Where are my socks?

My "Cya tomorrow" in the previous post turned out to be a bit longer than initially expected. I wish all my "tomorrow"-days were that long! Unfortunately, it's quite the opposite that caused the neglection of my digital window to the world.

Today I want to write about something that could happen to all of us. And to me.

[ Click here to read the rest of the story ]

Imagine your bankcard requires a renewal, for whatever reason you may think of. In my case it was because:

• I switched from a java-based webbanking application (requires specific software which can cause a lot of trouble!) to an application that requires a digipass to logon
  
  
• My bank account changed to a basic account because I turned 25 (before I had an account that was especially for -25yr, which had some advantages)

I received a letter that my new card was waiting for me at my local bank. Because the bank office is only accessible for people that don't work or are on vacation (doh, it's only open during business hours), I wasn't able to pick it up for at least the next coming month. So I called to my bank, asking whether it was a problem. "No no, not a problem, the card stays here for 2 months" was the answer I got. So I thought I'd wait to pick it up as soon as I was one of the lucky ones on vacation.

Last Friday I tried to overbook some money from one account to another using webbanking. My card was rejected. So I called to the helpdesk and they told me that my card was blocked for webbanking access because that new shiny card was waiting for me. Ok, I could live with that as long as I had the guarantee that drawing money from a selfbanking terminal or paying with my card wouldn't be a problem. "No no, not a problem" was again the answer. But, as you could have guessed, it wasn't meant to be that easy.

On the same Friday, the night before leaving for a trip to Phantasialand (see one of my next posts), I wanted to draw some money from a selfbanking terminal. Card rejected ... say WHAT? I called the same number of the helpdesk that I had dialled on my mobile before and the guy there told me that he couldn't help me. Instead he started faking his empathy of how frustrating this must be for me, but that I should go to my local bank office. I asked him (and I didn't fake my sarcasm) if I needed to remind him it was Friday evening 10pm and that the office he referred to wouldn't be opening anytime sooner than 56 hours later. Oh, and I did mention I was about to leave the country the next day. But this didn't change a thing to the situation.

"So it is common that you deactivate my current bank card while I haven't picked up my new one?", I asked. The eerie silence that followed suggested the answer was "Yes it is".

Anyone ever said that money stinks? Having said that, where are my old socks? So I can at least store my OWN money back in a place where I can always access it...