Debit Card Rejection

I filled the baby two-seater with fuel this afternoon and inserted my debit card into the petrol pump machine, only to have the card ejected and to be informed that it had not been accepted! I re-tried, to no avail.

As it happens, I had the cash in my wallet so I paid for the transaction in the shop.

I wondered if there was a problem with my card or, even, if there had been some kind of fraudulent act leaving my account without cash.

When I arrived home I tried to contact my Internet bank forthwith, to no avail (it is Sunday). Their website stated that the service was suspended for five minutes. Well, I persisted and I can say that their timepieces require maintenance too! More like several hours.

I phoned their main bank and received profuse apologies from them, partly laying blame with the VISA network. There seems to be nothing wrong with my card.

Could this be a similar glitch which befell Barclay's customers?

Earlier I had a hike at Divis and the Black Mountain. The heathland was a lot wetter underfoot than I imagined. I had no idea there'd been so much rain up there. The car-park was quite full. I blubbered a bit, thinking of Mother, when nobody was about - in the wilderness - and looked up at Heaven to the Dowager smiling fondly down at me.