Bank issues....

[twin4life]

Soo today I was strolling around Loblaws. And they have all this perfume on sale (leftover from Mother's Day), and I wanted one from burberry, it's a pretty nice one. There were only two left, and I grabbed one, and another woman grabbed one and I went to buy it. I grabbed some shampoo, all was well and I went to the self checkout and I tried my debit, it said insufficiant funds.

I was pretty stunned, because I KNOW that there is no possible way I could be completely out of money. Then my sister Mindy tried her debit, the same thing happend. So we leave, me, unhappy with not getting my perfume and conused and angry. Plus the woman would not hold it for me.

I go to the bank, and check my account balance. I have a few hundred dollars. I tried to withdraw some, and it said it cannot do that due to the fact that my account balance is -7,737.71. Mindy has a similar number. I started freaking out, like maybe someone found out my PIN, but that didn't make any sense because you can't go over what you don't have. So my account is connected to my dad's so he said that he owes money on his credit card, so they might have frozen all of our accounts. But that still doesn't make sense because in the contract we're not supposed to have any connection to his account.


So. Basically I'm stuck with no money until this gets fixed. Same with my sister, and my older brother in Montreal who needs to have money by lunchtime tomorrow otherwise he has no food to eat.

I feel so lost without having money. It's kind of pathetic, when I think about how much I need it. Just knowing I can't access it is frightening. It makes me feel kind of spoiled, but I do work for my money and buy nearly everything for myself.:\ It's strange.


Anyway. My dad happend to have $22 on him, and with another dollar from Mindy it was sufficiant enough to buy my perfume. Well, actually there weren't any left, but the woman looked on the return card and found one for me. I was happy in the end. But still stuck with no money.

[the_escapist]

thanks for sharing your story!

hopefully you'll have money very soon! and your brother also!

[chuck kottke]

:thinking:Hmm.. Well, there are a number of possibilities.. One has to do with identity theft, which is unfortunately pretty common! (I know someone who had their identity stolen, and had their credit ruined. It was a nightmare! Hope this isn't the case!!). Then it could just be your dad's credit debt somehow showing up on your account, and with a different credit limit, it may be then frozen for your card(s). Or, it could be a system malfunction or error of some sort. I've had double debits recorded on my checking account (same check, but deducted twice) when the bank here switched over to a new system - so it does happen. Or, it could be someone with the same name, and the system somehow got crossed signals. This isn't supposed to happen, but it did happen to my Aunt once, since someone else used the same bank, and they both had the same names.. Today this ought not to occur, but then nothing's perfect or fool-proof.
Good luck with it, and you might want to check with the credit bureau or to verify that it's not identity theft, as that's still an issue these days..somewhere:)

[Saffire]

My debit card was charged 800 bucks just last week for plane tickets in the UK and Norway... which is strange considering I'm in the US and I never bought those.

Anyway, thankfully my bank detected it and froze my account. I'm getting a new card next week.

[twin4life]

^yeah we were thinking identity theft. But it doesn't make any sense if apparently I still have money in my account, it's just not accesible.
It could possibly be a bank problem as a whole, we just don't know anyone not connected to our accounts to check with.

[chuck kottke]

^yeah we were thinking identity theft. But it doesn't make any sense if apparently I still have money in my account, it's just not accesible.
Does the minus/dash symbol in your post mean negative 7,737.71, or positive 7,737,71?? I'll assume it's positive; then, one other possibility is that the account was frozen by an agency, or by the bank, due to an investigation. I knew someone on the board of the Bank of Boston who, due to an IRS audit mistake, had their account frozen! Just don't panic - I'm sure it will get resolved, but in the meantime, it's a mystery.. Could you barter for things in the meantime??:)
It could possibly be a bank problem as a whole, we just don't know anyone not connected to our accounts to check with.
Is this a bank, a savings bank, a credit union, or some other form of financial institution??

[twin4life]

Nope it's actually negative 7,737.71. In my chequing account for a debit card.

Hahaa I wish I could barter things! I'll scavange my house to see what I can find

[chuck kottke]

:)Barter is cool! Or, you can always put something up on an online auction place.. I have too much stuff, and I've been getting rid of the heavy metal from the boneyard in the outback here..:cowboy:

[Black Rose]

This is where online banking has it's advantages, you can check your details without waiting around.

Hopefully you will get access to your money soon

[Bombadil]

Can't you call your bank and get them to check the situation?
I doubt it's a large problem.

I was without money a couple of weeks ago, and I managed quite nicely, but it feels nice again to have some funds in the backpack. Requires less planning ^^

[Black Rose]

It's also got an advantage to hold a credit card for situations like this.

As long as you pay it off in full the next month, it's a good way to get money.