Almost two weeks ago, I posted of The $343.17 Mishap. I will try to do a very condensed recap and then post the follow up.
I made the error of paying my Visa bill to the wrong account: an account that was effectively dead, and yet, somehow, wasn’t. With no actual credit card, we had no way to access the surplus. It required two long telephone calls and one long todo at the bank, to have TD send us an actual credit card which we would use until we had effectively recovered all of the money.
That was than, and it all seemed settled when we received a mailing form TD that obviously contained a card.
When we opened it, there was a problem. It was a debit card, not a credit card.
What?! We don’t have a bank account with them. What is there to debit? Then, I thought that it might be a pre-loaded card with our funds. That was not the case. It was a card to nothing since we have no accounts.
Furthermore, the accompanying letter said to use our existing PIN.
For one thing, we had no account to PIN to, and for another, whatever PIN that we had more than two decades past was totally erased from our memories.
Back to the bank went Susie and Johnny, hoping to find the same teller who had worked through our silly situation once already..
Nope: not working that day. Let me tell you that it was extremely confusing for two confused seniors to explain a confusing situation to an also confused new teller.
After a lot of going over and over it, she finally understood and suggested that the easiest solution was for us to close the account and be issued a cheque.
To accomplish this, she had to call the institution which passed her around from pillar to post and all of the way back again with many a “Not my department,” response.
Eventually, and I do mean eventually, we were told that it would all be done. Our account was now closed, and a cheque would come to us in three weeks.
UPDATE
I wrote that two days ago.
Would you believe the credit card came in the mail yesterday.
If we had waited, we could have begun spending the balance. It was that debit card that threw us. Why would they send us a debit card when we had no bank account and no password? It remains a puzzle.
So . . . there’s nothing to do but wait for the cheque. If it doesn’t come in due course, we have the physical credit card just in case it is still active and the funds are still in there.
The situation remains bizarre.
Color me not surprised.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like my round and round about issue with a credit card charge that was not supposed to happen. I first talked to customer svc and explained that the charge was for something I did not own. I was transferred 5 times and finally told to just dispute the charge.
ReplyDeleteI am extremely unhappy with my financial institution right now and they have suddenly lost all the good customer service I used to get.
What a kerfuffle?
I recently saw kerfuffle being identified as a Canadian word. AI sorta confirmed.
Delete"Kerfuffle is not strictly a Canadian word, though it is very popular in Canada. It comes from Scottish roots."
What a mess!
ReplyDeleteOh yikes, this kerfuffle now has chapters.
ReplyDeleteI had an agent hang upon me yesterday, after explaining how other agents who worked in the same insurance company had told me to just move and change coverage after I got to new state. I sure won’t bore you but for sanity reasons, I’m avoiding trying to explain things to anti of them. So sorry you’ve had this banking issue happen…and I think you should sure play the “Senior Card” for what it’s worth.
ReplyDeleteThey should've just handed you the cash, lol. They've made everything so complicated.
ReplyDeleteI think so much is automatically generated and that a thinking person wasn't involved in sending the debit card. They probably do that for every account--send a debit and a credit card. I've gotten bills that were obviously from a computer and that were wrong--but try arguing about it with a real person at the company. They sometimes have no clue. So frustrating!
ReplyDeleteHow utterly frustrating and bizarre. I hope the cheque arrives soon.
ReplyDeleteYou would think they would be able to fix this a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, what a mess! I think about people for whom this would be a real hardship. Like, what if you couldn’t buy groceries or your bills until you had that money? At least you’re getting blog fodder out of it.
ReplyDeleteThere are many stories like yours. They don't seem to be set up for those situations. I HOPE THIS SOLUTION WORKS.
ReplyDeleteAh, the joys and challenges of modern life.
ReplyDeleteThese people sound completely incompetent, sending the wrong card and then the right one with no explanation. Closing the account and sending a check to refund the erroneous payment was the obvious thing to do in the first place. And the situation isn't really so complicated that it should have been so difficult for them to understand.
ReplyDeleteAt least they have a physical location for you to go to, so you weren't trying to explain all this on the phone to a chatbot, or to somebody in India who barely speaks English.
Hopefully they'll finally get it right.
This is just insane. And you two are intrepid and committed. Can you imagine how many would have quit after the first time? Not me. But what a mess.
ReplyDelete