Switch Card Story
Nov. 26th, 2003 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
percivalI discovered this morning that I had -£103 in my bank account. At first, I thought that somebody had siphoned off my salary and withdrawn something close to £1500 pounds - that happened to a colleague. But then, when I went to the bank to get my statement, I found out that there were only two dubious transactions totalling £350, both made last Friday at 1pm,
and that the salary had not arrived yet.
Later today, the bank phoned me. Apparently, this has happened to lots of Europcar customers - these were the bills for car rentals I'd arranged in MID OCTOBER, one of them for the niece's christening, one for Christmas. And they charged me the money NOW at the end of the month. Three hours of hassle and running around. I thought that the money had been paid, but since I only check whether the debited sums on my statement match my payment records, and not vice versa, I hadn't realised that the money for those rentals hadn't actually come off yet. That's what I use debit cards for: the money comes off your account straight away!
(Still, please check your bank balance regularly - there is a gang operating in Scotland that replicates Switch cards, but the same might happen in other parts of Britain.)
and that the salary had not arrived yet.
Later today, the bank phoned me. Apparently, this has happened to lots of Europcar customers - these were the bills for car rentals I'd arranged in MID OCTOBER, one of them for the niece's christening, one for Christmas. And they charged me the money NOW at the end of the month. Three hours of hassle and running around. I thought that the money had been paid, but since I only check whether the debited sums on my statement match my payment records, and not vice versa, I hadn't realised that the money for those rentals hadn't actually come off yet. That's what I use debit cards for: the money comes off your account straight away!
(Still, please check your bank balance regularly - there is a gang operating in Scotland that replicates Switch cards, but the same might happen in other parts of Britain.)
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-26 11:34 am (UTC)I had something similar happen once with an automatic withdrawal I had set up. The company took out something like 5 times what they normally take out each month. It turned out there were some extra charges I was not aware they would be charging but of course I didn't find out about them til they took the money. It was a very unpleasant surprise.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-26 11:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-27 03:03 am (UTC)percival