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Thanks a lot for racking up hundreds of dollars worth of charges at Circuit City, Macy's, Bloomingdale's, and McDonald's. I guess after a hard morning of shopping with free money, it was time for a Big Mac. You are not a good person and I take comfort knowing that karma will come around eventually and bite you in the ass.
Thank goodness for USAA being the awesome financial institution it is. When I called them this morning, they took care of everything in a timely fashion. The people who work there are sweet, professional, and understanding. And yes, I talked to live people in a matter of seconds as opposed to hours on hold.
I am soooooooo mad and frustrated and freaking out right now. Posts: 511 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Wow... he did all that in, what, 18 hours? Without the bank screaming "whoa... wait... what the hell is this person doing?"
I bought a refrigerator once and my bank called to make sure the card wasn't stolen. If someone runs the circuit like that in such little time, red flags don't go up?
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I use USAA for my car insurance, and the people that work there were incredibly nice and easy to talk to-- and not fakey nice, either. Made all the difference to me.
Thieves are the worst.
Posts: 3936 | Registered: Jul 2000
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At least your person went somewhere interesting -- my recently stolen card showed up with hundreds of dollars in charges for. . .groceries and office supplies.
I'm going to be generous, and assume the thief really needed food. I still hope the bank tracks him down Has Words With Him.
Posts: 650 | Registered: Mar 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk: Wow... he did all that in, what, 18 hours? Without the bank screaming "whoa... wait... what the hell is this person doing?"
I bought a refrigerator once and my bank called to make sure the card wasn't stolen. If someone runs the circuit like that in such little time, red flags don't go up?
Well, the cards were stolen between midnight and two a.m. USAA called around 10 a.m. to question the card's activities. You see, I was out and ended up staying with a friend because I had no money to get home. I had tried to call USAA around 2 a.m. to report the cards stolen, but the stupid 411 people kept giving me the wrong numbers. I finally ended up talking to the bank folks around noon. By then a whole lot of damage had already been done.
Posts: 511 | Registered: Mar 2006
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You may also wish to check your credit reports in six months or so (or at least alert your bank so they can do some credit monitoring) in case they try to open an account or something with any personal information you had in your wallet.
When my card was stolen they spent $300 at Canadian Tire. Go figure.
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
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When my purse was stolen he spent under $200 at Ross Discount Stores.
They caught him about a month later in Vegas. He's been convicted, and last I heard was coming up for sentencing.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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We had a weird charge on my husband's AmEx to an online gaming company. We still had the card--the company suggested maybe someone had taken the card, used it to set up 3 accounts, then returned it. Anyway, AmEx credited our account right away and is investigating.
Not nearly as traumatic, of course, but I was really pleased with AmEx's customer service and how quickly they resolved the problem.
Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by porcelain girl: I use USAA for my car insurance, and the people that work there were incredibly nice and easy to talk to-- and not fakey nice, either. Made all the difference to me.
I use USAA for just about everything for this reason.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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quote:Originally posted by Nighthawk: Wow... he did all that in, what, 18 hours? Without the bank screaming "whoa... wait... what the hell is this person doing?"
I bought a refrigerator once and my bank called to make sure the card wasn't stolen. If someone runs the circuit like that in such little time, red flags don't go up?
My parents got called at 2am and asked if they had indeed wished to purchase a brand new 50k backhoe on one of his cards.
Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime. Buy a man a backhoe and he can dig his own grave.
Sorry to hear your wallet was stolen. If only there was some sort of store where thieves could return stolen goods without fear of repercussions. I'm sure there are many people like myself who just want their stuff back should the thief's conscience bug him enough into wanting to unsteal my stuff.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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Yes do check your credit reports, Luet13. Somebody tried to open up a bank account more than 3 years after my wife had her info/cards stolen and we're pretty sure that what happened was that her info was stolen and then laundered during that time.
------- Speaking of good insurance companies. I'm in the market for new auto insurance. Apparently there are no writers here in Minnesota for the insurance I had (Mercury).
Any insurers I should definitely look at? My wife was in an accident (not her fault) a couple of years ago and we were completely underwhelmed by the level of service we got. I should add that we're non-smokers in our thirties with clean driving records and we own a 2004 Kia Optima with less than 30k miles on it. I don't want discount auto insurance. I don't want the super expensive full service kind. I want something in between (which seemed to be hard to find in California, but I'm hoping that the Upper Midwest has more people that fit our lower-middle-class, clean living profile).
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Be aware that USAA is only available for those either in the Military or who are dependants or former dependants of those in the Military.
Posts: 4753 | Registered: May 2002
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It is also available to former dependents (and their families) of people who used to be officers in the military.
My father-in-law used to be an officer in the Air Force. He doesn't talk about it much, so I think he must have been with Stargate Command.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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The closest I can claim is that my grandfather may have claimed me as a dependent for a couple of years when I was in my early twenties and living with him while I went to college. He served in the OSS during and after WWII and then Army Reserve. He does talk about it -- and has some very interesting stories about his three years as a sort of provincial governor/administrator during the reconstruction period in Japan.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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Hmm. I saw an ad for USAA in a pre-preview slideshow the other day. So I can join because my husband used to be in the military? Or did it have to be my parents? Can a veteran use it?
Posts: 11017 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Pooka, I think you can join if your husband used to be in the military. I'm only in it because both of my maternal grandparents were in WWII.
I got a new drivers liscense card today, which was easier than I thought it would be. Now I just have to wait for the debit stuff to clear out, and to get new cards. I'm still feeling angry about the whole thing. But all in all, it could have been way worse.
Thanks for the advice about checking up on my credit report. I will be sure to do that regularly. At least I didn't have my social security card in the wallet. Then I'd really be freaking out.
Posts: 511 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Pooka - I'm pretty sure you can join. My husband and I have USAA because my father-in-law used to be in the military and is now in the Civil Service.
Luet - I'm sorry your wallet was stolen, but I'm glad things seem to be going relatively smoothly for you in dealing with it.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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"Any insurers I should definitely look at? "
You might give Allstate a call. When I was in the Air Force, full time, nether USAA nor Geico would talk to me because I was enlisted. (not an officer or NCO) Allstate was the only company to even talk to me. I have stayed with them ever since. (40+ years) I have found the prices and the service to be better than what my friends talk about with other companies. My children, when they have gone out on their own (It really does happen,) have all converted their dependent coverage to self coverage for a fair price. Give them a try for me.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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Thanks, Artemisia. I'll check them out. The other thing I'd like is an actual local agent. Before we had some broker who lived 30 minutes away, and when we were dealing with the accident stuff, I swear we were talking to 20 year olds who were barely literate.
Luet:
Just to show you how times have changed -- The wallet I carry is great-grandfather's. I don't even remember exactly how I ended up inheriting it at the age of 14 or 15, but I did. It's a cowhide wallet and scratched inside it is his social security number.
Posts: 3423 | Registered: Aug 2001
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I got hit by a guy with Allstate and they have been wonderful to me. They are also our current insurer.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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