Is it just me?

Customer service--or lack thereof--seems to be a black cloud that follows me through life. I don't think I do anything to bring it upon myself, yet the problem persists.

A couple of weeks ago, I stopped to put gas in my car. It was bitter cold out and windy. My husband got out of the car to pump the gas, using pay-at-the pump. He swiped my gas card and the little screen said, "See attendant." He tried again with the same result. We figured it was a glitch with card reader, but since the weather was so bad, we skipped the trip to the cashier and just used a different card.

On Sunday we were running errands and the fuel light came on. We stopped at another gas station in the same chain. Again, my husband swiped my gas charge card, and again the message appeared indicating I needed to see the attendant.

I pulled out my cell phone and called the customer service number on the card. After hearing an automated attendant tell me my balance, credit available, date of last payment and that no payment was due at this time, I pushed zero to reach a real, live human. Except...they don't work nights or weekends.

I got out of the car and went in to see the cashier. "The card reader keeps telling me to see the attendant."

The young woman behind the counter took my card and said, "Well, I don't know what the problem is. I can run it from in here. How much do you want?

Me: "I need to fll it."
Her: "Well, how much would that be?"
Me: "I don't know. I won't know until I fill the tank."
Her: "Um, I can't run the card without an amount. How much do you want?
Me: "I'm not sure because I'm not psychic and I can't foresee how much gas the car will need for a fill-up."
Her: "Oh, OK. I'll run it for $40. Do you think that will be enough?"
Me: "Well, if it's too much, can you refund back the extra?"
Her: "I'll try it."

She swiped the card and said, "Oh, it says to call for special authorization." I looked at her for a second, waiting for her to pick up the phone and call for the authorization. I finally said, "Go ahead and call. I can wait."

She handed the card back to me and said, "Oh, we don't do that. We don't have an authorization code or anything like that. We don't call for authorization. We can't do anything like that. You have to call."

I was stunned. I was using the gas company's credit card, yet the station couldn't get authorization to run a credit card for their own company? It didn't seem possible. Again we used a different card because the customer service line was closed on Sunday.

When I got home, I noticed that the gas card is actually managed by Citibank, my sworn enemy and nemesis. My husband thinks that somehow I have managed to tweak the nerves of someone at Citibank yet again, but I assured him that I haven't called or written regarding this account in at least three years.

I really don't want to call. I'm afraid I'll just lose my temper, and the last time I did that, it didn't turn out very well for me.

I think I'll just cut up that card, close the account, and leave it at that.

Dear god...the gas station attendants have no way to authoize a card? The number to inquire about it as a customer is not available on the weekends?

What the fuck?