HVY MTL

Shawn Mahaney


Last Updated: 4/3/2009

Post New Blog
Manage Blog
Customize Blog
Email to a Friend

Gender: Male
Status: Single
Age: 37
Sign: Cancer

City: GREENVILLE
State: South Carolina
Country: US
Signup Date: 5/22/2005

Who Gives Kudos:



My Subscriptions
Friday, December 26, 2008 

Current mood:  apathetic
Category: Life
First up, we note the passing of Eartha Kitt.  Purr on, my second-favorite Catwoman.

---

Traveling out of state, into the frigid cold, with a 13 year/170,000 mile old car, I take precautions.  Besides checking the tires and fluids, and packing tools and warm clothes, I bring financial tools.  Because when the timing belt snaps in the not-so-blue hills of Kentucky, I gotta get me and the dogs home somehow.

So, I did what I could this month to have plenty of free credit on my cards.  The one with the highest limit still has a balance, but the majority of it is still available.  Or so I thought...

Yesterday when I got online I did a quick check of my accounts (again, just to be sure - becasue it's no fun getting denied at the gas pump in the middle of a cold wind-swept sub-civilized plain in Ohio).  Well, looky here!  Barclays Bank helpfully cut the limit on my "Juniper Mastercard" almost in half, to the nearest $50 over the current balance.  I could get one tank of gas out of it, but that's all.

So I wait until today (yesterday being Christmas) and call, mid-afternoon.  After a modest wait on hold, I get to talk to "Elise".  Yeah, I really didn't need to worry about the Holiday, unless I'm mistaken and it's a big deal in Mumbai, too.  Anyway, I ask about the limit cut, mentioning that there was no notice.  Elise says there was a letter sent (probably along with the stack of ads that come with every statement), and that the cut was to bring the account more 'in line with your actual use'.   WTF?  I had the thing full to the original limit just two months ago [did my part to prop up the Euro, y'know].

I explain to Elise that I'm traveling, as happens here this time of year, and need to get back home.  I was counting on their card to get me gas and food and lodging for the trip!  [Which is true, though I do have multiple backups, including about a thousand bucks in cash ;-) ].  I kinda figured that would be enough to escalate the case to the appropriate person who could approve a limit increase.

"I'm sorry, the decision has already been made and there's nothing we can do to change it". 

That's service for ya.  Merry Christmas.


Currently reading:
Ann Arbor Observed: Selections from Then and Now
By Grace Shackman
TONI

 
so this is your actual card here and i can use up to $50??? JUST KIDDING!!! lol credit cards and their employees suck!!! don't use them anymore...only the bank debit card :)
Posted by TONI on Friday, December 26, 2008 - 5:36 PM
[Reply to this]  [Remove]  [Block User]
HVY MTL
Shawn Mahaney

 
The trouble with the debit card is that when someone makes a mistake (or is just a crook) it gets right at your bank account. The credit account provides a layer of insulation from that, and a little time to sort things out.

A coworker of mine once had a Burger King take out $1547 instead of $15.47. It took a week to get it cleared up, during which rent and power and phone bills could not get paid. Another friend had a possibly unscrupulous online vendor drain her account to the exact last penny. That was through the Visa number on the bank card, so the charge was protested and refunded, but it still took time. (that would be harder on a debit transaction)

I encourage everyone to keep at least one low-limit credit card for everyday whatnot.
Posted by HVY MTL on Saturday, December 27, 2008 - 7:03 PM
[Reply to this]  [Remove]  [Block User]
Hilary

 
So was your 1 favorite Cat Woman Julie Newmar, by any chance?
Posted by Hilary on Saturday, December 27, 2008 - 12:07 PM
[Reply to this]  [Remove]  [Block User]
Hilary

 
(That was supposed to read "1", not "1")
Posted by Hilary on Saturday, December 27, 2008 - 12:08 PM
[Reply to this]  [Remove]  [Block User]
Hilary

 
Ehhh.....why is the number symbol not showing up?
Posted by Hilary on Saturday, December 27, 2008 - 12:08 PM
[Reply to this]  [Remove]  [Block User]
HVY MTL
Shawn Mahaney

 
- the number/pound sign never shows up here, not sure why, and never remember what the code is for it

- Julie Newmar is indeed my most favorite feminine form to wear the whiskers and ears!
Posted by HVY MTL on Saturday, December 27, 2008 - 6:57 PM
[Reply to this]  [Remove]  [Block User]