It does happen for a fact.

I think the logic is since credit cards are insured and are covered if theft happens, as a credit card holder I dont really care if it is stolen because I am covered…..Credit card fraud hits the banks and their insurance companies….and of course they get it back from the customer in the form of higher interest but it is indirect.

So banks sometimes don’t mind incoveniencing you as long as it serves their interest…less fraud means more money in their pocket at the expense of customer inconvenience and embarrassment.

We all like to think our banks have our best interest but nothing can be further from the truth.

Banks usually let you purchase stuff and later call you to verify it was actually you.If it was not you they put a freeze on further purchase but declining based on assumstion simply does not add up .did not mean to be technical .

Gola, I think I specially feel guilty b/c I’m Ethiopian and because my parents always used to say, ‘Inante qebeToch. yeEthiopia hizb yirabal, inante be tiCHawetalachihu.’ But mind you, to live up to that statement, my parents never went to restaurants, drove the same car for 40 yrs, never took a vacation, don’t drink, never seen them leaving ‘tirafee’ food on their plates (not even at a gibja or wedding), etc. It’s pretty goddamn hard to live a life like that unless one’s a menekuse … or my parents.

On a different perspective, I’ve a friend who says she likes spending a lot of money while shopping b/c she views it as paying for the emptiness of the expensive stores, for assistant(s) who’ll dot on her. She says she doesn’t care for the attention as such, but she likes that she can do something in 2 hrs instead of spending a whole weekend at a regular mall wading through crowded shops and disorganized merchandise. Corporate America owns her during the week, she buys back her time on the weekends. I can’t fault that line of thought, but I also can’t subscribe to it as she earns something like 10 times my salary

Yared, I like the song. I’m not sure I get the ‘lesson’ you intended. Maybe because of my disturbing state of mind

Tsedey, what Nolawi said. I can spend other amounts on my card. I can think plane tickets for multiple pple (my friends pay me back!) but I just don’t do regular cloths/accessories shopping, let alone at expensive stores. My guess is what triggered the freeze was the kind of store I went to, plus the incremental, successive attempt to purchase stuff … like a thief trying to figure out the credit limit. Who knows …

Spending 300 on a purse..I wander, does anyone feel uncomfortable when you do something luxurious? I was once sitting at a hotel lobby of a hotel taking a break from an Abesha party I was at when I heard this people walking by comment at the irony. I get asked where I am form and I am always happy to tell but….I always wander if they are judging me luxury.

lol i am teasing!

Just to be clear, the reason why I inserted the last line about it being a deposit is because I didnt want to sound like I am bragging….:)….But u got that right I am not rich but happier than most rich ppl….:)

The call was from the bank trying to confirm if it is actually me trying to spend $5,000. I was not even buying but making a security deposit for a sound equipment I was renting.