An Open Letter To The Western Mass. Driving Range Where My Card Was Declined

It was a nice Sunday afternoon and I had planned on taking the kids to play some mini-golf. Baker's Golf in Lanesborough offers the best of both worlds as they have a driving range as well.

My oldest son has been playing with my golf clubs in the back yard as of late, so he insisted that I teach him how to hit golf balls rather than play mini-golf. After playing rock, paper, scissors with his younger brother to decide which option to go with, the driving range it was.

I must include in this story that earlier in the day I tried to make a rather large purchase using my debit card. For the purpose of this post, I will leave my banking institution out of it because it doesn't matter.

My large online purchase was declined thrice and I didn't know why. I just assumed that it was sort of over some purchasing limit that I was unaware of. Fair enough, right?

What I didn't realize was that my bank had put a temporary hold on my debit card preventing any future purchasing power due a potential fraud threat. They didn't notify ME, however.

We are standing in line at Baker's when (the owner) goes to ring me up for the $9.00 charge for the large bucket of balls after she hands my children two kid sized rental drivers.

DECLINED.

Not only I am embarrassed to get declined for a nine dollar charge, but there are people behind me waiting to enjoy their Sunday afternoon.

With a smile on her face, she says, "Don't worry about it, you're all set". I reply, "No, I'm going to get to the bottom of this".

After two conversations with my bank, they admit putting a hold on my account and apologize for not notifying me. While I appreciate the protective gesture, I was annoyed that my bank did not notify me of the hold.

The point is, in a world where tensions are ostensibly high between people and the average American can't afford a $400 emergency, there certainly are good people out there.

Thank You, Baker's Golf. Always support local.