A really bad day! Police informed me I have been defrauded.

[Plantaholic]

I do hope they get the scumbags soon.

[Qwerty]

Hoping you have got over the shock a little Elisi xx

[Elisi]

Well, bless you all Anyone on FB can see the update. Stalemate with the bank until 11th September when the "Merchant" (thief by any other name) has been given 45 days to respond. Bank very unhelpful, lots of calls and lots of money on an 03 number grrrrrrr.

I couldn't understand the accent really. Merchant came out as meerkat...meerchy, messrysky, LOL...... so nothing will be resolved until we are in Sicily on the 11th September ????????????? What am I supposed to do about it over there????

Apparently he has a gambling habit and stole from his parents, and loads of customers etc. DD has friends in the area who know all about him and she is helpful, meanwhile I got a message of apology from the pub landlord himself. Not that this helps me much!

I would not allow the bank employee I spoke to this morning to ring off until I had a proper answer. She kept sighing so I asked her how she thinks she would feel if this had happened to her? And that I knew the call was being recorded. She said "don't shout" and I said "I have not raised my voice and my husband is here listening to me and will confirm this".

So they are putting something into action which holds the £3000 in abeyance on my account for me until this is resolved, or at least this is what I understand. Now I have to pay about £220 ...£97 of which in Interest to Lloyds foor the genuine money I spent on this credit card which is paid back monthly.

So I asked, hang on, why should I be paying Interest on a card which is due to a situation of which I am not at fault !!! She sighed again and said the bank would 'lift these charges once the matter was resolved.

Tomorrow I have to go online banking and see what she has been able to do as it wont show up until then. I'm over the shock but, well you can imagine!

The GOOD news is I was OK to drive the 20 miles to the hospital today for OH for a hearing test, and they have replaced his old hearing aids with brand new ones, which is WONDERFUL!

The BAD news is that the lowlife next door held another party last night which went on until 1 am and the noise was dreadful plus football was involved, bang bang bang.

I think I just have to rise above all this and carry on like the rest of us do. Love to all XXXXX

[ZIZI]

Elisi it is so frustrating isn't it? I remember having trouble with my broadband supplier having had no service for three weeks and I could not understand a word that was said, I had people from India, South Africa, Philippines. In the end I wrote a letter to the British head office and that got a response.

I hope open your situation is resolved soon x

[Daisy]

Elisi - what a nightmare. I hope the bank does what it says it will do. The person sighing on the phone needs to get a new job! She's there to deal with problems, and if a caller can't understand her accent then she has a problem of her own! When you calculate exactly how much this fraud has cost you, include the cost of those expensive calls as well.

Well done on driving to the hospital, and good news that OH has new hearing aids in time for your holiday. Keep focussed on that holiday, hun. xxx

[Gemini]

Hope you're doing OK Elisi!