Random Thoughts - The Sequel

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At the end of the week, I am on VACATIONS!!!!!

I cannot wait... eventhough I am not too excited about leaving my kiddos even for only 3 days and in very good care... but I really need to leave the city and lose myself in nature. Auberge Le Baluchon, HERE I COME!!!
 
Unepuce said:
At the end of the week, I am on VACATIONS!!!!!

I cannot wait... eventhough I am not too excited about leaving my kiddos even for only 3 days and in very good care... but I really need to leave the city and lose myself in nature. Auberge Le Baluchon, HERE I COME!!!
Click to expand...

Awesome! It will be good for you to get away :D
 
I was reminded today how important it is to keep all debit receipts from stores and restaurants even when the transactions are supposedly not approved/declined.

I went to a restaurant around noon to buy lunch. I attempted to use my debit card three times to pay for the meal and each time the transaction was declined. I finally ended up paying with a credit card.

I took the food home and immediately went to the computer to check my bank account. To my surprise, I discovered that all three declined debit transactions from the restaurant were charged to my account. Thankfully, I had gathered up all the declined sales slips before I left the restaurant, so I had proof that I'd been overcharged. Leaving my food to get cold on the kitchen counter, I set out to get my money back.

My first stop was the bank to verify the number of transactions charged to my account by the restaurant and to get a print-out of those transactions. I then returned to the restaurant and spoke with the manager.

The manager seemed surprised but when I showed him the declined receipts and the bank print-out, he agreed to give me back the extra money I'd been charged. He attempted to refund the money to my debit card, but like the earlier transactions, it was declined. He then offered to refund the money to my credit card, but I was worried that the refund might actually have gone through in spite of the "declined" message, so I told him I'd check my online bank statement and get back to him if I didn't receive the money. It was then that I learned that they had received an e-mail earlier in the day warning that the debit system wasn't working properly today.

On my way home from the restaurant, I decided to stop in at the bank. They told me that the refund didn't come through. So, off I went again to the restaurant - only to find out that the manager I had been dealing with will be gone until about 7pm tonight - meaning I have to return later for my fourth visit of the day.

The manager on duty at the restaurant the last time I was there asked me to give them the bank print-out of my account transactions so they could send it off to their head office. As I felt really uncomfortable doing that, I said no. The print out is essentially an unofficial bank statement and I saw no compelling reason why they should have a copy of my banking information.

If I don't get my money from the restaurant, the bank has stated that they will start an investigation, so I'm confident that I will get my money back in the end. I am definitely glad that I took home all the declined debit receipts this time!
 
Yikes. You have to wonder how many other customers had the same issue, and possibly didn't even realize it. I hope you can get your money back without too much fuss.

I think it is the mindset of a younger generation, what with out mobile banking and the ability to access our account balance anytime, to not save receipts or balance our checkbooks. Why take the time to do the math, or save a receipt and deduct it from our balance when we can usually access our account and see the current balance within minutes of a transaction.

Many of my friends have this mindset. They will live receipts on the table at a restaurant, including the "customer copy", or leave receipts hanging out of the pumps at gas stations as they drive away. I am guilty of this myself, and only have begun holding on to things the past few years. My debit card was declined while trying to pay for gas awhile back. I tried it again, successfully, and pumped my gas. Later, when looking through my online transaction summary, I saw I'd been charged twice for that gas. I contact my bank and submitted a claim, worried the entire time that I would not be refunded because I could not provide a receipt for either transaction. Fortunately, my bank sorted it out and I got my money back, but it made me a lot more conscious about saving receipts from both approved and declined transactions.

I can't say I'm very good about balancing a checkbook, but I do save all my receipts now for practically forever now. This way if there is something odd on my statement, I can dig through 50 crumpled up receipts in my bag/floor of my car/desk drawer and eventually find what I need to sort things out.
 
I got most of my money back from the restaurant, but I was short-changed 37[char:yu3twcwm]cent[/char:yu3twcwm]. Perhaps they took advantage of me because I was too nice about the whole thing, but I certainly won't be in any rush to eat there again in the future.

temblabamomo said:
I can't say I'm very good about balancing a checkbook, but I do save all my receipts now for practically forever now. This way if there is something odd on my statement, I can dig through 50 crumpled up receipts in my bag/floor of my car/desk drawer and eventually find what I need to sort things out.
Click to expand...

I used to save all my receipts too, but when it came time to find one I actually needed, for proof of warranty or something like that, I would often have to spend a half hour or more digging through other receipts and paperwork to find the one sales slip I wanted. Now I generally only hang on to receipts for things of value and take my chances with everything else. Of course, I haven't gone through my existing stash of sales slips to get rid of the ones I no longer need, so I still have a big job ahead of me.

I can't remember the last time I tried to balance a cheque book. To be honest, I don't usually pay attention to bank fees and service charges - although I know I should. The bank could've been ripping me off for years and I'd have no idea. :wink:
 
It was 10 years ago today that a massive power outage left millions of people in Ontario and the Northeastern and Midwestern United States in the dark. My family was without power for about a day or two, but I know some people didn't get their electricity back for a week or more.
 
We were without power for over a day as well. I remember it happened at around 4 PM, I was on my way to work. I thought the power was out there only and then realized it was everywhere.
I can't believe how long it's been since.
 
Wow, that's crazy. What was the cause?

We lose power a lot during hurricane season. The worst was Isabelle. My block was in the dark for almost two weeks. We perfected the art of cooking freezer items on the grill :D
 
It can be a good adventure!
I believe it was the power grid/station in Niagara Falls that failed. It affected quite a bit of people, even Americans.
 
The power outage was initially caused by a tree that hit a power line in Northern Ohio. That downed power line caused a domino effect which resulted in millions of people in the United States and Canada losing electricity.
 
This is a photo of Times Square in New York City during the black out. The only lights are from the cars.

134865-times-square-new-york-n-y.jpg
 
I don't remember this one at all LOL
I remember the first big black out that did start at Niagra Falls, oh way back in 1965

that was scary! we thought aliens had invaded
:giggle:

Just googled the 2003 black out, wow it was bigger and yet I do not recall it at all.
 
Ahh, the 2003 blackout!
That was the best few days I ever had with my family. We were forced to do stuff together. We cooked over a campfire. We were "stuck" at the cottage, were forced to do stuff outside, swam to have a "bath"... Hydro was only out for a couple days, but it was pretty fun... We cheated a bit though, we had a generator to run the fridge.

It's a fond memory for me luckily. For others, not so much.
 
I admit, the 03 blackout was hell to me. Four days with no power, hot and humid, 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant with my big baby (11 pounds 14 ounces) and a 27 month old with an ear infection that had gone to sinus infection and his antibiotics made him heat intolerant. My poor husband. The generators ran the well pumps - yay for really cold water - and a mini fridge/freezer, two fans and kept the laptop charged and playing DVDs, so we were better off than many, so we stayed put. Toddler ran around naked, so at least he potty trained in about 12 hours and never had a daytime issue again. Rotten baby decided he was camping out until 41 weeks and 2 days, brat. He was getting evicted the next morning, started contractions at 7:18 pm, he was born at 9:03 pm, mean and nasty brat since he was too fast to get an epidural.

But, he's a good kid now.
 

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