h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Well I spent two hours in the police station last night and they've given me a crime number, so I'll let the bank know the situation and see what they have to say.

best of luck hooloovoo



hope things work out ok

Yeah, keep us posted.
I'm interested to find out how this all works out.

and did they give you a

Hmmmm. Well I've just tried to login, and it seems they have basically closed the account. It's all blank as it was when I first had the card, and it's asking me to enter my activation number which will come with my new card.

So it seems they may have already written off all the transactions.

Well anyway, I've still sent them an email informing them of the situation, and the crime number. Time to screw them for as much compensation as I can get for the "inconvenience and distress" their lack of security has caused me!!

That's my boy!

It just get's better and better.....

It seems the bank have more than one mailing list.

Despite the fact that they confirm my current address everytime I login, and I get stuff through the post from them, the list they send new cards out from is different and hasn't been updated properly. They have sent my new card to a student property I lived at over two years ago.

The best bit is, when I phoned up and stopped the card they automatically mailed me a second new card which has also gone to the old address!!!!! Again, despite the fact that I had to confirm my current address and other details before they would talk to me!!

Anyway I've just called the police and given them the address that the card has been sent to, so that they can go around and arrest the scumbag.

What a great system they have. It's always nice to know your money are in such safe hands.

Hmmm, and there was me vaguely considering changing my credit card to an internet one...

Nope, maybe not then...

Ah well, at least you know how it happened now.

But I guess the other guy is very impressed with the service. He gets a credit card sent in the mail that he uses a lot of money on. When it gets blocked, he simply recieves a new one to abuse.

Ah.... but at least the second one they sent out is deactivated. It won't work until I login to the website and tell them I've received it.

Just how the first replacement card should have been treated!!

but it's great that they knew where the thing is gone so that they can get the guy

Thing is its all pretty circumstancial evidence.... unless they get a search warrant and go through the house to find the card there's not alot they can do.

(S)He did use it in some major stores that probably have CCTV, so the only hope is to get a photo, then go to the house and try to match them up.

That takes manpower though. The police will probably do nothing of the sort. They knew exactly where and when my stolen card was used after I was burgled, but did they go and check out the cc tv? No. We told them which pawn shop the stereo had turned up in but because we didn't have the serial number at home they wouldn't go and check it out, and we couldn't get it back.

My experiences of the justice system mean that I don't have much confidence in it actually doing anything about 'trivial' crime like being burgled, or having your handbag stolen, or having your vehicle stolen.

But if their name is the one used in the signature presumably that *would* provide enough evidence to get a warrant...

Depends whether they want to put the time and effort in really...

Well they caught and slung in prison the guy who burgled my house - (or rather extended his sentence I think )

Having said that, with only one other house on our road at the time they didn't even bother to ask them if they's seen anything
And this was after *three* consecutice burlgaries...

They did tell us that there are 1000 burglaries a year in Brum or something ridiculous anyway so that *does* give you an idea of the kind of effort they'd need to put in if they did 'thoroughly' investigate each one.

What got the people caught by the way was the fact that I had used a UV pen to label my stereo with my name and post code. During a search of someone's house ...bing... they found it. Listen and learn...

If only my housemate had done that with her stuff, mine had my parents postcode on it but because it was old and crap they only took her newer things. My jewelery never resurfaced

My credit cards had my name on!

They did actually catch two lads in possession of my moped when that was stolen, but because they denied actually stealing it themselves, and because they had no criminal records the CPS decided not to press any charges. They had them red-handed! I got no compensation for the £300 excess on the insurance that I was out of pocket and no satisfaction that something had been done about it.

It seems to me that the police are stretched too thin to do much about actively investigating individual crimes, although they might target known burglers and might associate them with your crime almost by accident. They didn't check our place for fingerprints or anything - they don't have the time.

Well it's taken almost two months since I ordered the new card, but I finally have a working account again and all fraudulent transactions have been refunded.

I've just sent an email to egg complaining about their appalling service which I'll post up here in a minute when I've removed any personal details.......

fantastic hoo.

glad you are not out of pocket......

perhaps you could write a guide entry based on this farceical experience!

13 August 2002

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am writing to you regarding the recent fraudulent transactions on my "Egg Card" account.

On Monday 24 June I attempted to use my "Egg Card" to purchase tickets for Blackpool Tower. This transaction could not be completed since the chip on my card appeared to have developed a fault. The following day I contacted you to order a replacement card, and was told that my new card would arrive in seven to ten days time. I was told in the email that for my convenience the new card would be already activated, and I would not have to go to the web site before I could use the card. I thought at the time that sending an active card through the post seemed somewhat dangerous. Little did I know of the saga that was about to commence...

On Monday 8 July, towards the end of the ten day period, I had still not received my replacement card. I logged into my account via the website and discovered five fraudulent transactions totalling £531.80, mixed in with my own transactions that I had been able to complete using the magnetic strip - it was only the chip that was faulty. Upon seeing this I realised that the new card must have been lost in the post, and since it was an active card all whoever had obtained it needed to do was sign the back and go shopping. I immediately called the Egg "lost and stolen cards" telephone number, put a block on the account, and gave them the details of the five transactions. I was informed that a second new card would be produced automatically, with an additional wait of another seven to ten days. After cancelling the card, I also sent you an email confirming the five fraudulent transactions, and reported the incident to the police.

On Wednesday 10 July I received a reply from ***** confirming that the transactions in question had been frozen and would be refunded once your investigations had been completed. I was also informed of a "discrepancy" in the home address stored on my account, and asked to confirm my current details. I telephoned you about this immediately and was told that while the main database did indeed have my correct details, the database from which new cards are produced had not been updated from an address at which I lived over two years ago (********). The problem was now becoming clear. You sent my replacement card to the wrong address. This is despite the fact that I confirm my correct address with you every time I login to the website, and had been successfully receiving mail from you through the post. To make matters worse, the second card which was automatically generated when I cancelled the first replacement was also sent to the wrong address, again despite the fact that I had to confirm my current address before they would even talk to me and allow me to cancel the card.

Having managed to get all of your databases updated, on Saturday 13 July I telephoned the "lost and stolen cards" number again and explained the situation. I had a block put on the second replacement card, confirmed my address thoroughly, and ordered a third card. This would arrive in yet another seven to ten days, and would require activation.

The following day, Sunday 14 July, I was asked to visit ***** Police station and give a statement to PC ***** regarding the current situation. I explained the whole story, and gave them the address to which the cards had been sent since presumably those living there now would be connected with the crime. PC ***** also asked me to provide him with a list of the fraudulent transactions. I told him that I only had a statement up to Friday 5 July; any further transactions that occurred over the weekend did not appear on my account quick enough for me to see them before I lost access when I cancelled the card on Monday 8 July. He asked me to try and get a full statement from you and bring it into the police station as soon as possible.

As soon as I returned home from the police station, I sent you an email requesting a list of all transactions on my card up to and including Monday 8 July. On Monday 15 July I received a reply from ****** which totally failed to answer my query. I was not given the list of transactions I requested, and was told that the last transaction occurred on Thursday 4 July. I knew this was incorrect, since the statement I already had showed transactions after that date, and I knew for a fact that there was at least one transaction on Monday 8 July since I made it. I wrote back, and on Tuesday 16 July I received a reply from ****** confirming my order of a paper statement which would arrive within five to seven days.

By Friday 19 July I had still not received my third replacement card. This caused me significant inconvenience since I was due to go on holiday the following day, and resulted in my spending a week away from home without my main method of payment.

Upon arriving home on Saturday 27 July, I discovered that my card had arrived at last, but there was no sign of the statement I had ordered. I sent an email about the statement, and again received a reply on Monday 29 July from ****** confirming it had been ordered a second time. I have yet to receive either of these statements. Luckily, since I was now in possession of my new card, I was able to activate my account and get the statement myself from the website. This statement showed two new fraudulent transactions bringing the total amount to £561.80. This statement has now been handed over to the police to assist with their investigations.

It has taken until Monday 12 August, almost two months since I made the simple request for a new card, for my account to get back to normal and for the fraudulent transactions to be refunded.

All of these problems were caused by your mistakes - firstly in not updating all of your databases properly upon receiving a change of address instruction, and secondly in bypassing your own security systems by sending an active card through the post. Your incompetence has caused me significant distress and inconvenience, not to mention the embarrassment caused by being forced to spend several hours in a police station. I feel that I should be entitled to a significant level of compensation for the stress and anguish I have had to endure, at least to an equivalent level of the £561.80 spent illegally on my account. I will have to give serious consideration as to which bank I trust with my finances in the future.

I look forward to receiving a reply within the next seven days.

Yours faithfully,