And Throw Away The Life I Lead

Sweet Jesus, I would like to know why the past week and a half has been bad. Not all of it has been terrible. Yesterday my daughter arrived and she and I took my mom to lunch for her birthday. It was a great day and a welcome distraction after a day of emotional turmoil, preceded by a day of emotional turmoil, preceded by a weekend of financial turmoil. I mean, really? It's like someone has a little voodoo doll of me stashed away somewhere and they just got in a new shipment of pins to stab me with. Last week I wrote of the debacle with my bank account that left me with $3 to travel on. Then, came the wedding that wasn't (more on that next post) and the falling out with my cousin that led me to cut him out of my life. The next pin (or horseman, depending on how you look at it) was a truly awful day where I accidentally destroyed all of my writing from the past three years, got a freak bloody nose that leaked all over a new shirt, got water all over myself and the bathroom floor while washing that same shirt and then woke up the next day with another bloody nose that caused me to pass out. Yesterday brought a reprieve. I woke up to find that my cash, which had been unavailable to me while I await (and await, and await still) a new card, was transferred to another account much sooner than I'd expected. That allowed me to be able to treat my mom to a belated birthday meal. But the reprieve was short lived, today was not great. It wasn't nearly as terrible as a few days ago, and for that I am VERY thankful, but it still pissed me off. And it all goes back to what began my string of bad luck - the financial issue.
To recap, a company I'd never heard of put a hold on my card in an insanely high amount, which also happened to be just about all of the money I have to my long ass name. I called the bank, called the company, cancelled my card and waited for the transaction to complete. The bank's hands were tied until the charge went through, my hands were tied until they issued me a provisional credit while they investigated things. I called the company but was only able to get their messaging service. I left my info but no one ever called me back. Four or five days later, the authorization fell off and I turned my attention to making sure these people cancelled whatever they were trying to charge me for. I received an email confirming cancellation and also discussed it with a rep. Since the card used was cancelled, I assumed that would be the end of the matter and was glad it had been resolved. But no. Things can't ever be that simple, can they? Earlier today I set up a transfer to another account and was confused this evening when I received a message saying it had been cancelled due to insufficient funds. I logged into my account and discovered that the same company from last week had taken me for almost all I was worth again. This time the transaction was completed so I called immediately to dispute it (I was so livid, I was using three phones to wait in the queue and curiously the one that should have been answered last was picked up first). Fortunately, I got a real person instead of a recording like last time and, after being passed around more than I was in my manwhore days, I was able to get a full explanation of how this shady company was able to charge a cancelled card. Turns out that once they got the authorization, that money was essentially theirs whenever they decided to claim it. It didn't matter that the card was no longer active, they were authorized to take that money. So they took it. Again.
I hate disputes of any kind, but monetary disputes are the worst. Fortunately, the bank is handling this well so far. They've already credited the money back to my account and as soon as I get my new card, I'm getting it the heck out of there. The service rep I spoke to said that what typically happens in these cases is the company will fold when confronted with allegations of fraud and that will be the end of the matter. I hope that's what happens and that this thing finally dies. These people are like the villain in a horror movie, there's ALWAYS another act to play out. Even if they try to dispute it, they're idiots since I have proof they received my request to cancel the account. I even emailed one of their reps tonight and he confirmed it was cancelled last week. They had no right or authorization to charge me again. Per MasterCard's rules on unauthorized charges, I have to call the company tomorrow and give them the chance to issue a refund before I can officially file a dispute. I'm going to call in the morning and, with any luck (which is a crapshoot of late), I'll actually talk to someone who works for the company and not just the after hours secretary. I just want all of this sorted out for good. And a little good luck making an appearance would be VERY welcomed.