For those of you who know me, you know that I usually wake
up around 12 Noon. Today, however, I was awoken by a phone call from Ghana at
7:58 AM. On the other line was my supplier. He was trying to send some product
from Ghana to Canada. I had assured him that British Airways could arrange for
the good to be paid for in Calgary, but of course, in Ghana they wanted cash
only. Good grief!
I made an attempt to drag myself out of bed and get to the
computer meters away. I was hoping I could send the money within about 15
minutes through Western Union and get back to bed. Boy was I wrong. I attempted
to send money on the business credit card only to find out that MasterCard’s
SecureCode system was not accepting my code. I was instructed to call
MasterCard to have this cleared up. Great. Now I have to wait on hold. I go
through the whole rig-a-ma-roll, say thank you, and try again. By now it is
8:35.No luck. I have to call Western Union or go into an agency to complete the
transfer. The closest agency doesn’t open until 10 AM so I call.
Me: Hello?
Automated Voice: Press 1 of you are an agent. Press 2 if you
are not an agent.
Me: Groan. I pressed 0.
Automated Voice: I’m sorry I did not understand that. Press 1
of you are an agent. Press 2 if you are not an agent.
How did I manage to speak to a real person? I will tell you.
I had to pretend I was a victim of fraud to get an agent to help me send money.
Western Union Rep: Hello ma’am, how may I help you?
I proceeded to tell her I need to send money to Ghana and gave
her my particulars.
15 minutes later…
Western Union Rep: I’m sorry ma’am but the computer is
telling me you have to go into a branch to complete this transaction with this
credit card.
I hung up and called back in an attempt to use my own credit
card. By this time it is after 9 AM.
Me: Hello?
Automated Voice: Press 1 of you are an agent. Press 2 if you
are not an agent.
Me: Victim of Fraud: Protect me.
I am transferred to a Western Union Rep and get my transfer
completed, but now I have to go and be verified by another department. Once I
get through it is already 9:34 AM.
Western Union Rep: Can you call back in about 30 Minutes?
Our system that verifies transactions is down at the moment.
I call back twice and it is the same thing. I finally decide
to go to the agency since it is already 10:01 AM.
Once I get there and fill out the form I tell them I want to
pay on credit. Apparently they only take cash and debit. I race home, transfer
money from the business to by debit card account online, and race back. All I
am thinking about is how bad I feel for my supplier. I finally try and pay for
my transaction, but lo and behold there is a hold on the money I transferred.
For F*&!sake! Now I have to call the bank and get them to fix it.
Finally, at 10:58 AM I have transferred the money. I call my
supplier to tell him he can pick up the money for shipping, but he tells me that
he can’t get the money today because it is lights out.
Jameela
www.ejwipsdesigns.ca
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