Well that was a different day - not the best day so far, however one saving grace, I managed to get a tee-shirt at Harrrods for £5!
Started out this am with the intention of catching the govt bus to Marble Arch, walking thru Hyde Park and then going to Harrods and getting the tube home.
Just had to find the PO first and post some stuff home.......we walked to Kings Cross Station, went to the PO and found a lovely Indian chap who helped us pack the parcel.... Posted the parcel at great expense (£84....how much????) put that behind us and Roger decided we needed some cash so went to the ATM at Barclays Bank (thought they were broke!) to withdraw some cash.........bad mistake.......
I was standing by Roger when a woman (Muslim b****) ask me directions to somewhere (she was wearing head scarf and D&G glasses.....she was right in my face!) in hinesight obviously the decoy.
Roger monentarily turned to see what was happening to me and during those split seconds the p****Romanian must have pushed cancel on the ATM and stolen our card.......he then had the gumption to tell Roger that the ATM was not working and that it was swallowing up cards!!!!
Roger appeared confussed and proceeded to try and retrieve the card without success...........meanwhile another guy appeared and said to me that the guys who was supposedly helping Roger was more than likely a scammer and was not being helpful. This guy took me into the bank to report it too the manager. Meanwhile Roger was still trying to retrieve the card from the ATM!
The bank manager arranged to have someone check the ATM to see if the card was still there.........nope, no such luck! Our heads were spinning, Roger still in denial that anything could have happened. According to the bank manager it had been on the TV that the Romanians are targeting London at the moment and are taking the funds and buying mansions at home........
Well to date we have funded their dreams to the tune of a little over A$2000........nice of us, or should I say CommBank. This was withdrawn in a matter of 10mins from when it happened until we called the bank and cancelled it. The guy at CommBank said the thief had withdrawn the money over 5 different transactions! Where does that leave the system ??? All done apparently with the newest theft devices- chip scanners......that is how they acquire the PIN numbers.......gotta hand it too them!
We thought we had all the latest gear for the scanner thieves......metal wallets and passport protectors......stupid us! Didn't count on the Romanian initiative!
After many phone calls to Bank, discussions with the friendly police, we will eventually get the wheels motion to endeavour to retrieve the stolen money....perhaps up to 6 weeks!! Thank heavens for credit cards!
On a positive note, we managed to navigate the 'tube' changing several times to get to Harrods and back.......
What a shopping experience......I assume there is nothing you could not buy there if you had the money.....food section unbelieveable! Unfortunately we did not get to see the whole store, but enough to get the message.
Off to dinner to a local pub, need a few wines!
We are not going to let the events of the day to spoil our holiday however we did need to have a small grieving period, good therapy to put things down on 'paper'......tomorrow is another day......off on a full days sightseeing tomorrow, we will try to stay out of trouble...
PS.....First Reflux pain I have had since we left home today, been having a few coffees, all good......first stressful situation since we left home........penny may be dropping!

Roger's added thoughts on the day.......

Well the so called impossible happened today......Roger got robbed!!... robbed by a Romanian at an ATM! Maximum time to push 'cancel' and get my card....3 seconds!
I am still shaking 3 hours later....one plus, I have heard the they all carry knives....better not to have my card than a hole in my guts!
Even though I run a 10 second 100yd, (a bit older now, maybe 11 seconds) cannot do that with a knife in my guts.
Harrods.....I saw a ham there all wrapped up £1500.....at our Holmesville butcher shop the total takings for Xmas week was $1200, and we sold about 30 hams plus meat! Inflation??