Banks suck
Ok, maybe not my bank, per se, but the credit card company that my bank uses to provide me with a credit card linked to my checking account.
So here it is, about three or so years after an incident where an unknown and suspicious charge was placed on my bank credit card. At that time the bank advised I change my card and get one with a new number. Sounded like a good idea. I went through the process. My bank was very friendly and helpful in spite of the frustrating amount of work that needs to get done to accomplish such a task. The first card they mailed me never showed up, so that had to get canceled and a new one re-sent. More delays.
Fast forward by a year or two. My bank sends me (and several thousand others, no doubt) a letter apologetically stating that my CC number is on a list of possibly compromised numbers. I would be receiving a replacement card in the mail soon. Great. Just f*cking great.
Two weeks ago I received yet ANOTHER letter to this effect. WTF?! I just got my shiny new replacement card with, I notice, an expiration date much farther into the future. Are they trying to ease the pain with the knowledge the card won’t expire any time soon? Doesn’t matter guys… you’re just going to F*CKING cancel it on me before it expires ANYWAY!
Why is this such a big deal to me? Why am I acting like a five year old in a tantrum kicking a freshly painted wall? Because ALL my bills get paid automatically online. Most of them go through this card. EVERY time there’s a screwup like this, *I* have to go to each of my creditors/utilities/dog groomer/whatever and change my account settings. Doesn’t sound like THAT much work, I know, but keep in mind I’ve engineered the bill payment system to be totally self-sufficient and interaction-free so there are no late payments, missed payments, etcetera. I’ve already gotten a warning from one of my creditors saying. “Um, you’re a little late.”
And, no, I don’t blindly go through life with machines paying my bills. I check them ever week. In fact I noticed Amazon mistakenly charged me several hundred for something I returned. And that Moe’s double charged me $10 for a dinner once (’course I couldn’t find the receipt and doubt if I could have gotten restitution, so just let that one go…) I keep a Google Spreadsheet of all the bills and check them off throughout the month as they appear online in my bank account.
It seems like with all good (auto payment of bills) there must always come some bad (compromised account numbers). Why does this have to happen? Why has it been three times for me in the last four years? Can’t a brother get a break?
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