> If I were in your shoes, I would probably report the card lost right now,
> and ask for a new one. Of course all charges to the old card must be
> stopped, and you will inform your various merchants about your new card
> details. Then you contact the ones you want to keep paying, and give them
> your new info.
>

Yes, that's one solution, but now I want to see first what's happening with
the US based company, and what how to get things sorted out with the
Japanese ones.


> Speaking of shit-poor service, I tried to sign up for Internet banking
> yesterday. My first warning bells went off when the instructions said an
> Internet application would take 10 to 14 days, and a phone application
would
> take about a week. My US-based account took about 5 minutes, all done
> online.

Don't tell me...
My wife did it for one month and saved nothing (neither time nor money).
First it didn't work, then it became too complicated for her, and finally
she had to go to the bank anyway to mend several things which went wrong.
Now she is back to pencil and paper, and is happy again.


> Then when I called the number, I chose the wrong option by mistake -- [2]
> Internet Banking instead of [1] UFJ Direct. It turns out the [2] Internet
> Banking option is only for giving instructions on how to use Internet
> banking service. So the extremely helpful guy at [2] tells me to please
call
> again and select [1] this time, since a different department is tantou of
> applications. Hello??? Ever heard of transferring calls?


Yes, Visa does exactly the same. Everything goes smooth until the last
connection is dialed. Depending how many people call the Visa operator at
the same time, it can take 20 calls to get through. Complaint sections are
usually one-(wo)man operations...


Sigi