In Australia, my sister regularly buys lottery tickets for me - 10 weeks at a time. She has her own ATM card for my regular bank account to pay for the tickets. Shortly there is to be a BIG DRAW and she asked if I wanted some special tickets for it and I said I would appreciate that. Here then is her letter telling me about her experience when she tried to buy the ticket.

This was a real mess up putting this lotto on, I figure we should win as all the bad luck has already been and gone. Here is what happened.

I went to the news agent and thought I would get her to take half the money from your account for your share and pay my half by cash. Well that was what I thought I was doing until I tried to pay your half with the card which the machine rejected.

She said I must have put the wrong pin number in so try again, failed again. She said I must have the wrong number but I knew I had the right number so I paid it all by cash then went to your bank and with the card and asked to deposit a cheque for $31.55 from the casket office and told her I want $11 cash taken out.

The teller did this then told me it was dangerous for me to carry the card in my wallet because if I lost it and anyone else tried to use it they could as it was not signed on the back. I said I don't carry it around with me unless I needed to use it and that I kept it in my filing cabinet. So I said I would sign the back, but she said I couldn't as it was your card.

I thoughts she was nuts, but laying awake last night I was trying to work out why she was so stupid when suddenly it hit me that I had taken your credit card instead of the ATM card you gave me.
 
So now I have deposited $31.55 on your credit card and stolen $11 from your credit card. So who are you going to sue? Me for stealing from your credit card or the bank for paying it when you didn't authorise it? or maybe both!

And to think I can take money from your credit card but I couldn't find out when your lotto needed to be renewed but that's another story that I have yet to tell you, and it goes like this.

I don't know why, but I can't find the last lotto ticket I put on for you so I rang the casket ticket office and explained that I have to put your lotto on for ten weeks when the current ticket runs out. I told them that I have misplaced your current ticket and asked if they could please tell me when it has to be renewed.

I said I could give them your card number so they could look it up, and they asked if my name was also on the card. When I said no, they told me that because my name was not on the card they could not give me any information.

I said I dont want any details or want to collect any money I just want to pay them some money to renew your lotto. They said that under the privicy act they were not able to tell me anything.

Stupid part was I got hubby to ring back and say he was you. He gave them the card number and your date of birth and was given the info I wanted.

So I reckon they are sextist because I could have given them the same info as he did but I don't have a male voice.

Don't know what is wrong with these people. Why would you put my name on your lotto card so I can find out when it is due when that means that if you win they have to pay me half?

I was so mad with them for their stupidity that I rang the local federal members office about their law on privacy and the girl said that the law was a blanket law without any room for common sense, so I am going to send a lovely letter to the member which I hope will go to Canberra.

Anyway you should now have $20.55 more you can spend on your credit card, and hopefully a lot more money after tomorrow night.

Your loving Sister