Financial Institutions – they should institute themselves!
Author: Vanessa
The other day I spent 2.5 hours on the phone with institutions. I am trying desperately to have one bank -who-shall-remain-nameless-but-are-the-only-bank-in-the-world-living-in-the-dark-ages-St-George stop sending the 5 (yes 5) pieces of mail each month to me. My husband receives another 2 statements. Please note: we also receive these on-line. I patiently wait through 3 different client service people and finally arrive at someone who will listen. I receive the standard response-it is a compliance policy requirement. When I ask why they are the ONLY bank in the world of finance that has this requirement and I DON’T WANT any mail please, I am told it is a compliance requirement. I ask why and am told they don’t know.
At this point I have been on the phone with the bank for 1 hour (being passed around) and cannot comprehend this ‘requirement’ and really just want to understand if my mail can be held/stopped/not sent for a period. I am again passed around and finally told (after being cut off twice) that I will receive a call back from a manager of Customer Service who will respond within 72 hours. That was 96 hours ago.
I am really just trying to impart the fact that you need to start all this process early. It is NEVER too early. It all takes longer than you think!
I am still awaiting the insurance company response to our query on how to either amend our home contents insurance policy to cover other people renting our home or whether we require an ‘add on’. I have received, to date, 7 different responses to the same question. Beware of this as insurance companies are renowned for finding a ‘glitch’ that you have not notified them of which negates your claim. In other words, ensure you have a clear statement from the Insurance company stating you are fully covered for damage to contents by renters in your home (and not just fire, flood etc).
Also just organised our international SIM cards from GoSim. I found it is a really good idea to contact the company you find on-line and ask questions e.g. how much are calls/sms texts from one GoSim card to another, what are the costs to and from the countries you are visiting or likely to call/text as they are often not specific on the site and make a difference to the cost of the SIM card. I found that when I asked questions, I was not aware of a special offer which was buy one, get the second at half price Manager sale. The GoSim support team were great and responded quickly and immediately and suggested the best offer for our circumstance. They have been really good-but whomever you use, ensure you contact them and ask THEM for the right offer for you. They often know a lot that you don’t/won’t/can’t from searching on-line.
Also found an expat forum called Expatforum.com which is good for information and asking questions about the countries you will be living in e.g. issues in the city-opening bank account tips, local info on food, culture, meeting other people, schools. It is a great idea to know what you may be up against or need to know before you move. The more you are set up before you go, the more you will fit in and feel at home!
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