviets).
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