Lost Wallet/Card Replacement

[shanendoah]

Sometime on Wednesday, C lost his wallet. He realized he didn't have it yesterday morning. He searched for it then. I searched for it last night. It is nowhere to be found in the house or car. Lost.

We checked the accounts online multiple times yesterday, and no specious charges have come in. So definitely lost, not stolen. At least that's a silver lining.
It also means that today, since I'm the one with copies of all the cards, I got to do the calling around to cancel cards and get new ones. It was a surprisingly simple and painless process, and I thought I would do a review for you.

Our big concern, of course, was going into the weekend, when we do most of our shopping, without any cards. I pulled cash out of our account to cover this. As you'll find out, that wasn't actually needed.


Drivers License - In our state, you can actually order a new one online, but it doesn't have a picture. So C is headed in to our local DOL office (which is limited service - mostly toward people getting new copies of their license) to get a new one. When he left, the internet told us that the wait at the office he was going to was 8 minutes. I love the internet.

Bank Card - We bank with a large credit union. I called them to cancel the cards and was given a great option - once the cards are cancelled, you can walk into any of their branches with a photo id (or be willing to undergo some questioning), and they will print you new cards. There is a branch of our bank two blocks away from the DOL office he is going to. So by now, he probably already has the new bank cards in hand.

Citi ThankYou Card - This is our main card. We use it for almost everything. The call was fairly quick. Replacement cards will arrive within 5-7 business days. That is pretty standard. What set this apart was that Citi has a auto-payment transition program, where they will update our automatic payment information. They do warn that not every place participates in their program, so to keep an eye out for that. But for the most part, it means I DON'T have to log into multiple accounts in a week when I get the card and update everything. Yay!

American Express (CostCo) - Turns out, American Express gives each card holder their own card number. That means that my card is still good. They will send C a replacement card that should arrive by Wednesday. But this means we have access to credit over the weekend, not just our bank account. Thank you, AmEx. (The guy on the phone did tell me we had been invited to join AmEx Blue, due to the CostCo account ending. It's a no annual fee AmEx account, so we might look into it.)

Chase Disney Rewards Card - I never had to talk to a person. The report a card lost segment was completely automated. A new card will arrive in 5-7 business days. 

[CCL]

I would not assume the cards were not stolen just because they haven't been used yet. Even if lost initially, someone might have found the wallet, taken the cash and tossed the rest. Then someone else might have found it and taken the cards. If I did not know, I would treat them as stolen. When our cards were stolen, we were able to request new ones via overnight delivery, so if you need them right away, that might be an option.

[shanendoah]

No cash in his wallet.
Again, all cards have been reported lost and accounts are now closed with replacements on the way.