The unco-operative bank
Jun. 7th, 2026 02:34 pmA month ago - on the first Sunday in May - We returned from the farmers' market to find two messages on the answering machine, both claiming to be from bank security, and asking me to call a number I didn't recognise. Since the farmers' market is the one occasion when I make a lot of card payments, it seemed possible that I had triggered some kind of check, but I was wary of calling that unknown number. Instead I called the phone number on my card, and worked my way through the procedure until I was speaking to an actual person, who was able to look at my record and see what had happened. Yes, she said, one of my payments had been suspect. Which one was it? It was, it turned out, not any of the various market traders but the Co-op store. We both laughed at this, and she confirmed that the flag had been removed from my card.
Today being, once again, the first Sunday in the month, I set off for the farmers' market assuming that I had now reassured my bank about anomalous payments that this might occasion. Silly me.
The lady who bakes the pies was having trouble with her terminal, so when my payment was refused it seemed possible that the problem was hers, not mine;![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
durham_rambler used his card, and no harm done. I had no difficulty at the butcher's (Broom House) or the cheesemakers, I paid cash for two small purchases (samosas and gooseberries) and then was refused again at te Scandinavian bakery, and durham_rambler had to step in again. Finally across the road to the Co-op store, where neither the cashpoint outside nor the till would work for me.
So I wasn't surprised, when we got home, to find that message from bank security on the answering machine; and since I did now recognise that number, I called it. This was a much smoother process, because I didn't have to fight my way through to speaking to a person; but it was also much less reassuring, because it ending with the mechanical voice cheerfully telling me that my card had now been cleared - but that security might intervene again if the occasion arose. My card, in other words, is perfectly valid, as long as I don't try to use it.
This isn't the end of the world: I have another card (on a different account with a different bank) but it is annoying, and I need to find a way to take it up with the bank. Which is one reason for making a record of it here.
Today being, once again, the first Sunday in the month, I set off for the farmers' market assuming that I had now reassured my bank about anomalous payments that this might occasion. Silly me.
The lady who bakes the pies was having trouble with her terminal, so when my payment was refused it seemed possible that the problem was hers, not mine;
durham_rambler used his card, and no harm done. I had no difficulty at the butcher's (Broom House) or the cheesemakers, I paid cash for two small purchases (samosas and gooseberries) and then was refused again at te Scandinavian bakery, and durham_rambler had to step in again. Finally across the road to the Co-op store, where neither the cashpoint outside nor the till would work for me.So I wasn't surprised, when we got home, to find that message from bank security on the answering machine; and since I did now recognise that number, I called it. This was a much smoother process, because I didn't have to fight my way through to speaking to a person; but it was also much less reassuring, because it ending with the mechanical voice cheerfully telling me that my card had now been cleared - but that security might intervene again if the occasion arose. My card, in other words, is perfectly valid, as long as I don't try to use it.
This isn't the end of the world: I have another card (on a different account with a different bank) but it is annoying, and I need to find a way to take it up with the bank. Which is one reason for making a record of it here.
