Banking rhymes with .......


Today I am feeling very angry indeed with my bank. I am also feeling a little hormonal which probably explains the depth of my anger but not the reason for it. I currently bank with Permanent Tsb, I was with Bank of Ireland many years ago but they kept hitting me up with ridiculous charges so I moved to a better bank or so I thought. They closed their main branch in town and until I moved recently the two remaining banks were in awkward locations. That is not what this is rant is about though. I moved about a month ago and since I got to the new place I had been telling myself I must update the bank with my new address because my bank card was due to run out in the next few months but I didn't particularly feel like queuing in the bank, I couldn't find information in my online banking on how to do it and when you phone Open 24 , their telephone service, you are faced with a litany of options and none of them seem to apply to your situation or get you on the phone with an actual person.

So I did what everyone does and I put it off. I wasn't even sure what address my bank had on its system as I couldn't seem to access a statement online. I was getting an automated message when I phoned their telephone banking (with balance queries) about activating my new card but I didn't know was that specifically for me or for everyone who called so I thought nothing of it. Then I received a text on Thursday from the banks automated service informing me I had to activate my new card or else my old one would stop working which is a stupid system by all accounts. This message got me a little worried as it implied I had received a card and I hadn't so I headed to my closest branch to get it sorted out. I queued for a good while to get to a customer services advisor who didn't seem to understand that I had long moved out of the address they had on file and couldn't update it for me because my proof of address was not sufficient. She sent me to a phone in the branch to speak to someone in their call centre. The guy I got on the phone was helpful enough and updated my address, told me a card had been sent out a few months back and he had to cancel it. This cost me €5 but it was sorted and a new card was on its way to me so I didn't mind too much. He did however neglect to tell me they had deactivated my current bank card, that might have been useful information to have.

I get paid every fortnight and aside from money left in for direct debits, my account gets emptied and the money divided accordingly, within a few days of being paid. As this all happened the day before pay day I had no cause to try and use my card that week and that was why on the way to work this morning I didn't think  I would have any problems getting €50 petrol and few snacks for my day at work. You can imagine my embarrassment when I went to pay and my card got declined. I put the fruit and water back but they had to go and get a manager because I'd filled the car with fuel I obviously couldn't give back. I had to fill out a form and headed to work feeling both annoyed and worried. I stopped at an atm on my way into work and confirmed that my card was indeed not working and I knew because of work it would be Tuesday before I could get into my local branch which I could only imagine would sound like quite the tall tale to the lovely staff at the petrol station. Once I got the chance I phoned my bank and the girl on the phone basically told me it was my own fault for not updating my address and that I hadn't been told my card had expired ( two months early) because they probably assumed I already knew. She then told me about an emergency money feature that would allow me to take out a lump sum without a card and I thought at the least it would get me through the weekend.

Thinking ahead I asked my boyfriend to pop to the closest ATM but it was out of order and then I stopped at the only other one this bank had in town and it was also out of order. So royally pissed off and totally broke, I'll be home for the weekend cursing my bank and considering jumping ship.

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