I'm grateful for this Inconvenient Perk

     Well, we all know about my love affair with Hobby Lobby. The first dollar I ever make doing somethig productive will go to buying Hobby Lobby Stock!  So, when we moved back to Tupelo, Jim let me get a Hobby Lobby Credit card! WooHoo....For every dollar you spend you get points towards Hobby gift cards. I really like free money, don't you! We aren't into using credit cards or finance charges so if I use this card, I pay it off immediately. I especially use it when I have a huge purchase so I can rack up those points=$$....

     By now you have read my previous post about my shopping escapade sans kids yesterday. {If not, you can read it here} With Jim's permission, I put all my gifts on my card and when I got home, I logged into my account online to pay, with my debit card, what had been posted....we are obsessed with 0 balances too. I paid what was there.

     On to my next purchase...a new phone....Hallelujah!!!! If you have been in a conversation on my phone with me lately, our call was probably interrupted by a very loud buzz, followed by a dropped call. It's no wonder, with the life my Blackberry has lived....it deserves a rest, and very very soon. I would  have called for help down between those aisles in Belk yesterday, but I couldn't have called anyone...my phone was dead! I know, lovely! When my window mysteriously shattered into my lap a few weeks ago, you guessed it, my phone died when I called for help. So I have been scouring the AT&T website for the right phone. I would love love love another Blackberry, but Jim wants me to get an IPhone....he won! Since Tupelo announced it's upcoming upgrade to 3G, it has been more of a reality that everyone has noticed because the IPhones I want have been sold out. But yesterday...during naptime, I found one!!!! Yay!!! Long story short, I ordered it..YAY.....I can freely talk, again...soon!
     In an insomniatic moment early this morning I saw I received an email from AT&T..we can't finish your order until you call us. After 45 minutes...no I'm not exaggerating....of holding for a rep, they tell me my Hobby Lobby Card was declined!  Errrr....back up.... There's no way, check those numbers again, run it again....No way, I have never ever ever reached it's limit and I know I didn't yesterday. Yep, declined a second time. How embarrassing. I just used my debit card, thinking about all those Hobby Lobby points I was losing....
    A quick call to the issuing bank of my beloved Hobby Lobby card made me love it even more! Because I never use my card, and there were so many purchases {I didn't really think it was that many, but when the rep read them all back to me, I thought...mabye someone did steal my card!} made yesterday, they had put a hold on all purchases with my card...therefore, it was declined. I wanted to scream at first, how inconvenient, but then I realized, how convenient and how thoughtful!!! I've lost my debit cards a many a time and gone immediately to my online account to check transactions, so to have someone do this for me, almost brought a tear to my eye {remember, I'm pregnant, I cry over road kill}  They thought someone had stolen my card! After confirming that I did in fact make the purchases listed, my Hobby Lobby Card was...revived. All is well in the world! But really, how nice. I know it has nothing to do with Hobby Lobby, and everything to do with the issuing bank and Visa, but still, they were looking after me.