The difference between Canada and the U.S. (Part 1) April 29, 2008
It’s been over a year and a half since my return to the Great White North. Time enough to adjust to the Canadian way of living…for better or worse. I’m almost done starting sentences like “when I was in Los Angeles/California/the U.S” but even this far out of being re-patrioted, I and my family still are reminded (almost on a daily basis) the difference between the two countries. So this MAY be the start of an ongoing series. Or this will be it. Enjoy!
If you’ve been paying attention to Wiebeworld, you’ll have remembered our last story where I accidentally erased every bit of ID in my wallet by taking it into the MRI with me. This week was filled with getting those cards replaced. Just between you and me i have 2 American Express cards. One is a U.S. American Express card. The other a Canadian one. I’ll also have you know that I’ve been an American Express card member (we like to refer to ourselves as members - it’s very classy) since 1990.
I called the Canadian card folks up first and explained the problem. They were very understanding and promised that the card should arrive in 7-9 business days. That’s TWO WEEKS!!! It’s a cashless society people! I don’t get money out of the ATM anymore and can’t remember the last time I wrote a check (or “cheque” as we write here). Two weeks without a credit card means two weeks of a whole lot of nuthin’. Being a Canadian I said “thanks - that’ll be great” and hung up.
THEN, I called my American card. this is the exact same company may I remind you. They were equally as sorry for me as their Canadian division. Then they told me that because I was a long-time customer (same amount of time as the Canadian division) that they were going to overnight me a brand new card at no additional cost. Time without a card, approximately 36 hours! Customer service!
