Just taking a moment to moan
Sorting out fraudulent bank card charges in Chicago when you are living overseas is NOT FUN. 5 weeks after a Chicago police officer promised to send me a copy of the police report (so that I can send it back to my bank in Chicago), the report still isn't here. And every time I call to ask about it, they tell me something different. I had a delightful moment just now talking to someone in the police records office, who explained that I could get a copy of the report sent out to me, if I sent them a snail mail letter requesting a request form, and they sent me the request form, and I sent the completed request form back to them along with a check for 50 cents. Then they will send me a copy of the report that they supposedly sent me already, and I can send it back to my Chicago bank. Let's see, that would make a total of 5 letters making a trip overseas. Fax, email and sending the report to the bank directly are all COMPLETELY OUT OF THE QUESTION.
Then I called back again and talked to an officer, who said she wasn't sure the original report had ever been sent out to me at all "because we have no mailing address on file for you". Headdesk. But she promised to send it out to me, for free, today.
On the other hand, the hotline operator who connected me to the officer kept me on the line for at least five minutes telling me her personal story of how $3000 was taken out of her account without her bank card ever leaving her possession, and how hard it was for her to get the money back. She was incredibly sympathetic, and what happened to her is indeed very like what happened to me, but I had to restrain giggles, because the whole thing just felt so American. "Hello, random person who has just informed me you are calling from overseas, just let me tell you a long rambling personal narrative before I do my job and transfer you to someone who might be able to help you." It's not very professional but it's kind of sweet.
Even in a big city like Chicago, institutions just aren't set up to deal with the concept of "overseas". The bank I'm trying to get the money back from is located on the campus of the big university where I used to teach, and where there are many, many international faculty and students. Nonetheless, when I tried to add M's name to my bank account at one point (to make it easier to deposit joint tax returns), they initially refused because he didn't have an American driver's license. When we asked whether an Australian passport would be a valid form of identification, they said they supposed so... but only if it was in English.
Fortunately there's not very much money at stake here, but still, it would be nice to get it back.
Then I called back again and talked to an officer, who said she wasn't sure the original report had ever been sent out to me at all "because we have no mailing address on file for you". Headdesk. But she promised to send it out to me, for free, today.
On the other hand, the hotline operator who connected me to the officer kept me on the line for at least five minutes telling me her personal story of how $3000 was taken out of her account without her bank card ever leaving her possession, and how hard it was for her to get the money back. She was incredibly sympathetic, and what happened to her is indeed very like what happened to me, but I had to restrain giggles, because the whole thing just felt so American. "Hello, random person who has just informed me you are calling from overseas, just let me tell you a long rambling personal narrative before I do my job and transfer you to someone who might be able to help you." It's not very professional but it's kind of sweet.
Even in a big city like Chicago, institutions just aren't set up to deal with the concept of "overseas". The bank I'm trying to get the money back from is located on the campus of the big university where I used to teach, and where there are many, many international faculty and students. Nonetheless, when I tried to add M's name to my bank account at one point (to make it easier to deposit joint tax returns), they initially refused because he didn't have an American driver's license. When we asked whether an Australian passport would be a valid form of identification, they said they supposed so... but only if it was in English.
Fortunately there's not very much money at stake here, but still, it would be nice to get it back.