April 28, 2023
To Manfredonia: an interim report
I know you’re all dying to hear how today’s ride to Manfredonia went and whether I added any new birds to the list, but you’ll just have to wait. First though I thought I’d update you with a bit of news:
Xoom comes through for us, with a little help from our friends Jacinto and Kelly:
I’ve spoiled the suspense by leading with the bottom line, but we might as well fill in the gaps just for the memories. First, as soon as we woke up this morning I brought up PayPal/Xoom to see if their software bug had been repaired in the night and the transaction could be completed now. It had, and it could. We breathed a big sigh of relief when the transaction completed and we were given a confirmation number and the statement that we could pick up the cash at any Ria-branded location as soon as it was ready (normally within minutes). Hooray!
A moment later, a follow-up message came through stating that there’d be a slight delay while the transaction was validated by our financial institution. Instead of five minutes, our cash would be available in - er - 6 days. We could pick it up on May 4th.
So Plan B or C or D or whichever one we’re on now goes up in smoke too. We’ll pick up that cash when once it’s available and we’re near the next Ria-branded outlet on our itinerary: in Termoli, on May 6th. That’s all well and good, but it still leaves us with only €58.90 to see us through the next week.
So, Plan E. One thing I didn’t mention before was that Kelly and Jacinto reached out to us yesterday to let us know that they are Xoom users themselves and are all set to fire some cash our way if needed. I thanked them for their generosity and willingness to help (and theirs wasn’t the only offer received; thanks again, everyone!) but said it looked like we had matters in hand. I was wrong, obviously, so I sent an urgent message to Kelly asking her to get in touch and then Rachael and I waited to hear back from her once she finally woke up, eight time zones later.
We heard back from Kelly while we were having lunch on the waterfront in Manfredonia, waiting for our apartment to become available. Over our lunch, a text conversation proceeded between us and Kelly while Jacinto was in the background hurrying to complete the Xoom transaction before it was time for him to leave for work. In all the excitement I managed to knock over and break my half full glass of wine transferring the phone back and forth.
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And it worked! Not long after we checked into our apartment Rachael received an email letting her know that she could pick up her cash. Within minutes she was out the door and off to the post office about six blocks away, which I assured her was one of the three Ria-branded locations in town. Within a few more minutes I received an email for me to call her, because for some reason my phone is nonfunctional.
So I walked over to the post office myself, and for the next ten or fifteen minutes the agent worked with us and Rachael’s documentation to try to resolve the request. It was very frustrating and ended in failure and the advice that we go down to the Western Union outlet just down the street. The bottom line was they insisted they were not a Ria agent. They all acted like they had no idea what we were talking about.
Very frustrating and unexpected, but at least there are two other alleged Ria outlets in town. So we walked together back to the apartment and pulled up Xoom’s list of Ria outlets to see where the other two are located. Surprise! The post office isn’t actually one of the three, and is in fact not a Ria location. My bad, and no wonder they had no idea what we were talking about.
So how did I get that wrong? When I was trying to decide which of the three would be closest to our apartment I consulted Google Maps and searched on Ria. Four addresses came up, all labeled as MoneyGram. I foolishly assumed that Ria and MoneyGram must be more or less synonymous and picked the post office. They’re actually not the same thing, just so you know.
So the closest bona fide Ria outlet is a Tobacco shop a few hundred yards away. We walk there together, and I’m confident we’ve come to the right place as soon as I look in their window:
Rachael steps up to the counter when her turn comes, says the magic word Ria, and immediately they’re on the case - asking to see her documentation (passport, phone number, transaction number), scanning her passport, looking up the transaction, and on and on and on. They’re very careful, which they should be - we wouldn’t want them to give our €979.44 (which is what $1,100 plus a $20 transaction fee buys you at today’s exchange rate) to the wrong person.
While this is all transpiring I check out the impressive gallery of cigarette packages, trying to decide whether I’m tempted to spend any of our new cash on one as a souvenir. I’m not.
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11 months ago
So really, that’s the end of the story. We’ve got some cash, easily enough to see us through until we get to Termoli where we can pick up a fresh transfusion next week. We’ve debugged the process and it looks repeatable, so obviously the trip is still on. What else is there to say?
Oh, right - thanks, Kelly and Jacinto! Our heroes!!
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11 months ago
Your misfortune has educated me on Xoom and Ria etc. one never knows when us or someone we know might be in a similar situation.
11 months ago
I'm happy we could help you in some manner, after all of the handholding you have done with our trip preparations. A trip that will happen for certain, because I have a good passport!
But, I now know where the passport center is in Tucson - between Speedway and Sabino Canyon, just off of the bike path!
11 months ago
11 months ago