Define: Courage

I have been trying to begin this story for about five minutes, and I just can't think of a good way to do it. So I'm going to just jump right in.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store with my cousin. We went through the self-scan line, I paid with a $20 bill, and we left. On the way back home, we stopped at the bank, and I pulled out the money that was left. There were three $1 bills. Which I thought was really weird, because the last time I had looked at the total, it was $11 something, and only one or two things had been scanned after that. I added up the items, and sure enough, it was off. Then the last item caught my eye. A six-pack of Sprite. Which was not purchased. Alexis had scanned one bottle of Sprite, and we'd been charged for five more.

This is why I am telling you this story: I would never, ever, ever, in a million years think of going back and getting it fixed. I am terrified of confrontation/disputes/people I don't know/etc. And if I was forced into it, I would never, never, never ever go alone.
But yesterday, I did both of those things.

It may seem silly, but I was so proud of myself. I didn't even freak out and start hyperventilating or anything. I guess I just decided that paying $4.85 for one bottle of Sprite was not okay, and I took care of it. It was glorious.




On a different note, I had a dream last night that Target had called to tell me I was working from 7 to 10. About an hour into working, I remembered that they didn't hire me. Unfortunately, I woke up before I had the chance to go ask them what was going on.

Define: Moving forward

Well, I didn't get the job at Target. Which, honestly, was a huge blow to my self-esteem. I mean, I like Target, I think it's a fairly nice store, but it's not THAT great. And they didn't want my help during their busiest time of the year? I know that I don't have any retail experience, but how hard would it be to train me? It made me feel pretty bad. I know that the interview wasn't spectacular, but I didn't think it was bad, either.

So I'm still looking for a job. Bath and Body Works is hiring seasonally, so that's my next stop, then Kohl's, then whatever I find next. It's nice to have more than one option. Both of those stores have locations in Jackson and Ann Arbor, so I'll probably apply to both. I am definitely not opposed to having more than one job. But I'm afraid that I'll end up with one in Jackson and one in Ann Arbor, and that's no good. I think I lean a little bit more towards wanting to work in Jackson, since that's closer to Spring Arbor, but I probably have more options in Ann Arbor. I told my dad last night that I could probably get my old job at Aggie's back really easily, but I am not that desperate. I hope I will not be that desperate. Ever.

I finally called to make an appointment to finish up my registration for beauty school. I think I've been putting it off because I know that once I sign up, I won't have the option to work at camp this summer, and I don't want to give that up. I know that I can't work there forever, but part of me still wants to.

No word from Higher One yet. I may ask for an update on how things are going. As soon as this is resolved, I'm closing my account there. This whole thing has been ridiculous.


It's time to fill out more applications.

Define: Real E-mail

Higher One wrote me a real e-mail. Surprise! It still had an automated feel to it, but the first sentence sounded very not automated. When I read it in my head, it could have even been a little annoyed. But probably not. But if they are, it's totally okay with me. Because I am very annoyed with them.

After my last response, I got an e-mail that began with:

"Thank you for submitting the requested information regarding your dispute. We apologize that we were unable to further investigate your case upon receiving the police report that you faxed. MasterCard required that we submit a new cardholder letter addressing the re-presentment documents in order for us to have any charge back rights on your behalf."

The rest of it was one I'd already gotten, saying I would get provisional credit, they'd look into it, blah blah. I wrote back, to bother them into looking at the stuff see whether this was actually going to happen, or if it was just another automated e-mail. I told them I didn't care about the provisional credit, I cared about them investigating. I received this lovely e-mail back.

"Dear Jodi,

In response to your email sent 09/14/2009, yes your case is going to be investigated further. When we received re-presentment documents relating to this case back from the merchant, MasterCard requires the cardholder, in this case you, to review these documents and supply us with a letter or email addressing the documents in order for us to continue to pursue the case further with the merchant. On 09/14/09 you supplied us with an email addressing these documents, a copy of that email was forwarded to MasterCard in order to continue the chargeback process. You were provided with provisional credit for the disputed transactions.

To clarify where you stand with the disputed transactions as of right now. You were given provisional credit, and the re-presentment documents along with your email addressing the documents are now in the process of being presented to the merchant.

Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Thank you,
Higher One
Customer Service"


So what I'm getting from this is, if I hadn't bothered them about the police report, they wouldn't have told me that they needed another e-mail from me in order to keep going (and actually they didn't until after they already had it and I kept bothering them. Would have been nice to know I was writing something official instead of just whining). How very nice of them to not want to burden me with writing an e-mail saying "Um, this is wrong."
So thoughtful Higher One, so thoughtful.


And note the sentence fragment at the beginning of the second paragraph. Maybe they should keep my money and hire someone to read the e-mails they send out before they send them.

Define: So beyond angry

Response (William)

Dear Jodi,

Thank you for contacting Customer Service. We have been working to win your dispute case and have received documentation (known as re-presentment documents) from the merchant involved in the transaction. Unfortunately the information that they supplied substantiates their assertion that the charge was valid. Please review these documents to verify your personal information contained with the merchant's re-presentment.

We have sent you copies of the documents. To access them, please log on to your OneAccount and click on the EasyHelp icon at the bottom right of the page. From there, click on the Support History tab at the top of the page and then on reference number 090821-000375. Your copies will be in the File Attachments section at the bottom of the incident.

Based on the information supplied by the merchant as well as the other available facts, we must deny your dispute. We had initially supplied a provisional credit for the transaction pending the full investigation. At this time, we have debited your OneAccount for the amount that was originally credited and consider the claim a closed item.

We regret that this was the outcome of you case. Should you have any questions, please contact Customer Service by using the phone number on the back of your card.

Thank you.

Higher One
Customer Service

Note: Higher One will honor any pre-authorized transfers from your account as well as checks, drafts (or similar instruments) for five business days beyond DATE PROV. CR REVOKED without charging overdraft fees. During this five day period, we will honor those items we would have paid if the provisional credit had not been revoked (debited).



Customer (Jodi Eads)

I would like to continue disputing this charge, I will be faxing in a police report on Monday.

Jodi Eads



Response (William)

Dear Jodi Eads,

Thank you for contacting Customer Service. We have received the police report you have supplied to us. We have been working to win your dispute case and have received documentation (known as re-presentment documents) from the merchant involved in the transaction. Unfortunately the information that they supplied substantiates their assertion that the charge was valid.

We have sent you copies of the documents. To access them, please log on to your OneAccount and click on the EasyHelp icon at the bottom right of the page. From there, click on the Support History tab at the top of the page and then on reference number 090821-000375. Your copies will be in the File Attachments section at the bottom of the incident.

Based on the information supplied by the merchant as well as the other available facts, we must deny your dispute. We had initially supplied a provisional credit for the transaction pending the full investigation. At this time, we have debited your OneAccount for the amount that was originally credited and consider the claim a closed item.

We regret that this was the outcome of you case. Should you have any questions, please contact Customer Service by using the phone number on the back of your card.

Thank you.

Higher One
Customer Service

Note: Higher One will honor any pre-authorized transfers from your account as well as checks, drafts (or similar instruments) for five business days beyond DATE PROV. CR REVOKED without charging overdraft fees. During this five day period, we will honor those items we would have paid if the provisional credit had not been revoked (debited).



Customer (Jodi Eads)

I am extremely frustrated with the way that this case is being handled. The documents attached from the merchant do not in any way substantiate their assertion that the charge was valid. The documents have my name and card number, which they were obviously going to have. The phone numbers and e-mails are not mine, and I have never heard of the shipping company. I don't even know what they bought. Other than "We have received the police report you have supplied to us," I just received the word for word same e-mail as the first time, which is no longer relevant to my case. There are no new documents attached, so I can only assume there is no new information. There was no reason to deny my claim in the first place, so why it is still denied is beyond me and absolutely ridiculous. You have obviously NOT been working to win my dispute case, because I did not spend this money. Maybe $177.41 isn't a lot to you all, but it is to me. If I'm not going to be getting this money back, I want to know why, because so far there is no information that substantiates the merchant's claim.

You also have a typo in your "sorry" e-mail. "We regret that this was the outcome of youR case."

Define: Unbelievable

Remember that $117 purchase at a Korean website on my debit card?

My dispute was denied.


I couldn't believe it.

"Thank you for contacting Customer Service. We have been working to win your dispute case and have received documentation (known as re-presentment documents) from the merchant involved in the transaction. Unfortunately the information that they supplied substantiates their assertion that the charge was valid...
...Based on the information supplied by the merchant as well as the other available facts, we must deny your dispute. We had initially supplied a provisional credit for the transaction pending the full investigation. At this time, we have debited your OneAccount for the amount that was originally credited and consider the claim a closed item."

I want to know what the other "available facts" were. Because the fact is, I didn't do it. I was at camp (family camp, actually) and I don't speak Korean.

Oh, it also said, "We regret that this was the outcome of you case." At least make sure that the crushing e-mail is typo free, geez.


My first reaction was to cry (as it usually is). I couldn't believe it had been denied. All that the documents have on them is my card number and my name. It's not my e-mail, it's not my phone number, and it's a company that try as I might, I have not been able to find to be in existence. What about that substantiates the assertion that the charge was valid? It was obviously going to have my name and card number on it, duh. But that's all there is. There is absolutely NOTHING there "proving" that it was me. And it wasn't me.

My aunt walked by while I was still crying looking through the information, and dialed the number for customer service and handed me the phone. She told me that they probably bank (pardon the pun) on college kids getting their claims denied, crying and giving up. Which, honestly, I probably would have done if she hadn't been here. She works at the Washtenaw County Police Department, and said we could file a police report for stolen identity or something and send it in.

The customer service lady I talked to was really nice (not super helpful, but nice). There wasn't much I could do right then, since the report hadn't actually been filed, and she said I needed to fax it in. I ended up tweeting about it, and thank goodness for Melanie and Kevin. My debit card was issued through Spring Arbor, and Kevin's dad does work with that. I called him, and he was able to connect me with someone a little higher up, who said he would look into it. He couldn't understand why the claim had been denied either. He's supposed to be giving me a call Monday or Tuesday. He did say that he wasn't promising to get the money back - it could be that once a dispute is denied, it's denied and there's nothing you can do, which is really really discouraging. If I can't get the money back, I at least want to know why it was denied. There's no evidence. And also, I didn't do it.

Jamin's mom also offered to help - she works at an attorney's office, and she said that if she wrote up a letter, her boss would probably be able to sign it for her. Maybe if they see that there's a possibility of legal action, they'll change their minds.


It's just been a really frustrating process. And it's sort of upsetting to lose that much money.
We'll see where it goes. :/

Define: Triumphant Return

It's been a while. Okay, it's been over a month. Whoops.

Camp has been amazing this year. There have been days when it's been really tough, but the overall experience has been fantastic.
This last week started out in a rough sort of way, but by the end I was sad that they were leaving (even the kids in my beach bums class).
I had two girls in my cabin and in my class, and for the first few days, I just didn't know how to handle them. They were picking on each other, saying bad words, and picking on other campers. They even got me. Two examples:
I took a shower and blow dried my hair in the bathroom. Now, my hair is...well, it wasn't exactly...perfect, at the time. But it wasn't that bad. Anyway, I walked out of the bathroom and one of the girls said, "Wow, your hair looks really bad." Great, thanks.
Most of my girls this week were totally boy crazy, and I was trying to dissuade them from giggling and flirting and talking about boys all week. At one point I said, "I didn't have a boyfriend until I was 20." To which my camper replied, "Wow, that's really embarassing." ...thanks, again.
So I had these two girls every day, all day. On Wednesday night, something happened, and one of them suddenly loved me. She held my hand all the way to the petting farm and all the way back, wanted me to french braid her hair, wanted to sit by me, the whole deal. It made things so much better. Not to say the problems went away, but they were soo much better. On the way over to the petting farm, one of the other campers wanted to braid my hair, so I took my hairtie out. It had gotten wet, so it was out of control a little messed up. The girl who told me my hair looked bad before said, "Um, your hair is really weird." And the girl who now loved me said, "No it's not, it's not that bad."
My heart pretty much exploded. :)

There was another camper in beach bums (not in my cabin) who was a little tough to handle sometimes (David). He wasn't blatantly being disrespectful, but we were constantly reminding him of boundaries (and as soon as we said something he usually complied). On the last day, we took the pontoon out into the middle of the lake to jump off. One of the other campers had a few special needs, and was pretty hesitant about getting in the water. I kept explaining that the life jacket would make him float, and we watched other campers jump in and pop right back up. He was still a little scared, but David started encouraging him to get in. When he finally did, David was there to keep encouraging him and hold his hand when he was afraid to let go of the boat. It was so amazing to watch, and David was a total sweetheart that day.

I also learned how to french braid this week, and I felt super awesome. I meant to take a picture of the hair of one of my campers. I started to give her french braided pigtails, but when I got to the back of her head, instead of keeping them separate, I combined the braids into one big one. I may have been a little partial, but I think it looked pretty sweet. Especially for only having two days of french braiding experience.

A couple weeks ago I discovered that a $177 purchase had been charged to my Spring Arbor Higher One account. I was pretty sure that I'd remember making a purchase that large, and was really concerned as to how that had happened. When the details of the transaction posted, I discovered that the transaction took place via a Korean website. Not me, and definitely not okay. I called Higher One and explained, and the woman told me I had to wait until the transaction cleared (apparently it was still pending). The next day, I got online to see if it had cleared, and another unauthorized transaction had taken place. I called and cancelled my card, and started the dispute process (making sure to explain that it could not possibly have been me because I don't know a word of Korean). The second charge has disappeared, and I just got an e-mail from Higher One that (I think) says that I'll probably be getting my money back. Which is a relief. $177 is a lot of money for me at this point. Well, probably at any point in my life, really. I'm just glad it's getting resolved.

I'm sure there have been a ton of other things that happened during the last month that I was going to write about, but at the moment, none come to mind, and I need to put my laundry in the dryer.

Oh another thing:
My campers keep using my towel. I think I already brought this up. But it happened again.
This week I did not leave my towel in the bathroom when I wasn't using it. Problem solved. :)