Banks Suck

Today I had a fun experience. An online service I use sent me an email to alert me that my credit card had been declined today. I don't actually have any credit cards and only use a bank debit card for all transactions other than straight cash. So I was a bit alarmed by this. I went to my bank's online site and logged in, no indication of any problem.

So I called the online service and they re-iterated the card had been declined after I gave them the information again. So, on to my bank. After wading through their menu system I got to a customer service representative who told me the card had been reported stolen. Now I knew this was false because I hadn't done it and I was holding the card in my hand when I called.

She says she'll look into it. Apparently, my bank was told by MasterCard that my card along with thousands of others had been somehow compromised. Citizens canceled it. Without notifying me in any way, even though they have both my phone number and email address on file.

I suggested that a phone call would have been helpful and the service rep immediately answered that calling their own customers would not have been feasible. That's crap, I work for a company that does automated telephony (for the health care industry as a service to patients, I'm not entirely without a conscience) and I know that this kind of call could be created and executed in a matter of about an hour. They just didn't want to spend the $10,000 - $15,000 it would have cost to make those calls. They are overnighting me a new card (business overnight) to arrive on Monday. They'll require a signature. This means that I'll have to be home. Luckily I can work from home fairly easily, but for most people this will mean missing work as well. Totally ridiculous. Banks suck.