Satan Strikes Back: Customer Service or the Lack of It, Part 2

Well, Satan's Bank is back at it again, and shame on me for not canceling my account when I said I was going to.

I went to check my balance on my credit card on line yesterday and logged into what was supposed to be my credit card account. Except according to their website, I didn't have a financial account associated with my user ID. Oh, really? That's news to me.

Because I really didn't want to deal with the situation at the time, I dismissed the problem as a web issue and figured that I will try to access my account when I get home from work, where I ran into the exact same problem.

So I call Satan's Bank and talk to a customer service rep, who confirms that the account was closed on Tuesday. I was incredulous. When I asked her why, she told me she couldn't tell anything other than a fraud alert had been placed on the account. When I asked the very reasonable question, "by whom?", she had no answer, although she suspected that a vendor I had used may have reported that their security was compromised. (That is my phrase; the way she described it was not remotely as concise.)

I then said to the rep, "Well, I purchased a several things today using my card at the post office and Whole Foods. Did those purchases go through?" The answer is "yes", despite the fact that the card is supposed to be "closed." So is it okay to use my card still? "No." Will my scheduled on line payment still go through okay? "Yes". (It had better.)

Then I asked when I should expect to get the replacement card; the answer is 7 to 10 business days. When I asked what I should do in the meantime, she answered, "well, don't you have another credit card?" All I could think was, "You have got to be kidding me." Now I am lucky enough to happen to have a back up card, but what about the people who don't because of the credit crunch??

I am completely disgusted. This bank can spam and junk mail me to death with emails about balance transfers, but can't make me aware of the fact that they are closing my credit card due to a security breach for the second time this year? When asked what I should do while I wait for them to fix the problem, I am told to use another credit card? Well, I intend to do that, and I don't plan on using their card again. (I am also planning on reporting this to the consumer assistance office of the state division of banks.) I didn't sign up to be their customer; they bought out my original credit card company. In the future, I do my best not to become their customer again.

How I long for the days of the little community bank.