Back in May, when we moved, we rented a U-Haul truck from a little mom and pop garage less than a mile from our house. It was the kind of place that you can imagine that they had only just last week reluctantly removed the hose that rang a bell inside when you drove over it. The skinny, elderly woman who took care of us was very friendly, and we were quite pleased with our experience. Fast-forward to this morning. Mrs. Marius was looking at our bank statement on the computer when she says, "Hon, did you spend $155 at the U-Haul place yesterday?" I was puzzled since I hadn't been back to the old town for nearly a month, and certainly had no cause to spend any money at that particular garage. We looked up their number, called them, and spoke with the same woman. No, she had not put in a charge, and only had our transaction from May in her records. I thanked her, and called the bank. They checked and found that the debit card info had been input manually, no swipe. No shock there. So we made arrangements for me to go in and fill out a dispute form so we could get our money back. Then, thinking that I was doing her a favor, I called the garage back to let them know that someone had accessed their files and stolen our money. The woman, rather than thank me, or even fucking apologize, got pissed at me, like it was my fault someone stole from me using her store's information. She angrily suggested I call U-Haul since she didn't have any record of the transaction. I wanted to point out that if someone was stealing they weren't likely to record it, but it seemed pointless. I have since filled out the appropriate paperwork, and canceled my card, which in itself is a real pain in the ass, but I really hope the bank goes after that place with a vengeance. If she had been in the least bit conciliatory I would believe that she was as much the victim, but I'm not so sure now. That may be their scam, wait a couple of months then put through a charge that, were we not so fucking broke, might go unnoticed. I don't know, but I do know that the next time I rent a truck from U-Haul I'll use a money order.
Bastards.
Marius the Violated
3 comments:
Pain in the ass! I remember. So glad you caught it before the crooks really started digging in. Seems weird that a thief would re-charge to U-Haul.... unless the thief is the old lady herself. I cannot imagine what another scenario could be- unless the thieves were also stealing from the bank accts of the U-Haul and that seems like a whole lotta work for $155. My guess, grannie is a grifter.
LOL, Monkey. But she's right; it must be someone from the garage, charging $155 and then taking the cash out of the till. If you didn't already file a police report, you should do that; if grandma gets testy with them, they'll introduce her to modern interrogation techniques.
File a police report. Take it from me, I deal with this sh*t every day at work. Makes the bank much happier about re-crediting your account with the funds.
Oh, and she's not a victim anyway. . .only the bank that issues the card is. They're the ones out the money, not you or the business.
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