Straight out of UK: The Popables - Soft Crush Feat Rebecca Whelan and Donnie Numeric.
La suite!
And here I thought my problems were over.
This morning I went to the post office to get the debit card my wife sent via express mail. After my workday I went to the ATM closest to my place to get some cash, I would finally be able to pay my rent. I inserted the card, typed the pin code and selected 400€; the machine started working and then displayed that I could only withdraw 200€. I selected 200€ and got them. I inserted the card again, typed the code again and selected 200€ this time. And surprise I couldn’t get any more money. Nothing bothers me anymore so I went home and called my bank. I explained my problem to a woman, she told me that in France I could only withdraw 200€ from an ATM who doesn’t belong to my bank. I knew that my debit card allowed me to withdraw up to 700€ every 3 days in France. She corrected “yes 500€ at your bank plus 200€ at other banks equals 700€!” Can you believe such nonsense? The more things change the more they stay the same. With such a stupid system I will be able to pay my rent in 6 days, thank god my landlord is nice.
No need to tell you that I wasn’t a big fan of banks before but now...
La suite!
When you think it is over think again.
I went back to one of the banks where I could use my American Express card in the ATM. As I still couldn’t get some money from the ATM, I went in the bank hoping I would be able to get some money from the cashier. Hell no! The woman in front of me couldn’t care less about my problem and she sure wouldn’t get out of her way to help me. I called the American Express support line, the operator informed me that I had just withdrawn 200€ in cash and I could only withdraw a maximum of 300€ every 7 days as I was in France. She was surprised when I told her that my request to get 200€ had been rejected by the ATM, I then explained that the card was my only way to get some cash and asked if the withdraw limit could be lifted for the day. She said no. I then asked if there was a bank on the island where I could get some money from the cashier. Again no. What is the point of having this card to withdraw money? She explained that the ability to withdraw money was in case of emergency. When people have money issues, they usually need more than 300€. She couldn’t/wouldn’t do anything. This is a card that will definitely not cost me any annual fee once I get back to France. Thank god I have friends who lend me money!
La suite!
Sometimes it is just better to stay in bed.
Thursday was the big day, I had setup a nice week-end in Mauritius Island to go scuba diving. My suitcase was full with what I needed for 4 days of diving, reading on the beach and sleeping. The taxi dropped me at the airport, I gave my passport at the check in counter, the agent looked at it and told me that he couldn’t check me in because my passport would expire in 5 months. I went to the office of Air Mauritius to discuss this with someone, the hostess explained that there was nothing that could be done except contacting the consul of Mauritius to request for a dispensation, the approval for the dispensation would take a day. I had to board the plane the same day, not the next day so I asked her to refund my ticket. “I am sorry sir but this kind of transaction can’t be done in this office you will have to go to the main office in Saint-Denis”. It was like the only thing I had to do in my life was to wait in an office to get my money back, well as I was not going away for the week-end I had plenty of time. The plane ticket would of course not be fully refunded, a 15% charge would be applied and the refund would take a minimum of 30 days. What a bunch of thieves.
On the way back from the airport, I asked the taxi driver to stop at an ATM so that I could get some cash to pay for the fare, it was higher than expected has it was a holiday. I inserted my card, it came out instantly as the screen displayed “card expired”. I looked at the card, my face changed when I saw that expiry date on the card read 10/12 meaning the 31/10 at midnight. The taxi took me home where I got two American Express cards I didn’t want to take with me for the week-end, the expiry of one was 10/12 and the expiry of the other was 10/13. Only a handful of ATMs accept American Express cards in Reunion Island. I tried 2 ATMs with no success, the taxi was starting to get nervous when he drove me back home. Luckily the landlord was around and loaned me the money I needed.
I then went for a walk in the city to find an ATM where I could use my Amex. I felt joy rushing in when I found one but it left me as quickly as it came when the card was rejected because I used the wrong pin code. I rang my was who had travelled back home the day before and asked her to check the pin code, I tried with the right code this time but the card was still rejected. The anger started to rise but I told myself that the ATM recorded that I made numerous attempt with the wrong pin before using the right one so I went to look for another ATM. Lucky for me the ATM of the lask bank had a nice American Express logo, again the good pin was rejected. I called Amex support service and explained my situation, the operator could definitely see my attempt to get some money but each time the pin was wrong. I tried again with the good pin as I was on the phone with him but the result was still the same. I asked if he could reset the card but the only thing he could do was offer to send another card. That was so what I needed.
I walked home hoping I would be able to use my card the next day. Waking up this morning it downed on me that had I been allowed to fly I would have ended up in Mauritius with 100€ and an expired credit card, that would not have been fun.
La suite!
