About a week ago, I went to an electronics store to pick up a few things. A day or two later, I checked my checking account online and noticed that I had been billed twice for my purchase.
Well, I thought to myself, Surely this is a simple misunderstanding that can be sorted out right away with a simple phone call. I made the call. The store was adamant that because their records showed only a single purchase made on my card that day, whereas my bank’s clearly showed two identical purchases made within minutes of each other, I was obviously in the wrong and needed to be put in the loony bin for seeing double. However, they admitted that if I waited around until my monthly statement came in the mail, and the paper statement showed two transactions, then they would be willing to listen to my complaints. Battle lines were being drawn.
As this conversation went on, I felt the way the people who designed the Berlin Wall must have felt. I was right, they were wrong, and this Great Divide was rising up between us, neatly seperating the Sane, Rational, and Decent from the Evil, Backstabbing, Sons-of-Bitches Who Steal My Money and Think They Can GET AWAY WITH IT ARGH ARGH ARGH!
The purchase had been made on the 2nd, so I wasn’t really sure whether it would show up on this statement (March - early April) or the next one (April - early May). I had a feeling that their plan was to wait me out - that I’d forget, or lose my resolve as the days went past and never bring it up with them. I vowed not to let it slide. I gathered the receipt, a print-out of my account activity (“See, store? This is where you double-dipped from my precious precious money! Writhe on a spit of TRUTH, you treacherous fiends!”) and waited, waited, waited for my next statement to come in.
My statement came in today. Sure enough, the purchase shows up twice. Oh, yes, I thought. There will be blood. I had the proof to nail them to the wall! A grim sort of satisfaction entered me as I gathered the documents I had readied for this occasion. Tomorrow, I swore, I’d go there after work and beat those EBSoBWSMM&TTCGAWIAAA with a sledgehammer made of facts until they gave me my money back.
Just in case, I went online again and checked my account, and there, bold as brass, stood the words:
They gave it back! They waited until I was ready to taste blood and stole the very source of my anger! How dare they! I… I think I won, but it’s a hollow victory. And my plans for tomorrow night are shot.
Phooey.
