15 August 2006

Back to work, back to reality...

So I thought that I would take a couple of days off to take a break from work and from having to wake up early in the morning... Wrooooong. I had not realized all the errands that I needed to run and all the little things in life that I had not been doing because I did not have (and still don't) the time to do... So basically I had a couple of days to jump in my car, drive around, drop and pick up people and stuff, doctors to see, dry cleaning, and all the BS that we have to do to maintain a decent appearance.

One occurence (well... many actually, but let's just be optimistic and nice this one time) drove me nuts. The banking system in this country is... retarded. There is really no other way of saying it. My money is at a branch that is close to where I live, so I go there on my way to work in the morning when I need to talk to my banker... Occasionally however, I have a hard time waking up (ok so most days I need to be dragged out of bed), so I don't always have time to go in the AM. There is another branch, of said bank, close to where I work. I dropped by the other day and asked to withdraw money by writing a check to myself.

She said ok, but when she saw that I was affiliated with another branch, she said she could not give me the money. I asked why and she replied that she did not know me. WTF? I then replied, you can see my balance, can't you? Of course she responds, but I don't know your habits. As bricktop (Snatch) said eloquently : In the words of the virgin Mary, come again? I did not know if I should have been angry, sad, both, or just pissed off... How can you not give me money when the balance shows right there on your screen? How exactly does the guy in the bank know me when all he sees is the monthly deposit of my salary and my different withdrawals? Which SHE CAN SEE!!!! argh.

So basically I was angry AND pissed off... Took my check book because I was so disgusted, and left. But wait, the adventure contiues... I made the detour in the middle of my errands, went to my bank. I did get my money, although nobody asked anything and the guy at the front desk barely did any checking... I then ask to see the "banker" to see why I've not gotten my login and password for my online banking. Aaah... He's not here, as he's replacing some other sucker in some other branch while on vacation. So what can I do I ask... You have to wait until he comes back.

I am so very tired of all this bullshit... It seems as if all the stupid little branches are each a mini bank of their own, which is so very primitive. Imagine you go to vacation, 600 km away and need to withdraw more than your daily or weekly allowance. What the hell are you supposed to do? Fly back to your branch?

Anyways... Deep breaths... Venting over. Back to work now.

5 comments:

running42k said...

That is so absurd all I could do was laugh.

Anonymous said...

Smile, you're in Tunisia !

SNAWSI said...

Well, what if I tell you that even those who work at the bank can sometimes have the same " treatment " eventhough they've special accounts codes and they're supposed to belong to the same network ;-)

I actually closed an account at a " well known bank " because of a similar situation. The lady has even kept me waiting till she made a phone call to my branch to check my account ( and of course, the phone conversation turned personal : how is kids, hubby, doggy, neighbours... !)
I was " punished " to pay the fees for the call and the money withdrawal from a different branch than mine !!!

That's Tunisia ;-)

YASMINA said...

The title of your post remember me a song "back to live back to reality" but i gorgot the singer!

Anonymous said...

hello,
j'ai adoré de chez adoré ton post,c trop marrant!!
en fait, je déteste les banques et les banquiers parce que la procédure est toujours lente, le service client est nulle , et avec ton histoire ce n'est que confitrmé!!
en plus je ne sais pas pourquoi les banquiers dima 3akdinha et sont tres sérieux, le sourrire ils connaissent pas?