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May 21, 2013    |       24 comments

I was ROBBED by an ATM! :-(

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USAA reimburses me for the fees charged at other bank’s ATM machines.  Yesterday morning I zipped by the nearest ATM to get more than my usual amount in cash for the week.  The kids have various end-of-year events that I needed cash for so I needed $300 for the next two weeks.  I went to a Compass ATM right by my place and went through all of the usual ATM steps.  At the very end, when my money was to be dispensed, the screen said “this machine is having technical difficulties, your transaction has been cancelled.”  It did not spit out a receipt in spite of my requesting one.  Frustrated, I moved on to the next ATM and got my cash. 

When I got to the office I checked my account and learned that I had withdrawn $600 (my daily limit, by the way) because the Compass ATM transaction posted!  ARGH!  What a way to start the week!!!  I immediately called USAA and explained the situation.  A dispute was filed but based upon what I understood from that phone call (although, admittedly I was pretty flustered so I may have heard incorrectly) I cannot get a credit to my account b/c this isn’t a credit card transaction, but instead involves cash.  USAA will contact the ATM owner (which apparently isn’t Compass?  It’s Brinks?) and they will investigate. Worst case scenario I’m looking at 60 days for them to count the money in the machine and confirm it is over and/or check the video to confirm I did not get money.  What a fiasco!!! Oh and I did call the Compass branch where it happened and got the standard response you’d expect from a bank in Texas–“you aren’t our customer so there is not anything we can do.”  I happen to know a little about that “not the bank’s customer” thing from a case I sat second chair on years ago where a bank permitted a wrongdoer to open an account using a DBA and millions were stolen from my firm’s client in a Ponzi-like-scheme.  The Texas Supreme Court declined to hear that case and thereby reinforced the “not the bank’s customer” provision. But, I digress…

I have never heard of this happening before and did some googling to find out if there was anything else I should be doing to get my money back.  Tips online say to immediately call the ATM owner (there will be a number on the machine) so as to keep time on your side but I left there thinking the transaction had cancelled.  I explained not getting a receipt to myself by saying the machine simply broke in the middle of my transaction.  Everything online says it can be a real challenge to correct this situation.  Anyone have any insight on this fun issue?

So while I am super frustrated I am also thankful that I’ve learned to have a cushion.  There was a time not too long ago that losing 300 bucks would have spelled disaster for my budget (well, there was no budget so I guess it would be more appropriate to say it would have spelled disaster for my already existing financial disaster).  Now I am in a position to adjust either what I pay toward my debt or take money from the emergency fund. 

Silver lining I suppose…

May 16, 2013    |       16 comments

On The Road…And In The Air Again!

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Work travel has been completely insane over the last three weeks.  So many little hearings that I thought would cancel and in-person meetings that I thought would not be needed have indeed gone forward.  I’ve been all over the map this go around.  From SA to Corpus to South Texas back to SA to Austin back to Corpus with stops in tiny towns along the way.  Due to scheduling issues some of that has been by car and other parts with my good friend Southwest Airlines.

On a financial note, these weeks are very good for my budget.  My expenses are on the company’s dime.  Any expenses that would not be covered by the company (outside shopping, outside dining, etc) aren’t happening b/c fatigue has me plopping into hotel beds and falling asleep.  I HAVE been trying to maintain some exercise routine and have discovered running on a treadmill to be much more enjoyable than I ever would have thought.  I used to believe that I would only run when being chased by someone…with a knife…a very big knife…who wouldn’t listen to my verbal persuasion to please stop the chase.  I thought I hated it but I have found that with the work stress increasing–running is very relaxing!  It’s an escape from all of the noise in my head and around me on a daily basis.  No idea if I’ll stick with it but for road trips it is a good way to pass the time and avoid unnecessary spending.  I used to randomly shop.

On a food note, these weeks are very bad.  I did go through a phase of packing a lot of my food but these trips keep sneaking up on me because they are in limbo until the last minute.  It is one tough task to eat well on the road. 

I’ll be in Dallas and South Texas next week and anticipate the next few weeks being a tough schedule.  My posts will likely be more infrequent in the short term but please know I continue to be financially thoughtful and reading a lot on what I have to look forward to in my post-debt life (various blogs and such).

Last thing–I like to respond to comments directly but time does not permit right now.  Regarding Margot’s grammatical critique, I am pretty thick skinned by nature and even moreso since starting this blog so I did okay with the exchange.  It also helps that Margot has been an online ogre of sorts (I mean that in a genuine, sarcastic, humorous way) that has often kept me from making bad financial decisions.  She’s no nonsense and sometimes it is obnoxious but I figure it is a blog and that opens me up to all sorts of people and at least I am not giving an in person presentation and having to deal with her face to face!  I might also envision her to look like Ursula from The Little Mermaid and that helps too.  Gosh I hope she’s laughing!

I’m sure this post is full of errors and I have to let that go as part of my letting things go process.  I run too fast and furious to allow grammatical errors to paralyze me from posting.  Plus, what would Margot have to do?  😉

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