Release…the strongly worded email!

So remember last week when my bank card got cloned and somebody in a dépanneur on Sherbrooke near Place des Arts helped themselves to $300? Yeah, that was fun.

So my credit union refunded the stolen money which was nice and re-ordered the bank cards. As the postal strike was still on, I asked how they would arrive. They told me they’d arrive by internal courier to the local branch so I could pick them up in person. That sounded great so Kerry, who also called as we have joint cards, got a call yesterday informing her that the card had arrived and I could pick it up. I did so and then asked where mine was.

Teller:
*shrugs*

Me:
Can you find out?

Teller:
(types into computer)
It was created on the 20th.

Me:
And when was it sent out?

Teller:
The 20th.

Me:
By internal courier? Or by mail?

Teller:
*shrugs*

Me:
Will you call me when it arrives?

Teller:
Yes, I will call you when it arrives.

So I decided to call my branch’s head office to see where the card was.

Service Rep:
It was sent in the mail last week but won’t arrive for a few days yet because of the postal strike.

Me:
Yes, you said it would sent internally because of the postal strike.

Service Rep:
That’s right, because of the postal strike there’s a delay in receiving your new bank card. It should be there by Monday of next week.

Me:
But you said you weren’t going to send it by mail because of the strike. Why did you send it by mail?

Service Rep:
*audible shrug*

(Oh, you can tell when they’re shrugging…)

So I have reached into my arsenal of strongly worded emails and fired one off to the credit union to complain about their indifference to my questions more than anything else. Will there be an answer that is satisfactory? Probably not but if not, I may need to send another strongly worded email and this time, the CAPS LOCK WILL BE ON! NO MERCY!

In other news of my outstanding fortune, did you know that new brakes, calipers, rotors, shocks, and struts can run you about $1,500? I do.

Now.

I’ve been robbed!

Every morning, I check my bank account. It’s just a habit I developed when money was tighter and I wanted to ensure the bills were getting paid with sufficient funds. I also like to ensure there’s nothing unusual going on.

This morning I saw something unusual: a $300 withdrawal from my chequing account from an ATM at a dépanneur on Sherbrooke. Kerry and I have a joint account and as she works downtown, I figured it may have been her. But the amount was so big and we discuss pretty much any major purchase or transaction before doing it, something seemed off.

She’s been mugged. I thought. Someone marched her up to an ATM and made her withdraw $300.

I called her.

"Uh, you ok?"

"Yes…"

"Did you just withdraw $300 from an ATM at a dépanneur?"

"Um, no…"

"Shit."

So, calls have been made. Cards have been cancelled and are being reissued and re-sent out (during a postal strike) and money is being refunded and it’s all very annoying and a little scary.

Of course, I’ve no idea where this could have happened. Neither of our cards are missing and yet somehow, one of them was cloned and a PIN was issued for it and it was used to steal money. The withdrawl was either this morning or over the weekend (but mostly likely today) so I was quick to report it and now, hopefully, the card is no longer able to be used. I hear gas stations are common targets for card cloning and I did buy a tank of propane over the weekend from one so was that it? Or the new gas station I’ve been using on the way to work? Or our new dépanneur? Or, hell, was it Canadian Tire? With the recent move, we’ve been buying up a crapload of stuff so the card’s been getting some use.

I’m strangely calm about it, though. I feel stupid for "allowing" it to happen but I know that it happens to lots of people every day and it’s a peril of living in the 21st century. But the money is being returned (after some forms are signed) and the card can’t be used again. I’m worried that it could be the start of a larger identity theft problem but somehow I don’t think so. I think it was just the card and besides, I have identity theft insurance. My normal state is to get very emotional about this sort of thing but I guess it could have been worse. Nobody in the family was hurt and we’re just going to be inconvenienced for a bit while the new cards are sorted out.

But maybe I will use cash a little more often…

Moved

Well, that was a long day.

Despite shedding our old apartment of boxes and boxes and boxes of stuff in an effort to declutter before the move, we still ended up moving junk we never intend to use again. Seriously, we have something like ten power bars. So the move took longer than we expected but the movers were pretty professional and all our stuff arrived in good condition.

There are lot of things I like about the new place: it’s quiet, for one. Our old apartment was on the corner of Victoria and 55th in Lachine, with the building sitting right behind the back of a popular restaurant. Every morning we’d awake to the sound of a garbage truck picking up the metal bins. Or the fire trucks would roar down the street about five times per day. Or frustrated commuters would come off the 20 and down our road where they’d blare their horns at local residents who had the temerity to drive the speed limit.

You can hear the 40 from our place but it’s a low hum and you do get ambulances going into the Lakeshore Hospital across the street but other than that, sleeping at night is improving.

It’s real change when you go from living entirely on one floor to now having three to deal with. The rooms may be smaller than the old place but there are more of them. I’ll probably complain a lot in the coming years about the kitchen – it’s a galley and not a particularly well-designed one. The oven prevents a cupboard door from opening and in general, there is much less storage space so it’s going to force us to keep much less stuff in the kitchen.

It’s funny how un-lofty my ambitions are. All, I really wanted was a modest row-house and next year, my current almost 10 year old Corolla will probably get downgraded to a gently used Yaris. The car thing may have something to do with the fact that I dislike driving now and I just want to have small car payments with minimal maintenance. I hear of colleagues purchasing massive new houses in Laval or the Bois-Franc section of Ville-St-Laurent and I’ve never been tempted. I’m still close to work that commute time hasn’t changed and Kerry now takes the train to work.

Tonight, I fly down to Saint John to pick up James to bring him to his new house tomorrow. We’ve been telling him over and over that we’re moving to a new house when he comes back from Grammy and Grampy’s house so we think he understands what’s going to happen soon.

He does seem to think, however, that the nice rental agent who showed us the place will also be living with us. Well, we do have a guestroom…