Careful where you use your Credit Card

Apparently about a month ago we used our credit card at a business which was “compromised,” so the account was frozen. Hey, this happened before and didn’t bother me much, because I knew it was for our own security, and the new cards arrived very quickly in Canada.
So this time we waited for UPS to deliver the new cards. And we waited. Finally I called the bank. Wait a few more days, they should arrive, we were told. They didn’t. I called UPS, who told me the cards had been ordered back to Canada because they were undeliverable here. Why? Not sure, bit of a language barrier... So it turns out our cards were already back in Canada while we were advised to wait here. Okay, our bank said, that didn’t work. We’ll have to cancel the new cards, and try again.
This time I followed the UPS tracking number daily! ... Lots of time on the phone—with both UPS and the card company. That’s okay our bank said, we can reimburse you, just keep your phone receipts. What’s that? This is Guatemala. You don’t get a record of cell phone time or money spent. (You walk up to almost any tienda, hand them some cash and tell them your phone number, and 20 seconds later your account is “recharged.” It’s great, actually.) So last week I called UPS Guatemala, and was advised to call back the next day to speak with Luis, he will tell you about some outstanding charges. Another international call to our bank, who said this is completely unusual, but they will reimburse us. The next day after a couple tries I finally got Luis on the phone. Unfortunately he didn’t speak English either, but he told me there are now two packages he must deliver, and both have taxes which will have to be paid first. You can pay them there in Antigua.
To the bank. Of course I picked the line-up that didn’t move. This is Guatemala—I tried to be patient, even after a few people that arrived after me had been served and gone. Finally my turn: You can’t make deposit without the account number. Oh, Luis didn’t give me that. Cell phone use is not allowed in the bank, so back outside I went to call Luis. Anyway, you get the picture so I won’t go on with more details. I paid the taxes. I was told the packages would be delivered mañana. Mañana came. No packages. I called again. They will come, later today? ...or more likely mañana. Sure enough, mañana it was.