When You Can’t Help

I feel awful.

Not because of something that I have done but something that I am unable to do.

Early last week one of our regular customers came in a purchased an Amazon gift card.

By the time that she got home the money was gone from the card.

Someone had accessed her account and stolen the money.

I even know the name of the individual who accessed the account but that was all the info that Amazon would provide me with.

Allow me to back up given that several of you have your eyebrows raised.

Possibly wondering when I received my PI license and why I never shared such awesome info.

And still not tripping over dead bodies but that problem has previously been addressed.

I would think as a PI though I would have more opportunity to be stumbling over said dead bodies.

I digress though.

Remember last week the conversation on the phone where I thought the guy asked how I liked my name?

Well he was calling because he works at a deaf call center.

Yes that is right my customer is deaf.

I do not know sign language.

Via phone we determined that the customer needed to come in.

So in she came.

At first my supervisor was trying to figure it out and could not.

Eventually she paged me and off I went.

We checked everything.

Receipt.

Back of card.

Everything balanced.

Decide that we need to try and contact Amazon.

I googled Amazon Canada and found their customer service number.

My experience here is both good and not so great.

The Customer Service Rep I was dealing with at first had difficulty understanding why I was calling and not my customer.

After explaining about three times that my customer was hearing impaired and could not call herself it finally made sense and we were off and running.

Before providing me with any info I had to go back down to my customer and get some info from her.

Mailing address.

Account #

Phone #.

With all that information provided the CS Rep (I feel awful that I never got her name) was able to investigate at her end.

My customer had loaded the funds into her account and they were immediately spend by an individual that is named Evan.

My customer knows no one by that name.

She has given no one authorization to access her account.

After much discussion the Amazon Rep told me that I should get in touch with Blackhawk.

They are the distributor of our gift cards.

I helped my customer fill out the info and sent off the report hopeful that this would help.

Alas it did not.

Because the funds were loaded to the gift card there was no issue on their end.

Option is to go back to Amazon.

Yesterday she messaged me to let me know that her account had again been accessed and all funds stolen.

As of now I can only tell her to call the RCMP and ask for their assistance.

I am very hopeful that the RCMP are going to be able to help her.

I am very hopeful that Amazon Canada will do the right thing and replace the funds into her account.

Help her to lock her account so that no one else can hack it.

That Amazon CA and the RCMP will work together to find and arrest this individual.

This is my deepest hope and wish.

I am a little more realistic but fingers crossed that the universe will take whatever it needs from my ‘make it right’ basket and fill it to overflowing in my customer’s.

That somehow she is going to get her money back in her Amazon account and the dirt bag asshole who has perpetrated this fraud is found arrested and convicted.

This is my hope.

This is my wish that I am flinging out into the universe hoping someone will hear.

©March 31/21

Picture is my own