Debit card not working?

Mine worked as late as yesterday. And from what I understand from the bank, they started sending out the new cards last week. Doesn't mean they got them all out last week.

And I've got a checkbook, but like others, I rarely use the damn thing. If I could pay my mortgage and car payment online, I wouldn't use it at all.

 

Not to mention the fact you can go to your bank and write a check for cash.

 

Happened to my buddy in Vegas. Apparently his pin # is 6 digits and the ATMs out there dont recoginize that. He had no cash on him and luckily realized early enough on Saturday so he could hail a cab to the nearest branch of his bank. Needless to say it would have been a long weekend cuz we werent in any position to let him borrow.

 

Yeah, great, write a check for 2 weeks of living expenses and walk around with hundreds of bucks of cash in your pocket. Sounds eminently sensible.

 

Well, I wouldn't write one that big. They'll let you come back and write another one.

 

This happened to me a few months ago. I'm sitting in a bar, drinking up a storm with friends and I go to pay the bill. Pretty bartender comes back, "Hey SCEditor, your card didn't go through." I don't know why. I call the 800-number to check my account and I've got more than enough to cover the bill. The bartender's a friend, so she says just pay for it tomorrow. So I hit the ATM on the way to work, get the money and stop by the bar to pay it. Well, I've got a bunch of bills that go through my debit card and none of them get paid, because my debit card isn't working. But, for some odd reason, it works at an ATM machine.

Turns out, that my debit card was deactivated unless I put the four-digit, handy-dandy pin number in. Nobody at the bank can tell me why. Nobody can tell me when it happened. It just "happened." So after having it out with the bank, I get them to send me a new card. But the same day they send me a new card, the bank finds out somebody stole some Debit card numbers or something or other. So they can a bunch of cards and decide to send out new ones. Did they tell me? Nope. So I get my new debit card, take it to the ATM, do all the stuff you do to activate it. I go to the bar the next night and my new debit card doesn't work.

So I'm back on the phone with the bank again trying to get my third debit card, which they mail out. Only, they didn't tell me they had already mailed out a third one because of the theft or whatever. So I get a third card, activate it and stuff, go to a restaurant and my m***** f****** card isn't working still.

So I have to call back again and I finally get somebody to explain to me what the problem was. In the process of explaining it to me I find out another card is coming (from the previous call) and that that one will work.

All total, I probably, no kidding, spent 15 hours on the phone with the bank and I was without a working debit card (with the exception of ATM usage) for 2 months.

 

I have one, but all I use it for is to pay bills and pay for my daughter's school lunches.

My family relies almost exclusively on our debit card. If that shit happens to us, I'd be in a literal panic. We use very little cash, mainly for vacations and small purchases.

 

This happened to me a few years ago.

Baby MMSW and I were an hour from home. Just us and the bank debit card; that was all. We'd made a special trip to a supermarket that specialized in locally grown/produced foods and filled the card. We had to leave a bag full of groceries in the cart in the front of the store. It was one of the most humiliating moments of my life.

What's coincidental is that I had made a large cash deposit a few hours earlier, using that card to access my account at a nearby supermarket's courtesy desk.

A few lessons learned the hard way.

-- Don't rely on one card.
-- Always have a local bank, at least as a backup.

 

Happened to me Tuesday night. Took two little Irisheads to the Brewers/Tigers game. Purchased tickets with said card. No problem. Went to get the traditional brats/beer/soda during the middle of the game and the card doesn't work. Vendor tries three times. Nothing. And I dont have the $150 in cash for three brats, etc. Find ATM machine, and it lets me take money out.

Why is it I can take money out but to use it as a debit/credit card I can't?

 

I write checks for all the bills (rent, satellite, internet, etc.). My credit card allows me to make payments electronically every 5 days. I still send a check in to pay down my card, but I'll make extra payments online when I have some spare cash.

Another credit card company, who shall remain nameless but has the initials MBNA wanted to charge me $12 for an electronic payment to be processed before the due date. That account will be closed very soon.