So, my Tuesday didn’t go as planned. Things started to go wrong when my bank back home sent a message about suspicious activity on my credit card. One was a charge to someplace called QVC that I’ve never heard of. The other was to Walmart, which doesn’t have any stores in the Philippines (not to be confused with WalterMart). I went to check my account, and this message was posted there:
I confirmed the cited transactions were fraudulent, and the bank has now cancelled my card and mailed a new one to my USA address, for all the good that does me. Well, Tuesday is grocery shopping day, and we’d been gone for over two weeks, so we needed to restock. Paying the old-fashioned way (cash) was my best option, so on the way to the supermarket, I had our driver stop at an ATM that allowed 20,000-peso withdrawals. Except the machine told me “it could not dispense.” So, we drove on to another BPI branch that has three ATMs. The first one didn’t dispense. Neither did the second one, but when I looked at my receipt, it said that I had received the requested pesos.
It was 8:50, and the bank branch opened at 9:00, so we waited. And waited. They eventually unlocked the door ten minutes late, and we went inside to fill out a report about the robbery. After completing a form, I was told the money should be returned in “one to three days.” Alrighty, then. Well, since I couldn’t access cash and my credit card was voided, the shopping options were nil, so I had my driver take us home empty-handed.
The ATM money has now been returned to my account, and I’ve rescheduled the shopping excursion for tomorrow morning. I’m not permitted to open a local bank account in the PI on a tourist visa, but Swan opened one in her name for me to use. So, I’ll be transferring funds to that account and using my local ATM card in the future. Which is not say I won’t have similar issues with the ATMs here, but at least I’ll be using a local card at a local bank.
That’s how we roll in paradise. The rest of Tuesday went in accordance with routine.
He’s featured early, so go see for yourself.
The usual relaxing vibe at TI, and some food:
Then we rolled on home and finished our Tuesday.
On to December 2016 in the LTG archives. In this post, I reflect on the first anniversary of losing my marriage and all that I had experienced since moving out on my own again. It wasn’t all bad. I decided after a two-month-long bender that drinking myself to death wasn’t the answer. Instead, I adopted a low-carb diet and a walking lifestyle and lost 60 pounds. I even got my heart broken again along the way. It only hurts until the pain goes away.
Another type of memory lane journey for today’s YouTube video. Remember Sears? It was a big deal to get the Sears catalog in the mail, and their stores were the anchors in the local malls. Then poof, they all went away. Malls in the USA are relics of the past now, but here in the PI, they are booming and popular places for social gatherings. One of the more interesting things about the self-inflicted demise of Sears was that they could have been Amazon before there was an Amazon.
And humor me with these:
So, I don’t like moderating comments here. If someone takes the time to share their thoughts on my posts, I’m all for approving them, whether or not I agree. But that’s the key: the comments should at least be vaguely related to something I’ve posted here. This week, I’ve been called antisemitic by one person and a bigot by another. I deny both assertions, and I challenge either of you to provide examples. Otherwise, you are just making shit up, and I won’t give your bullshit the light of day. How do you like them apples?
This is one of the songs that played on the floating bar yesterday. Hadn’t heard it in like forever:
My own comments policy: civil, succinct, and relevant. Oh, and no anonymous commenters. Screen names are okay; real names are better. Uncivil comment? Not published. Overly long-winded comment? Not published. Irrelevant comment? Not published. Makes life easy. And life is too short to spend it putting up with bullshit.
Sorry to read about your ATM/cash problems, as well as the fraudulent transactions back in the States. So your bank issued you a credit card? I have a debit card from my own bank (PNC), but you had written:
So, my credit card is now unusable.
I confirmed the cited transactions were fraudulent, and the bank has now cancelled my card and mailed a new one to my USA address, for all the good that does me.
Anyway good luck in the future.
Does your US address still exist for you? Or is it going to someone that can forward the new credit card to you. The world is going more and more cashless.
Read the 2016 year in review. Hmmm. Are you thoughts still the same 10 years on? Or has time helped to heal some of those wounds. Anyway, keep on keeping on!
Saw that post about you being antisemitic . I wondered how they made that leap. Seems a lot of folks want to take things out of context. A “friend ” on Facebook posted about Pres. Trump saying you can’t take a gun to a law enforcement event. The ” friend ” posted ” see Trump is trying to take away our guns and gut the second amendment .” Like they say , you can’t fix stupid.
Hello John,
Vietnam is a beautiful country, but unfortunately I read many of these types of comments re: fraudulent credit card usage from recent visitors.
Did you use your card there to pay for anything, or as a guarantee to cover possible room incidentals? There are some concerns disgruntled hotel workers may pass on your details to scammers.
Worth paying attention if you have used other cards whilst there too.
Do you have an attached banking app for these cards? Usually they will allow you to lock the card when it isn’t needed, rendering it useless all other times.
Cheers,
Yvon
Thanks, Yvon. I rarely use my card in the PI (most places don’t accept them), but in Vietnam, I used it several times at restaurants so I could avoid frequent ATM withdrawals. I see now that was a mistake. It definitely happened in Vietnam. I’ll be more careful in the future for sure.
Terry, stupid is as stupid does. It never ceases to amaze me just how loony these lefties are. On Facebook, I posted a photo of some murder victims of illegals we are trying to deport. My friend said, “Now post one of the school kids killed in shootings by white men.” My neck is sore from shaking my head.
Brian, things have faded with time, but I still miss the life I used to have. I was happy until I learned she wasn’t. So, now I have this new life in the PI. It’s different, but I’m glad I am able to live it.
My daughter’s house (my name is on the mortgage) is my USA address for banking and tax purposes. She’ll mail the card to me here. A friend has an FPO address, so I can avoid the PhilPost nightmare.
Kevin, your comment policy is much stricter than mine, but I’ve started deleting insults and irrelevant comments.
I have a credit card and a debit card from my USA bank. I rarely use the credit card, but the debit card is my access to cash via ATMs. Or it was until Tuesday’s issues.
In the future, I’m going to rely more on the Philippine bank account (in Swan’s name) I’ve been using.
“In the future, I’m going to rely more on the Philippine bank account (in Swan’s name) I’ve been using.”
This is going to end well….
There can be no love without trust, Canadian.
@canadian. I LOL’d at your comment. I have to admit, that thought did cross my mind also.
But Swan does seem like a winner, and as John said, no love without trust. And even though he said he will not fall in love again, looks like it happened. But, I do think that it is better to be (generally) trustworthy than to live without trust of your fellow human beings. That would make for a pretty miserable existence IMO.
Brian, this is my last hurrah, so maybe I’ll finally get it right. Honestly, this banking thing is no big deal. The account is in her name, but I hold the debit card. I only transfer money to the account when I’m going to be withdrawing it from an ATM. So, there’s not much to steal.
I’ve tried and failed to give up on love, and discovered that transactional relationships have their pitfalls, too. It is what it is.