September 11, 2008

  • Thieving Bankers

    After finally getting an answer from my
    European friends that money was not available for me, I was once more
    in the situation of having to find a suitable position of employment. However,
    being the smart cookie I am, I had already sensed that something was
    wrong, and so I arranged to start with another company – a start up
    company for storage products. Owed large amounts of cash from the
    work I put in for the Euro-trash, I was in a tough financial
    situation though.

    Three months after I had received my
    previous payment – and there I only received around 60% of what was
    owed – the Aussies from the new storage company paid some cash over
    to my bank account. But the bank was being a pain in the ass,
    requiring much too much work for me to actually get my mits on my
    wonga, so I decided to change over to a different account from a
    previous employer. I headed over to the branch and made sure I had
    everything I needed, and forwarded the info to the Aussies.

    I got notification that another payment
    had been made and so I called up the bank to find out where it was.
    They didn’t know. After over a week they told me that there was a
    problem because my middle name was missing from the sender. I told
    the people that surely it did not matter, as my first and last names
    PLUS my bank account number were all correct. They asked me to get in
    touch with the sender and ask them to resend it. So I did.

    Somehow though the information did not
    find its way over to the bank, and I was now waiting for another
    payment. After waiting 3 weeks for the my money I headed over to the
    branch with an ultimatum. I got there and asked to see the manager.
    Instead of talking with me, the manager sent a messenger. Asshole.

    “You have a choice – you either put
    my money in my account or you close it,” I told them. After another
    2 hours, where they asked me to do their work for them, I closed the
    account. Typical bullshit. So I headed home, made some calls, and at
    4 PM on a Friday, I called up another bank where I had yet another
    account.

    “Well we’re closed but you can come
    over to see us if you like,” the nice lady said.

    Ten minutes later she called me once
    more and suggested I might like to go to the Danshui branch, as they
    are closer to my home. I said that sounds good, and she asked me to
    wait 5 minutes whilst she confirmed. 4 minutes later she called to
    tell me they were all closed, so please do come to Neihu. I did.

    They opened the bank branch especially
    for me, and I sat down with 3 people all eager to assist me. I
    explained the situation, and they gave me all the info I needed to
    get money in to my account. I got home and sent it to the Aussies. On
    the Monday they sent the money, and on the Tuesday morning, at 9 on
    the dot, I was called up by the bank telling me there was money in my
    account. I could go and get some whenever I wanted. Oh, and my bank
    book was ready but the ATM card needed a few more days. Now this is
    the service I have been craving.

    I then called up the other bank to make
    sure they had sent the previous transfer back and they confirmed they
    had. I asked them to mail everything to me, as proof, and they did.
    But the thieving bastards had also deducted AU$60 as “handling
    fee”. I called up head office, but they were not interested. So I
    sent a mail complaining, and of course, to date no answer. But the bastards did spam me using the mail address I gave them from my complaint mail.

    I will head over to their head office
    and ensure that someone loses face. We all know that banks rip you
    off at any given opportunity, but this Chinatrust bank is the biggest
    load of cowboys in the country. Not only did they rip me off for the
    handling fee, but they also charge TW$500 for international
    transfers. The new bank – Sino Pac – charges $400. I have now
    started boycotting all Chinatrust ATM’s, which are in pretty much
    every 7-Eleven store across the country, as I have no intention of
    giving them one more Taiwan Dollar ever again. Load of old bank.