Post: #51

(01-13-2018 06:50 PM)Preussen Wrote:  Again I simply wanted to meet in person to get some walking around cash, I am not desperate but some people like to embellish my words and add create unessessary drama.

You're not desperate but the thread title starts with "Toyko emergency"?

(01-12-2018 10:17 PM)Preussen Wrote:  I currently have 55 yen and $10 I am so fucked right now.

This thread diminishes the credibility of forum members in need. If there was someone in a real emergency, then people might not take it seriously.

Post: #52

Call all the banks and credit companies with whom you have debit and credit cards, starting with the card that broke. If you don't have the cards with you, google the customer service phone numbers. They have a way to verify your identity even if you don't have the card. Explain what happened and ask them for help. Ask them to fedex a new card to your airbnb or somewhere where you can receive it. Perhaps they have a local branch where you can get a new card even quicker.

Post: #53

I realize my choice of words needs to be chosen more wisely next time but at the same time I did say no cash in the title not no money.

Post: #54

(01-13-2018 06:07 PM)Preussen Wrote:  If you read my original post you will see I am not trying to scam anyone into sending me money. At the time I thought a local would see it and it would be a simple exchange. I would provide any ID needed, I transfer $100/10,000 yen or so from my PayPal account to yours via friends and family it seemed simple to me. You think I would sit on a plane for 24 hours to scam somebody for $100.
With the time difference back to the states this also seemed like the easiest and quickest solution.

As for the link provided by Kona you implied that I could send money to myself online. When I looked at your link there was no online application when I asked later you said I have to call the number. When you sent the link all you had to say was “call the number for customer service” instead of saying “you have to do it online”.

As for my phone taking a dump look up IPhone 6S signal problems. Fortunately my place came with a pocket WiFi and my provider allows WiFi voice calling.

What kind of whackadoo are you? You realize private stay around right?

What part of "call western union on the telephone asap" from my messages implied you had to do your transfer online?

Just stop dude.

Aloha!

Post: #55

You always have a reserve when traveling, or if you don't you have someone back home that would help you out at a moment's notice with 50-100 bucks via Western Union.

Post: #56

I called them 30 minutes ago and they actually told me to sign up online. I turned off location services, got the US site and sorted it in 5 minutes.

Post: #57

(01-13-2018 04:35 PM)Teep Wrote:  I think guys are being a tad hard on OP.

A lot of travel novices don't realize their cards may not work overseas, or get shut off for "suspicious activity". It happened to me a couple times. Customer service can be a bitch to deal with when you're abroad, 18 hours ahead.

As for going to family/friends for money, not everybody has that support network.

This is why you always keep a decent amount of cash on you at all times. Japan is not Haiti. No one is going to Rob you.

When I first came here, I never expected my card to work here, in fact, I was surprised that it worked (in a 7-11 atm). I kept $500(that I exchanged to about 49,000 yen) on me as I knew that people didnt just steal shit but I still kept it in different places, some in my place some on me etc.

IN any case, there are some ATMs that still do take international cards, but they are few and far between, someone would have to do their research on it. 7-11 doesnt do it. I believe there is one in Shinagawa station but that is at best a four hour walk from Oshiage. and a $50 cab ride at the least.

best bet would be for the guy to call his embassy and ask for help and options there first, OP could have also called Tokyo Life line: 03-4550-1191

I didnt see this thread till now (at 9am) im assuming looking at the time stamps that this was at night.

it was fucking cold as shit last night, not even many girls were out, thats how bad it was. I was at a bar and NO women came in lol, hell even the coffee shop I go to had a deficit of women. Best bet would have been to wait untill the afternoon once it was relatively warm and take care of this then.
IN any case call the Tokyo life line:03-4550-1191 and see what kind of help you can get.

You cant just assume that everyone is available at the drop of the hat to come all the way out to Oshiage (yeah its where the sky tree is but its far from pretty much where most people who live here would be as there`s really not much there nightlife wise and its kind of the boonies of Tokyo)

Also man. . .you really got to get your shit together. No one (including me) is not going to want to meet up and hang out with someone who cant get basic travel planning right, there are likely other things you would fuck up and make hanging out with you a terrible and/or even a dangerous experience. You didnt even have any cash? or travelers checks? embassy phone numbers you can call? Your embassy? Your airline? nothing? In a first world country? You may not be a scammer but you got something going on, its like you didnt care about yourself enough to take care of yourself in case something happens. You also need to realize that other people`s time is also important, and as this situation is something you could have avoided by bringing cash along with your credit card I PERSONALLY wouldn`t want to fuck up my plans, brave the cold ass weather, at night, and take an hour and a half train ride to bail someone out who couldn`t get the basics of travel right. Call the number i gave you and see if you can get them to help you out. You can`t go through life expecting to get bailed out every time you fuck up. In many cases it`s just not logistically possible. You didn't get mugged or robbed at gunpoint, and even then the police would help you anyway.

There is something called "The stupid tax" that I reference whenever I do something I shouldn't have done and have to deal with the consequences. Sometimes the consequences are monetary, sometimes its just time and uncomfortability for a time.

You are paying "the stupid tax" now. We are not here to act as Subsidies to pay this for you. Call the number 03-4550-1191 and see what you can do to get yourself out of this mess.

（Oh and dont pm me. I‘ve already got a Stupid tax Im paying off today myself　Mostly in time (a day off) wasted. . .）

Post: #58

What should work in a (genuine) situation like this, would be buying bitcoins with PayPal and then finding someone through e.g. localbitcoins.com who will buy the coins from you for cash.

You will lose quite some money on transaction costs and buy/sell exchange rate differences, but at least you'll have money.

Post: #59

I know three pages or one post above is a lot to read but please try next time.

Post: #60

(01-13-2018 07:52 PM)Preussen Wrote:  I know three pages or one post above is a lot to read but please try next time.

Post: #61

Look up the definition of begging and compare it to my posts.

Post: #62

OP isn't trying to scam us, he's just an unskilled traveler.

It doesn't matter how much travel experience you have. If you go to a place (even once) that you don't know anyone without a large enough cash reserve to tide you over for a while, you're an unskilled traveler.

There are a lot of those these days. Travel has become so commonplace that people treat it like a trip to Disneyland. A lot of people legitimately misjudge the seriousness of the activity of crossing an international border. There are a shocking number of people who routinely enter new countries with nothing more than a debit card and no cash reserve to speak of.

When I travel internationally, I carry ATM cards from two or three different banks, at least a few hundred dollars of cash and everything I need to survive for weeks if I got stuck. Doing this has saved my ass a number of times.

Post: #63

(01-13-2018 08:10 PM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(01-13-2018 07:52 PM)Preussen Wrote:  I know three pages or one post above is a lot to read but please try next time.

That's a rep worthy post right there.

Post: #64

Its incredible how demanding your tone is in your replies. Your lack of preparedness and subsequent call for help is met with constructive advice and criticism but you hardly seem thankful. Oshiage(and eastern Tokyo) is dead in the middle of the night. If you had genuinely needed help, abit of humility would have helped.

Post: #65

His tone made me roll my eyes and go, "fuck em."

Post: #66

I remember when I traveled to Asia for the first time. Got to the gate and realised the wallet I switched out was the wrong one. No cards and no cash. Called my mom and had her western union me cash. If you use cash and not a card it's an instant transaction as well as if you need to cancel you can get the cash back right away. If you use a card it may take a couple of hours for it to be approved and if you must cancel the transaction you have to file a claim that may take weeks or longer to get back
When you get to the physical Western Union all you do is fill out some info, show your ID, and receive cash. It takes no longer than five min.

Post: #67

I travel with two cards in my wallet plus cash and a backup card and backup cash taped in my checked luggage. I also always land with local currency, even if I have to order it before I leave. I never wait to exchange money. Rates are always better at an agency at home anyway.

My travel accounts for hotels and flight have every card updated in them in case I have to log in somewhere and buy travel.

Card numbers, physical cards get compromised all the time. And few have expereinced the hell of a US based bank cancelling and freezing your account because their AI tells them that a person who logs in from abroad triggers their so called fraud warning. I have been told I have to go to a branch and show my id to unfreeze my account (at Chase) while on a several month trip overseas. I am not talking about a blocked card, I am talking about no login, no one will talk to you, full blockage of your account.

The point is relying on one thing especially one debit card is foolish. Not knocking down the OP here - just sharing for the other readers.

Post: #68

(01-13-2018 01:06 PM)Kona Wrote:  When the same thing happened to NASA test pilot, he just called NASA.

I've said my piece. You all have been warned.

Aloha!

OP travels to Asia, annoys Kona, and has the same name as a famous sailing ship?

Interesting.

Post: #69

Always keep $50-100’on your pasmo/jrail card. It’s like a debit card for all the family mart and matsuya places. The only time I use cash in Japan is admissions and occasional drink. You can pay for all your sundries on that card. Best of all it doesn’t get stuck because you tap it

Post: #70

It’s been awhile since I’ve been in Tokyo but Citibank used to be the only ATM I could pull money out of. They had em in Shibuya and Roppongi Crossing. Have they removed them?

Post: #71

I'm actually surprised when I discover that a forum member like OP doesn't have any creative neutral rep points.

Post: #72

(01-14-2018 01:27 AM)Off The Reservation Wrote:  I travel with two cards in my wallet plus cash and a backup card and backup cash taped in my checked luggage. I also always land with local currency, even if I have to order it before I leave. I never wait to exchange money. Rates are always better at an agency at home anyway.

My travel accounts for hotels and flight have every card updated in them in case I have to log in somewhere and buy travel.

Card numbers, physical cards get compromised all the time. And few have expereinced the hell of a US based bank cancelling and freezing your account because their AI tells them that a person who logs in from abroad triggers their so called fraud warning. I have been told I have to go to a branch and show my id to unfreeze my account (at Chase) while on a several month trip overseas. I am not talking about a blocked card, I am talking about no login, no one will talk to you, full blockage of your account.

The point is relying on one thing especially one debit card is foolish. Not knocking down the OP here - just sharing for the other readers.

Very solid advice here. Freezing sucks and I went through that once.

Only thing that I will add is to put travel notice on all your bank accounts before you leave the country. For example Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Chase all have a way to do it either on your web login on their website or their mobile phone applications. Make sure you put it for the entire time you are out. If you cannot find those settings, call them.

If you are really prepared you will have a friend or family member who knows how to wire money online from their accounts in case of an emergency, that goes to a foreign bank account not in the USA.

It's 2018 you should not go anywhere without a plan B and a plan C.

Post: #73

I can't offer any specific advice to the OP other than what's already been said.

Let this serve as a reminder that these situations do happen, regardless of whether the OP's is real. Guys, travel with 2 cards at the least. I always have at least one credit and two copies of the same debit. For some this is common knowledge, but I've met guys (even from the forum) who've travelled with only one. All it takes is losing that and potentially finding yourself in a catastrophic situation.

What happens if you're out in Ukraine and there's no western cash shop nearby to collect the funds you transferred online? You don't speak the language and you don't know anyone in the city.

Don't get screwed.

Post: #74

OP if you'd come in here with a decent attitude I'd wager someone would have helped you out. The forum has helped out multiple guys in the past who had genuine emergencies, its full of great people who go out of their way to help others. Its just the combination of your extreme travel ignorance/naïvety, with your aggressive/condescending attitude, that resulted in people ripping into you. According to one of your other posts you're 45 years old, so you really should know how to make a better impression on people at this stage.

It did result in quite a funny thread though at least, thats something I guess.

Post: #75

I find it strange that you would come to an online forum in such a situation and not family, friends, embassy in that order.

Don't you have friends or family to call OP?