Make sure you read part one first, this happened the Monday after that.

Monday 22nd November 2021

I wanted this day to be “bright” but the rain had other plans, so the atmosphere was cold and gloomy instead,  probably emulating my mood. The last time I woke so early was probably Elections Day or when I had to visit the Embassy. It was approximately  7:43am when I arrived, if yuh seeee peopllleeeee!!! I slowly made my way to the guard (the same one that chose her food over me), she gave me a number – D29. There were three lines available; the general line, one for appointments and another line (probably for seniors & healthcare workers). I didn’t care which was the appropriate line for me, I joined the shortest one.

7:55am – To enter the blue bank, you needed the infamous blue book of course. The guards started to check IDs and books, ensuring the name on the ID card matched the name on the cover of the book, they didn’t care if I had 0 shots or 25 shots, once my name was on the cover, they good. She called me Joy, how you gon look at me and think I name Joy???

8:00am – Bank open! Nice time! After my number was called, I walked in and ‘hell’ was extra cold due to the drizzles on the outside, but do you know what brightened my mood a bit?? The second I got a whiff of that ambrosial scent, I felt rich, stink ah money, although my account was in the negative.

I’m definitely going to miss that scent.

….I pulled yet another number and the waiting game began…

Like me, the wait was reasonably short. I probably met with one of the two most pleasant staff who is employed by the bank (I have the other on WhatsApp). I explained my situation to him and in his mind he was probably like “another one”.  He then handed me a printout out of the recent transactions linked to my account and there they were. The list had withdrawals at Vreed-en-Hoop and South….  “it wasn’t me!” (in Shaggy’s voice).  I highlighted the fraudulent withdrawals, signed a few places, ticked some boxes saying that I had my card in my possession during that time blah, blah blah.

At that point, I was told I needed a new Visa Card (yay me!) and 9:05am I was sent to another chair to get the new impenetrable (not really) card. They told me they would have to investigate, run the cameras and I should check back within a week. I inquired about the reason the previous card was compromised and they told me they had some recent incidents with card skimmers etc. We’re a third world country with first world problems. I also got my online account renewed so I can now lock/unlock my card while awaiting this refund.

As I was leaving at 9:16, guess who called me?……The same blue bank. They called to inform me on how to deal with the incident based on an email I sent the previous Friday. I informed them that I was already there, but thanks for the almost prompt response.

Wednesday 24th November 2021

Nine, Five and Two.

Nine days after my money was withdrawn by someone else. Five days after I realized my money was missing. Two days after I visited the bank to report the fraudulent act, my money was refunded. On Wednesday evening, I logged into my bank account and things were looking very irie, back to normal, the correct amount was there. The bank indeed told me their investigation would take a few days, but give them a week just to be safe. To be honest I was very skeptical, a few people that had similar experiences told me it took months for them to be refunded, others just gave up.

Next step. Closure.

Closure for me, closure for the awesome people who read my blogs, but most importantly, closure of my Bank Account.