Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[tikay]

Glad you're sorted with the bank Tikay but I have one question - when you first informed the bank why did they not cancel your debit card until after the second call? Or did I get the wrong end of the stick?

I may have explained it badly, but yes, they did cancel the Card as soon as I rang them, there & then.

But....

They had my Account up, & we worked though all the duff transactions, & then the girl said that there were several more which had not yet hit the account. She said, the way the process worked, they would appear on the Account in due course, they cannot stop them appearing, but all of them would be refunded as & when they hit the account.

They have made two Fraud Refunds so far, in effect, all of the first batch.

More Wonga transactions have since appeared, but they were all dated BEFORE the thing was reported & the Card stopped, so all of them should be refunded in due course.

[tikay]

The O2 one was likely the tester. If your card has been cloned, they tend to try it out in case you've reported it stolen and cancelled it already or to see if not whether you would notice a small amount being taken out.

Similar thing happened to me a couple of years ago. Only difference is I don't have much, so I would know if somebody walked past my account from the slight breeze they'd leave behind, let alone actually withdrawing money from it.

Yes, that makes sense. That was the sole "non-Wonga" transaction.

I'm now wondering if Wonga have loaned me money in my name, via the fraudster, & I'm supposed to be paying it off. Guess I'll get a letter shortly.

Wonga have a collosal loophole where they allow people to borrow money, get it sent to an account and then change the loan details to another account.   They know about it, have caused a great deal of grief to innocent parties and have done F all about it.  They are quite simply a cancer on the financial services industry and should be shut down.  If you can be bothered, write to your MP detailng this incident.

I believe you, but can barely believe that. That is just terrible, it is asking for trouble, surely?

Not sure about writing to my MP (who he?), but I do think some sort of complaint to someone is right & proper.

Who pays for these things? Wonga? If so, presumably they will sort it themselves if it is costing them money.

I don't really want to get into a protracted wrangle with Wonga, or anyone else, I'm anti-aggro & life is too short, but it is a bit miffing.

[tikay]

The Desert Rain frog:



Yep. That is a frog.

Very few frogs ribbit. There's a story that the only reason frogs ribbit in the movies is because the types that do live near the Hollywood hills, so that was what was recorded when Walt Disney was looking for sounds.

Anyway...

Reasons why I love the internet #485:





Some millidonks people have far too much time on their hands.

If Gatters were here, he'd call bs on that.

According to our mutual friend, Wiki.....


The desert rain frog is endemic to a coastal strip of land about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) wide in Namibia and South Africa.

More wildlife stuff please. I spend more & more time watching all the stuff on Eden, some of it is jaw-dropping. I am currently working my way through "Life of Birds" for about the 6th time. I need to get out more.

For some reason, I am re-reading the Alan Clark Diaries again.

He was a raging hypochondriac, & worried every day of his life that he may have cancer. And guess what, he eventually got it, & he died the most horrible, slow, painful, undignified death imaginable.

Think I need to read less morbid stuff.....

[tikay]

Tikay
If you have several cards, especially if not using all of them, probs a good idea to get rid of some.
They could be targeted for fraudulent activity and may not know for quite a while if you just have them locked away somewhere.

Obs wont effect you as you tv types are minted like, but too many cards may effect your credit rating too

I got rid of most of them a good while ago, but they just arrive in the Post.

I seem to have a Visa Debit Card, & two MasterCards, one of which must have been the original Access card. Over the years, each of them have been used for Monthly Payments (Council Tax, TV Licence etc) & I just never got round to consolidating them.

I'm a bit like those footballers who don't know how to book a hotel, because someone has always done it all for them.

When I was working (proper working) I had a PA for over 30 years, she sorted it all. Then Maria took over, but I moved south, so it got awkward geographically, but a lady at work, "Mother Hen" then took over & sorted my stuff out, but she does not work here now. I saw her last week actually, we had lunch.

I'm the nut worst at organising that sort of stuff, paying bills. I have a briefcase full of unopened mail,. I just can't get my head round getting on top of bit all, so my affairs are a bit of a mess.

I was looking at Vegas Hotels & Flights last night. I have never once had to book them myself, & my eyes glazed over. Think I might need to pay a visit to Marky's Vegas thread.

I looked at booking a room at the Rio, & the average price per night was over $250. What? I'm sure I only paid about $70 per night weekdays & $120 at weekends in previous years. How come it has gone up so much?

I like & want to stay at The Rio, The Media Centre is so useful as a base, but that is too much, so I looked at prices in The Gold Coast, which is smack next door. Average Room Rate? $50 per night! I know the Rooms won't be 5 Star, but it can't be that bad can it? I only want to use it to sleep.

Been looking at the WSOP 8 or Better Tourneys too. 2 x $1,500, 1 x $3,000, & one by $5,000. Ooohhh.....Not sure I could afford the two big ones (unless I binked something early) but I'm seriously tempted to give them a go, I got the taste last year, the PLO8 Tourney was the best fun I can ever remember at the table.

[tikay]

Wow, what happened therer?

Proper rambling that.

As you were.

The Motorway awaits, & Radio 4.

[Tal]

Tikay in Vegas reveal.

If you're there the last two weeks of June, fancy a warm beverage?

[Chompy]

You 'do' lunch now? Excellent, you can buy me and Galloway steak and eggs at Desert Pines in the summer ta.

[Bad Beat]

 I always recommend the Gold Coast as the best place if you want to spend less than £100 a night. You can easily walk to the Amazon Room, (probably quicker than to walk to a room in The Rio), the rooms are clean and large, just not super-modern.

 The downsides are the pool is tiny. That probably doesn't bother you and it actually means that nobody goes there so you can be one of three people around it.

 The gymn is less well stocked than most places (maybe not a factor).

 The walls are quite thin and there are lots of families with kids about. This is the main thing. People are often running around the hallways screaming and laughing, their kids can be noisy too. I think you wake up at 5am so it probably wouldn't be an issue for you.

 I stayed there the whole summer the year Joe Hachem won, (first year at The Rio). Andy Black made the final. Myself, Andy and Berry Johnson were there throughout and we often would share the slow old lift down for the noon start.

 There was an accordion convention staying there. The whole place was full for a week with people practising on their instrument.

[Tal]

That accordion convention reminds me of a chess tournament held in Blackpool in March. I haven't been for a few years but it's at the Winter Gardens in the main hall - where the World Matchplay Darts is held, along with however many political party conferences and comedy nights over the years.

For years, the chess tournament was held at the venue the same weekend as the George Formby Society's annual shindig. So there were wall to wall ukuleles, banjoleles and whateverelseleles on the way in to the venue.

I came to the conclusion that, if a group of chess players think you're weird, you really do have problems.

[david3103]

An accordionist convention? What hell.
I'm sure someone must once have said that an optimist is one who busks with an accordion.
I know that a true gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't.

[Tal]

An accordionist convention? What hell.
I'm sure someone must once have said that an optimist is one who busks with an accordion.
I know that a true gentleman is someone who can play the accordion, but doesn't.

There's a chap who tends to busk in the centre of Birmingham with an accordion. He also sometimes duets with the gentleman I have dubbed Violin Lambada Man for reasons which ought fairly be apparent.

[doubleup]

Glad you're sorted with the bank Tikay but I have one question - when you first informed the bank why did they not cancel your debit card until after the second call? Or did I get the wrong end of the stick?

I may have explained it badly, but yes, they did cancel the Card as soon as I rang them, there & then.

But....

They had my Account up, & we worked though all the duff transactions, & then the girl said that there were several more which had not yet hit the account. She said, the way the process worked, they would appear on the Account in due course, they cannot stop them appearing, but all of them would be refunded as & when they hit the account.

They have made two Fraud Refunds so far, in effect, all of the first batch.

More Wonga transactions have since appeared, but they were all dated BEFORE the thing was reported & the Card stopped, so all of them should be refunded in due course.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/sep/14/wonga-defends-loans-process-fraudulent-repayments

A spokesman for HSBC said: "We have seen an increase in this type of fraud from Wonga, which we think is largely because they allow customers to receive their loan into a different account to the one they have designated to collect repayments from.

[Doobs]

I think two of those Omaha 8 or better tournaments are limit, which doesn't strike me as that much fun, and ignoring them means our outlay is reduced to $4.5k.  

I could afford to take 25% of both and am out for the $3k one so can settle then.  Thinly disguised, I know.

Next week at the vic on the 12th, there is a £500, one rebuy or add on plo8 on the 12th March.  I need to speak to the missus, but think that has my name on it.  I assume is one day bish bash bosh plo8.  That may put you off, but I can't do a 2 dater anyway.  

Not sure why the Rio was so much.  Was less than $100 a night average the week I looked.

[Marky147]

21st-24th will be expensive due to the EDC being in town and from then on rates revert to normal. Even the Golden nugget is over $400 for those 3 nights...

You can get one of the refurbished rooms for a small amount extra Tikay, they are much nicer looking than the other rooms that my friends stayed in a few years ago.

They also have what is supposedly one of the better chinese/dim sum restaurants in Vegas too 'Ping Pang Pong'. I haven't been myself, but people that I know who have eaten there had good things to say.

[scotty77]

I too have been looking thru Vegas stuff.  Unsure of how long I'm gonna be going for....would love to do a month again but can't justify it without a bink really, and also if I am to go for a month it would have to be at a house as that long in a Vegas hotel would drive me insane.

While I was looking thru some pics from last year, I found this.  Think this was when you can 4th at a Wynn PLO8 event?

Click to see full-size image.