There are certain purchases I wish to make before I actually arrive in the UK - purchases which must perforce be made in British pounds. In anticipation of this, I called my bank about a week and a half ago to get a notice put on my bank account, because usually when transactions in foreign currency show up on a person's bank account, that bank freaks out and locks the account down (and rightfully so, in most cases). I called again this evening, just to make sure this had been done. What I gathered from the customer service rep I spoke to was that everything was ready for my anticipated arrival in Scotland on August 20, but not before. I tried to explain that I need transactions in British pounds to start clearing now, before I actually get there.
I may as well have been asking for the goddamn moon.
The customer service rep assured me somewhat tepidly that if I tried to make a purchase on a British website now, it would go through, no problem. So I went on Wild In Scotland's website to try to book a seat on their 10-day trip to the Hebrides and Orkney (among other places) leaving at the end of August. Quelle grande surprise, my card was declined.
After about 20 minutes on hold with the bank again, I talked to someone else who told me that there was no way to put this kind of notice on my card over the phone, and I'd have to go to my local branch to get it sorted out. I think the branch down the street from my house is open until 6pm on Thursdays, so I guess I'll just have to go there after work tomorrow and argue with someone in person. Meanwhile, every other one of this tour leaving in August is already sold out, and I'm petrified that this one will become sold out within the next 24 hours as well.
I really don't understand why "I am going to be making transactions in both American dollars AND British pounds over the next six weeks and I need them all to go through" is so difficult for my bank to comprehend. -_-
No comments:
Post a Comment