Do You Hate Your Bank?
February 9, 2010
Piggy Bank is Better than my Bank
If you haven’t figured it out by previous posts, or haven’t read previous posts, I am currently in Italy.
That’s cool, you think. And yup, I pretty much concur.
Until I have to deal with my American bank account. (Not my online bank account with ING, I ❤ ING.)
So, I update my address about the time I am supposed to be getting a new card to replace the soon-to-expire card that is good until the end of the month. I go online to their customer service chat to verify that my address is indeed updated. I am greeted with a stock greeting and submit my info, including mother’s maiden name, name of first pet, blood type and favorite sexual position. I then ask if the new card has been sent out.
Yes. To the old address. Ok, this is my fault because I should have taken the 17 seconds to go online and change my address before.
So, can we send me a new card? Sure, in syntax that indicates a non-native not 100% fluent speaker of English.
Intuition is telling me we have a problem, Houston.
“So you want me to send new card and cancel one that was sent to old address?”
Yes, I do. Followed by: “but I need to make sure the card I physically have still works.”
And, you guessed it, she blocked my card that I need to use to get my money.
Me: You need to fix it. Her: I can not.
Three people later, the bank will Fedex me a new card arriving in about 12 days to Italy. Cool, 12 days with no money because someone thought it made sense to cancel the new card and my current card when I am 10,000 miles away.
Awesome customer service, just awesome.
Hotbitterbitch's Blog 
Update: contact chat again because email with the tracking number was supposed to arrive within 48 hours of card request being submitted. I had waited 72 and get a representative and ask if I can get the tracking number…she explains that the card was sent to San Francisco and asks if I now want that card blocked and a new one sent out…WTF?…I maintain control as much as possible and ask for her supervisor…supervisor says, “no, she was wrong, the card was sent to bla bla bla in Italy and here is the tracking number.”
Bangs head on keyboard.
Wow, talk about a roller coaster ride!
They actually had to send a second card out…no bother to mention that the first transaction had to be PIN based…not a signed transaction…so they blocked the first card when I tried to use it the first time…bangs head on keyboard.
Finally. Second card arrives. Get card activated. Make sure to do PIN based transaction. I now can access funds for foraging needs.