Baby Poppy is registered...

So last Friday we took baby Poppy to be registered (after making an appointment to do so)-

- taking the opportunity (while we happened to be there) -

- to get some more books out of the library (as the registry office is in the same building)...filling out the forms (with exactly the same lady who registered Thomas) took about ten minutes, including niceties, and then we were free to wander around Reigate town centre for a bit, scoring Thomas a Dr Who action figure in one of the charity shops and Poppy a nice Lamaze panda bear snuggly-thing to suck in the toy shop-

- and then we popped to the little (extremely noisy) cafe in Priory park for a spot of special occasion lunch-

-of rather good pizza (Thomas carefully picking off all the particularly good bits from mine ;)...

However, when it came time to try and open bank accounts we hit a bit of a brick wall-

- everywhere we tried told us they were too busy (urm? Yep, huge queue in Natwest as you can clearly see) and asked us to make an appointment for a future date, which we didn't, deciding instead to check out all the various deals online, but from the looks of things poor old Thomas and Poppy won't be getting a little plastic elephant money box, or a Griffin saver's document wallet and ruler, all the banks (in Reigate at least) seem to have stopped doing that sort of thing, just offering some measly stickers or vouchers! :(

How to tell if a cashpoint is safe...

...this is actually fairly imporant, I have been done *twice* by these hacked ATMs, once in Dorking and once in Redhill, first time I spotted the device (it was at Barclays and was actually quite a convincing addition) and got the card cancelled straight away but the second time I didn't (despite checking every machine I use fairly carefully) and became the victim of card cloning. It appears that their technology and tricks are getting extremely sophisticated now, so please arm yourselves with the information in this article (especially the presentation at the bottom of the page with lots of photos of examples) so hopefully you can spot if your cashpoint has been tampered with...

Pick of the tips? Try and always use a cashpoint that you are familiar with, so it's easier to spot any little "additions"...

One more sleep to go...!

...last few bits of preparation coming together (a little late for Flyingpops' liking) for the trip - the final checking of holiday clothes, selection of books, packing and weighing of suitcases took place last night...I've just fixed the holiday insurance, which was due to finish a day too early (well spotted Flyingpops) thanks to the odd duration of our break (15 nights instead of the more traditional 14), well, not fixed actually, had to completely cancel the "deal" and take out a custom policy which was about £20 more expensive, but it's just not done to travel without it (so there we go)...

This morning I got to the bank at Canary Wharf just before 8am and was amazed (and very pleased) to discover doors wide open, lights on and several personal bankers already on duty who helped me set up a standing order (so the mortgage gets paid while we are away) and transfer the spending money into an account where I could actually withdraw it (subsequently discovered that Flyingpops had already done that bit, so will need to put some of it back again, but at least it was nice to discover that this sort of service exists for the busy denizens of "The Wharf", can't think of many other places, even globally, where that would be possible!), just need to nip out at lunchtime to the other branch to actually get my hands on the cash (as my card has a daily withdrawal limit that for these purposes is a little too agressive)...

Roll on tomorrow!

HSBC - Cloned Card

Even before this latest incident, I was thinking to myself "You know what Fink? It's entirely possible that you have actually died without noticing, and are now in purgatory"...(probably it was my id and ego involved in that particular conversation - just before you start thinking me suddenly infirm)...I mean, it's not exactly *hell* (I don't think I've been -*that*- naughty) where knives and acid and demons would set about your bits-and-bobs with joyful abandon...more just a subtle *ceasing* to be (in the blink of an eye) and suddenly living in a fake world where everything completely and smugly conspires against you...a death of a thousand (metaphorical) cuts (or so it seems)...

Now, to put this in context, we must return to last Saturday (if you please, it's not an order or anything...) oh and if you want to feel a hint of some of the other little "cuts", just scroll down the page a bit...I have discussed a *few* of them here already, but this particular bit I left out until now (for reasons that will soon become clear) along with other (both minor and major) causal and reactive events that will have to remain a mystery (but this example will certainly give you an idea of the general gravity of my present environment)...

Anyway, back to Saturday AM - it was time to zip over to get Colin the Camper his MOT re-test, but we needed to get some cash out to pay the unknown amount required for the parts/work required to limp Colin back to life in order to get some (-and I make a clear distinction here when I say QUALITY-) R&R, in order to approach a state nearing "normal human" again...(oh the sweet dream that this could ever seem a realistic possibility)...Flyingpops suggested we put in £100 each (just in case) but when I inserted my card (at first, in the cash point at the hospital, and then at various service stations/garages on the way), each of them confronted me with a stony, and ambiguous "Temporary Error"...Flyingpops was understandably miffed - assuming (fairly) that I had accidentally gone over my limit on my account (wouldn't be the first time), and *honestly*, I wasn't sure - lots of extra expense this month (expensive passport rush job for work etc.) meant that *really*(?), it *might* have been true...but I just couldn't see exactly *how*...

Anyway, I ate humble pie, Flyingpops valiantly paid the costs (which actually weren't as bad as we feared, in the end), and I rang up the bank (once we were somewhere completely stationary for any length of time) and checked it out, and I had *loads* of money left...I was *completely* baffled...Anyway, I assumed it was a technical glitch of some sort, and just forgot about it...I had a bit of cash-cash, no worries...

Next really odd thing, and actually a (false) epiphany - yesterday (I *assumed* delayed because of the postal strike) I get a new bank card through the post, thought it was a bit odd that it still said "Issue number 1" on it again, but checked the old card out and there was what I needed to see - the expiry date was this month! Mystery over (or so I thought)...

I get into town today (rather earlier than normal), pop my card into the cash point on the Caledonian Road, ask for a little of my hard-earned bread and get a very rude "Your Card Issuer has declined this request" in response...wtf? I have spent *nothing* since Saturday (and I know this simply because I haven't been blooming *able* to)...further bafflement...

I ring up telephone banking, and after speaking to two jolly nice, but largely unhelpful Scottish-sounding gentlemen (and being on hold for rather a long time) I am suddenly greeted by an Indian-sounding gentleman who proclaims he is from the "Fraud Department" (Uh oh!)...

"So, hello Mr Angel, I understand you have been on holiday to Malaysia and Thailand most recently"...

(EH?????????) - "Urm, no...?"

"Oh dear, so when were you last found to be travelling abroad?"

"Urm, back at the beginning of the year I had to take a trip to New York for work? But this was *months* ago"...

"Oh dear, so you haven't been on holiday to Malaysia and Thailand most recently?"

"Urm, no, you might find I have spent a bit of time in Redhill and North London though"...

...and on, and on, and on this went...turns out, some w*nker has had a lovely time on holiday at my expense...and I am extremely angry...they told me that nothing more can be done over the phone...

You can imagine what happened when I had rung Flyingpops to tell her what was going on and then called back to ask that they try and make sure I'm not left out of pocket by anything stupid (like extra fees incurred, thanks to my robbers exceeding my agreed spending limits)?...just for example...

...(and you will think I am joking but) when I rang, the call centre lady at HSBC actually tried to sell me f*cking "identity fraud" protection insurance...no offer of help at all...very, very poor...

I am really reaching the end of my tether...customer service? I'm absolutely disgusted...automated system that caught the fraud - +100 bonus points for being clever and pro-active...shame the two sides of the business are so horribly distant... :(