Online Chat rant

[Davey]

"Fun" with online chat.

1. I have been looking for years for an episode of Parkinson, with Phil Silvers and Oscar Peterson as guests. (This is mentioned in another NG). It was brilliant. The other day, I managed to find a reference to it, saying that it was Series 3, Episode 14, shown on Dec. 8 or 9, 1973. The only reference I could find to being able to watch it was a possible hit on Disney+. I went through all the programmes and films shown as available to view on there, and Parkinson did not appear. So yesterday morning I went to Online Chat, and spent one of those surreal periods when I kept on asking a question, "Is Parkinson on Disney+?", and ?Zoi G? kept on answering a different question, in dubious English. If that was AI, I was not impressed. If it was a real person, I was really not impressed. I gave up, not having got an actual answer, but with lots of assumptions that I watched social media all day long, and should monitor my ?pages?, whatever they are. I don't use social media. Then I called them by ?phone, and within a couple of minutes had the answer, which unfortunately was ?No?. But at least he answered my question as asked.

1. I went to the ATM In our local Co-op yesterday, to get some cash. But the machine ate my card, with no explanation, just a comment that I needed to call my bank. You bet! Back home, I checked my account online, to be certain that there were no sudden and unexpected withdrawals. That was ok. So I used Online Chat to ask what had happened. Eventually, I got the answer that a replacement card had been sent out in July, even though the current one doesn?t expire until the end of next month, and because I had not verified it, it was assumed, correctly, to be undelivered, and so it had been voided. Fine. But the bank had never told me that the card had been sent, so I was not expecting it, and did not know that it had failed to arrive, nor that the old one was now defunct, despite still being within period. The first I knew about this was when I was left without a card and without any cash. I am very glad that it did not happen when I had to pay an important bill, such as a large restaurant bill, or for car repair or tow to a garage. I have lodged a complaint.

Rant over.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Unfortunately the letter telling you was probably also lost in the post. I'm increasingly worried that ram sticks sent between myself and Gateshead get nicked on their way to me, as I don't even see the articles for the blind package. Communications these days seems to be worse than before we got so many ways to communicate. Brian

[John Rumm]

What, this one?:

(no account needed)

[The Natural Philosopher]

What happened to me in the noughties, was that a new card was sent, but I didn't bother to activate it as the old one had weeks to run. Until the old one was 'refused'

Because the new one had been 'activated' but not by me! By the f****ng financial times who 'knew' that a new card existed, knew its number, and automatically used it for my subscription.

Bloody embarrassing.

[Davey]

This should be in a different NG, surely? But the answer is: No, not that one. That is Phil Silvers only, the one I want has both him and Oscar Peterson. But thanks for trying.

[Davey]

Ah, so much for the owner being in full control!

[Davey]

Amen to that. And what with half the population glued to their tiny screens, they probably don't know how good an IMAX movie can be.

[SH]

isn't that a continuing credit authority feature thats available on credit and debit cards where you give the 16 digit number rather than the current account number?

I think all the banks notify the new 16 digit card numbers to those who you have CCA's set up with?

[Davey]

It goes on...

1. The following day. The last time I went to my bank, it closed at 4:30pm. I intended to go to it that afternoon and get some cash from my account. I had to take a friend to the clinic, so that she could have a 24-hour heart monitor removed, and half way from her house to the clinic, she realised that she didn?t have the monitor with her, as she had removed it earlier, and had not picked it up on the way out of her house. So I turned round and took her back to her house (she is in her 80s, so can forget things easily), and she collected the monitor, and I took her to the clinic. In all, this had wasted about ten minutes, but it was still not even three pm yet. The normal route into town was blocked for road work, so I had to detour around the houses to get to the bank. I parked, and walked up to the bank, to find that it was shut, the new closing time being 3pm daily. I got back to my car, and the clock showed 3:04. If either my friend had not forgotten her monitor, or if there had been no roadworks, I would have made it in time. But I have a credit card, that I only usually use for online purchases. I know the three-digit security number by heart. I went to Tesco?s to buy some stuff, worth £35, and when I came to pay with the card, I realised that I had no idea what the PIN was. And because I had never used it with the PIN, the Wireless feature had never been activated. I offered to sign a credit card slip, as in the old days, but that concept was unknown to the young staff. I offered to pay with a cheque, but they don?t take cheques now. So I had to leave my purchases behind. I have ordered a PIN notification, but it will take several days to get to me. Meanwhile, I am cardless and cashless, just perfect for a weekend. Postscript: I found the PIN, and I also got to a branch of the bank yesterday afternoon. Order is almost restored. But I filed a complaint that I had never been told of the sending of the new card, and the fact that I was left high and dry just before a weekend.

[Harry Bloomfield, Esq.]

It happens that Davey formulated :

If you must deal in cash, have you never heard of ATM's? Wonderful machines, you insert your card, type your pin and the amount of cash - then out comes the cash requested.

[Davey]

Read item 2. of my original Post. The ATM kept my card, hence the problem. Here it is: "2. I went to the ATM In our local Co-op yesterday, to get some cash. But the machine ate my card, with no explanation, just a comment that I needed to call my bank." Great in theory, not always in practice. The same thing happened to me once in Mexico City, I actually heard the sounds of my card being chewed up inside the ATM.

[Davey]

There is yet more to this:

1. Still the saga continues. On Saturday morning, the ?phone rang. It displayed an 0800 number, which I did not recognise, and is typical of the numerous cold calls we get here. As usual with these, I let the voice-mail answer, and just as with a normal cold call, it was terminated almost instantly. Less than an hour later, I received an e-mail message, with the writer saying that she had tried to call me earlier, but had not been able to reach me. But there was a sort-of apology for the card problem, and an explanation that the ATM had been at fault, and should not have kept my card. It wasn?t an ATM owned by my bank, so that was an easy get-out. The message confirmed that the new card would reach my local branch this week, and as it had a new card number, if I received the original replacement card in the meantime, I was not to use it, as its number was now dead. So of course, that card arrived a few minutes later in the post, dated as being sent on August 9 rather than in July, which is what I had been told during the Online Chat. I now have a card, but it is no use to me. I sent a reply message to let the caller know this, and also explained that voice-mail answering a ?phone call might just possibly be call-screening, and suggested that she should always leave a message.

ATMs are so useful, when they work.

[Davey]

I will give HSBC their due, they have replaced my card with great speed, faster than even they said to expect. It is waiting for me to collect it from my local branch.