Frugal February-the sequel

[macw1960]

Congrats Granger on the new place!
Sorry coupongirl for your loss.

All kinds of stress here- rather than explain I will share my letter of complaint:

To whom it may concern:
On Thursday, Feb 20, 2014 I was on my way home from a doctors appointment in Hamilton. I was nearly out of gas so I stopped at a Pioneer gas station and swiped my bank card in the machine. It came up as an “error message” unable to process transaction. I got on my cell phone and tried to sign in to my online banking. I was given another error message and asked to call the 1-800 # so I did that. It was an excess of twenty minutes wait time. I scrounged up $10 in change in my purse to get enough gas to drive to a BMO branch. When I got there, I was questioned about a deposit of $600 cash I had put into the ABM machine at the Market street branch in Brantford ON on February 15. Was it cash or cheque? What type of bills? I was puzzled and began to feel upset. I was told that without warning, my bank accounts had been “frozen” and my Interac card cancelled. I insisted on this be removed, or having the surveillance camera tapes pulled to
prove my innocence, showing me counting my money, placing it in an envelope and then depositing it in the machine. The teller told me that only the police were able to view these tapes. I was told it was probably a “mistake” and the hold on my accounts had be removed. Satisfied, I left the bank and headed home. Unable to complete my errands (groceries, shopping for a birthday gift for my child).

A few hours later, I checked my account online. I had been debited $600! Meaning my account was now in the negative. I had no gas in my car, no groceries in cupboards and no birthday gift for my child. We are a family of five, who live on a tight budget. We don’t use credit cards or have a lot of excess in the bank account in between pay cheques. Immediately, I got on the phone with the branch. I was told the issue would be looked into and called back in an hour. In the meantime, I called the 1-800 # and explained my problem to the representative. The representative (Melissa) in turn called the branch and was told the same information. Basically a wait and see. The representative callously told me “not to worry” as I was becoming hysterical. I admit, I was upset. Waiting five to ten business days would not feed my children or get me to work. I hung up the phone and was called back within the hour by the branch. I was told a
“track” was put on my case and could take five to ten days. The teller had mentioned that my branch manager had denied giving me a temporary overdraft until this was resolved due to the fact that “I hadn’t had many ABM deposits”. I started to cry. The teller said she didn’t know what to say. Waiting two weeks for my money was unacceptable. I called the branch manager and left a message asking her to please call me back urgently. I waited fifteen minutes and called again and left another message.

I called the 1-800 # and explained my problem. I asked for the district manager. I insisted the surveillance be pulled. The gentleman that answered my call was very helpful-the most helpful genuine person I had dealt with that day and I told him so. He contacted the branch and was able to get the manager on the phone. Apparently she had been dealing with customers when I had called. She (Carmella), said she would call head office in Toronto to see if they were able to track down my “empty” envelope. I guess it was not only police that were able to view the surveillance. Within fifteen minutes they had located my money. This was now after five pm. I was offered 300 air miles for my trouble.

In total, six hours of my day was wasted trying to figure out someone else’s (essentially BMO’s) mistake. I was labelled a thief. I had not even been given a courtesy call. Just had my account frozen.
There is something wrong with this system. I know I am just a “little guy” with no money but I have been a loyal customer for several years. Pay bank fees like anyone else.

I am writing this in hopes somebody will read it and hopefully not do this to someone else.

I am writing this to let you know why I am taking my business elsewhere.

Sincerely,
Patricia (former customer).

Please forward this to your superiors

Gees, what a hassle and all they offered was a lousy 300 AM. I would be fighting for something better for sure.

[jasperandchar]

on Angela. i don't miss that stage. hope you find some peace with the little one.
so busy here. i have one more project to finish. will work on it tomorrow.
going to clean kitchen, make cupcakes and icing. work on some laundry and try to clean up a little and then relax. im really hoping to sleep in tomorrow.
last day to get everything done.

good luck on Friday Mrs. S wishing you great success on your new venture

[macw1960]

Interesting bill I received today from the hydro company today...already checked my previous bills to make sure everything is correct and billing errors in my favor have made my bill for the month $.43.

Not a typo....a whooping .43 cents which means I have extra money this month to put towards another bill.

[Angela273]

Today was a productive day. I had that play date with LO at the Family Centre this morning. I weighed him for the first time in a few months. He weighs 21lbs 10oz now. He is in the 3-15% category for his weight, by age. Got the light fixed on dh's truck. Made myself a nice lunch. Completed an online Psychology study for 1% bonus mark for my university class. Vacuumed the living room. A friend stopped over for a visit, I hadn't seen her in a while. Got my haircut for the first time since September. I got nearly 4" cut off. Stopped at the bank. Redeemed 2x FPC iogo Greek yogurt coupons and my raincheck for $1 hashbrowns at CO-OP. I made salisbury steak with mashed potatoes for supper. It was my first time making salisbury steak and I thought it was pretty good. Baked it in the oven. Did up the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.

[Natalka]

Still looking for names for the March frugal chatter thread so far only me and LuvToUseCoupons have put a name in the hat so please post a name suggestion if you would like too, I would like to start voting tomorrow late am and have new March thread up on Feb. 28th so that I'm not tardy and into March lol

March Frugal Madness!
Marching on with Saving the sequel

March: Spring into Savings

Mad about March Savings

March Madness Savings

[jasperandchar]

Interesting bill I received today from the hydro company today...already checked my previous bills to make sure everything is correct and billing errors in my favor have made my bill for the month $.43.

Not a typo....a whooping .43 cents which means I have extra money this month to put towards another bill.

good news Mac, I know Hydro companies are in a bit of dog doo doo with their create billing & hiccups now that the Ombusman is involved it seems to have made somewhat of a difference now if only the energy board would but a freeze on their increases and better yet I hope something is done with the darn delivery fees as they are totally outrageous in Ontario where I live.

[jasperandchar]

Today was a productive day. I had that play date with LO at the Family Centre this morning. I weighed him for the first time in a few months. He weighs 21lbs 10oz now. He is in the 3-15% category for his weight, by age. Got the light fixed on dh's truck. Made myself a nice lunch. Completed an online Psychology study for 1% bonus mark for my university class. Vacuumed the living room. A friend stopped over for a visit, I hadn't seen her in a while. Got my haircut for the first time since September. I got nearly 4" cut off. Stopped at the bank. Redeemed 2x FPC iogo Greek yogurt coupons and my raincheck for $1 hashbrowns at CO-OP. I made salisbury steak with mashed potatoes for supper. It was my first time making salisbury steak and I thought it was pretty good. Baked it in the oven. Did up the dishes and cleaned the kitchen.

gotta love those days, great job Angela! Hope you get some much needed rest/sleep.

[macw1960]

good news Mac, I know Hydro companies are in a bit of dog doo doo with their create billing & hiccups now that the Ombusman is involved it seems to have made somewhat of a difference now if only the energy board would but a freeze on their increases and better yet I hope something is done with the darn delivery fees as they are totally outrageous in Ontario where I live.

A freeze on the increases would be great. I'm in Ontario too and I definately have to agree that the delivery fees are outrageous especially since they are almost as high as my usage.

[sweet sparrow]

Catching up...though very slowly. Coupon Girl, I'm so sorry for your loss. A friend of my parents passed away and I was sorry not to have even known he was sick. My parents didn't want to upset me with the new baby and they definitely didn't want us trekking anywhere for a funeral. So sad though. They also knew him for 40 years and I remember many visits with "uncle".

Angela273, I wish I had words of wisdom for you. I have the opposite problem. We've been trying to get LO to nap in the daytime and she will not have any of it. I tried the tough love approach for the past three and a half days and it hasn't got any better. She screams and cries for a full hour before sleeping for about 10 minutes and this is twice a day. It's not worth it. Today she's screamed herself hoarse (though I didn't think she was that loud, but she likely has cried lately for longer than she has since she was a fussy newborn). I cannot take it anymore. She couldn't even cry tonight and the poor thing could only whimper. Tomorrow I may just hold her to sleep.

At night, we do her routine, nurse, change, then put her straight to bed. She gets a kiss from both of us and goes straight into the crib. Then one of us goes for a shower and she falls asleep to the sound of running water (sort of like in the womb). By the time the shower is finished, her room is quiet. She sleeps through until 8 AM, all night, almost every night. We've just started this method and it seems to be working, but I admit we've rarely had any problems with her night sleeps since I stopped waking her for feeds (around two months). Everyone kept telling me that she'd wake to feed instead of me waking her, but she never did.

My friend had the same issue as you, but instead of nursing with milk, she sent Dad in with water. When her baby discovered she wasn't getting milk, she stopped waking. You could also try the Sleep Sense method. There's a pdf of it online. Let me know if you can't find it and I'll look it up.

[Natalka]

Popping in to wish everyone a wonderful Thursday!

[Shwa Girl]

This challenge may work for March.
The guy in the video, Scooby, usually doesn't wear a shirt -- don't be afraid. He usually wears the hat too.
Think of how much is saved on not buying salty or sweet foods for 2 weeks. Hmm.

[jasperandchar]

A freeze on the increases would be great. I'm in Ontario too and I definately have to agree that the delivery fees are outrageous especially since they are almost as high as my usage.

I agree my usage last month was $45.00 but my total bill was $115.00 for 30 days, so the fees are totally unjust, so hoping that the fees get looked at but....

[jasperandchar]

This challenge may work for March.
The guy in the video, Scooby, usually doesn't wear a shirt -- don't be afraid. He usually wears the hat too.
Think of how much is saved on not buying salty or sweet foods for 2 weeks. Hmm.

thanks for sharing, but I'll I can say is SHOOT ME NOW it makes total sense pretty well have cut out junk/processed foods for myself and like I heard the other day on Doctor OZ (I don't like that show) but anyways they said the more sugar you eat the more you crave and guess what I have not had pop in over 3 weeks and I quite honestly don't miss it, the first week was hard but again I was only having a 1/4 cup if that.

[jasperandchar]

link for March voting thread for frugal chatter

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/379297-...voting-canada/

[LuvToUseCoupons]

Interesting bill I received today from the hydro company today...already checked my previous bills to make sure everything is correct and billing errors in my favor have made my bill for the month $.43.

Not a typo....a whooping .43 cents which means I have extra money this month to put towards another bill.

That's quiet the opposite of me....
I actually got 2 bills this month....
Luckily for me it's a duplicate because they are exactly the same.
Why they printed and send 2 I have no idea, I only plan one paying 1 anyway.
Awesome bill....must feel good, now you can use those $$ to do something else .