Hungry Hippo bank style
Well, that didn’t go according to plan, and it’s a plan that’s been in the making for a while now and now it’s… well, it’s recoverable but still a real pain in the kolo, pardon my Greek.
Neil is off to Rhodes on Wednesday to pick up his new pairs of glasses, much needed as he is now at the stage of bumping into walls and saying ‘Good morning, madam,’ to the local priests. So, off we trot to Yialos to do a few odd jobs and take some money out of the ATM. Except the money didn’t come out of the machine; it said, ‘please remove your card to complete the transaction’ and we could hear the mechanism working and the things whirring around inside…. But no card came back out. Cancel. Nothing. Wait and listen… nothing. Eventually it said he’d run out of time to complete the transaction and please take your card… nothing. So, slightly worried (I knew where this was going to go) Neil went inside the bank and told them what had happened. The card had money on it, it wasn’t out of date, he hadn’t entered the wrong pin three times or anything like that, it was exactly the same kind of transaction as he’d done a few days ago, etc., etc.
The teller in the bank was very helpful, went to the machine, retrieved the stuck card and brought it back to the desk. But, unfortunately, the bank was unable to hand the card back to him even though he was two feet away from it, they know him (he probably photographed their child’s baptism, or their wedding, or at least their ID cards) and even though he’s been using the bank for around 14 years now. It’s not allowed for the folk at the bank to hand the cards back that the machine swallows. Understandable in some situations and I’m all for security and all that, but how many Neil Goslings are there using this machine who look like him and are, in fact, him? He had his passport with him, his bank book, half the customers in there could have vouched for him and so on, and so on; but it’s a head office policy.
But all is not lost (apart from his card) as I have been saving up for my health insurance payment which is due in a few weeks’ time, so at least he can use that and get his much need glasses on Wednesday (as long as the machine doesn’t swallow my card). I’ll then have to find some other way around paying for my insurance while we wait for his card company to issue another card. And that’s going to be a trial I can tell, as they always ask for proof of address when issuing cards and that has to be written in English, and it’s obviously not – phone bills etc. are in Greek of course. So, we’ve started that process and meanwhile after Wednesday he should be able to see properly and we’ll be fine as long as I don’t need any hospital treatment until my insurance is renewed.
So, the message here is; if you happen to lose your card to a hungry ATM machine don’t expect to get it back. It happened to a visiting friend of ours a few years ago (at a different ATM) and he was left destitute on the day before he returned home – we lent him three shillings and sixpence so all was well there. If this banking variation of the Hungry Hippo game happens to you, do go in and report the mechanical theft but don’t bother making a fuss or causing a scene – not that Neil did, annoyed though he was – as it will do no good. There’s nothing can be done but phone your issuing bank and hope for a quick resolve.
Meanwhile, I was able to get a few snaps in the harbour while wandering around in the 40 degree heat, and here they are on the blog today. I’m off now to see what change we have down the back of the sofa so we can get some shopping, and so, as they say in Mapp & Lucia, ‘Au reservoir!’
