Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Frustrations

Grahh. It seems the entire world conspires against me at times. Today I went and after wandering a good portion of the city found a travel agent and got a ticket from Tokyo to Toronto really cheap. It costs more to pay directly onto credit card, so I told them I'd come back with cash. I need money from my visa to get through the next couple weeks anyway, so I went to an international ATM to take money out on it. At this point I am told by the machine that "Your card issuer has declined your transaction." I asked the people at the bank if they could call the number provided with the message and try to straighten it out, but they wouldn't do anything. I'm guessing it's flagged as suspicious because it's a withdrawl in a different country than Canada, but I called just before I left and told them I was moving so things like this wouldn't happen! My original plan was to leave for Kyoto tomorrow, but now it's looking like that might be impossible. Now that I have a date booked for my plane home, I don't want to waste that time dealing with all this mess when I could be seeing more of Japan. What a hassle. I can't call the Visa people for a few hours because they're closed right now (2:30am in Canada), and by the time I *can* get through to them, the bank and travel agent will be closed. Hopefully things come together tomorrow and I can get an overnight bus out. Still need to figure out what to do with my luggage (I called the embassy in Tokyo, and they were pretty much clueless, and just redirected me to someone's voicemail).

4 comments:

Dyne1319 said...

wow that sux let me know if u need a ride from the airport or whatever i'll be headding up to O.S sometime this weekend.

Anonymous said...

Hi Richard,
Bank machines usually have a daily limit for withdrawls...That could be the problem,,,You might do better at an actual bank that deals with VISA...I'm not sure...When are you planning to come home...I know that Josh has offered to bring you to Owen Sound but if it's during the week I can come for you.
Don

iphynx said...

Probably not coming home for a few weeks yet. My flight right now is for November 14, but I might extend that if it takes a few days to resolve the issues I'm having.

Anonymous said...

Dad's right about the limit. I can't remember what I read about the withdrawal limit in Japan but there was one. Apparently, one of the best places for international ATM's in Japan is at the post offices. Check out sections 1, 5, and 7 at the following link: http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/report-en.asp?country=140000
Good luck!