Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I sure am glad that today is a new day.

Yesterday we found out that someone had stolen our debit card number and used it to purchase $313 worth of clothing from Chico's. Awesome. Chris called the bank and found out that the scoundrel actually tried to make several different online purchases but they were suspicious about them so luckily they denied them. But we still had to freeze our account, which means we have no debit cards or credit cards until they send us new ones. Normally that wouldn't be too horrible except we're scheduled to drive to Denver tomorrow afternoon. So now, we have to withdraw a bunch of cash (which I hate) and make our trip that way. Good grief.

So while Chris was at the bank getting things squared away there, I was calling Chico's to find out exactly what was purchased, who and where it was shipped to, and if they could stop the shipment. They weren't much help. They told me they can't stop the shipment because it's already in route (which is a lie, I know FedEx and UPS will both stop a shipment and return it, or even deliver it to a different address, but they weren't willing to do those things). It gets better. They told me they can't tell me who it was shipped to or where. Even though
I paid for all those lovely items, I can't know where it's going or stop it from getting there. Thanks a lot, Chico's. I have to file a police report, get a case number and have the police call them about it. That's the best they could do. Jerks.

Chris at this point had called the police to figure out what we need to do about filing a report and what action will be taken (which is really minimal), and for some bizarre reason they sent a patrol officer to my house. And he just happened to knock on my door two minutes after I had gotten out of the shower. So I had to answer the door in my towel and ask the poor police man to wait a few minutes while I go get dressed. It was a little embarrassing. And he basically told me what I already know- he couldn't do anything for us since we have to go down to the station to fill out a report (which we knew) and they turn the information over to the FBI. And they are so overwhelmed by these types of cases, that our measly $313 will be a very low priority. Which basically means that this person will get away with stealing our money.

And the day just kept getting more annoying. Brendan refused to take a nap until
very late in the afternoon. A person interested in renting at our complex wanted to look around my house, which I hadn't touched all day so it was a complete disaster. I was so embarrassed when she peeked in one of our bathrooms and my bathtub was still full of hair from after we cut Brendan's hair. I hadn't had a chance to clean it yet. There were toys everywhere, my sink was full of dishes, and there was a pile of laundry waiting to be folded. Oh well. We also found out our landlord won't let us sign a 6 month contract instead of a 12 month. We really do want to be in a house by early next year, so having to sign a 12 month contract was frustrating. Especially since he told us that after our initial 12 month contract, we would be month to month. That's true except he didn't tell us that they would kick us out if someone else was willing to sign a contract for it. So we signed. Grrrr.

I also got to spend two and a half hours at the DMV getting my lovely license. Mine expired in November of last year and since I waited so long to renew it, I had to take the stupid written test. And the questions were random and hard but luckily it was open book. And I got 100% on it- there's something good to report. :)

Today is going much better and I keep telling myself that our problems are much smaller compared to some. We're all healthy, we have a roof over our head, and we have lovely kind family and friends. Our terrible day helped to put things in perspective for me. I have much to be grateful for.

3 comments:

  1. That is horrible! I'm so sorry Val. I'm glad your day is going better today, but that really sucks. What's sad is that those crimes are so common that they're considered low priority. Does your bank give you back your money? I really really hope so. Hears to hoping you randomly win the lottery!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is a crappy day. I will never buy from Chico's. And I will tell all my friends not to, too.

    It seems like instead of having to go to the FBI, the system would be better if dumb dumbs like Chico's would have just rerouted the order for you. Idiots.

    By the way, it took me three tries on your fancy word verification to finally get it right.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a cruddy, crappy, frustrating day! I'm sure you feel violated too, even if it was just the debit card number - someone had YOUR info and used it for their own benefit. And what kind of dumb person uses it to buy and then ship clothes? It seems like that shouldn't be hard to track down...

    ReplyDelete