Red Tape Hot Box on Bank transfers
"Available funds" showed an amount that was 500 złotys lower than I had expected. My first reaction was that I had been pick-pocketed or that my card had been copied, as was recently described by a major daily newspaper, and that I was a victim of a 21st century theft. I wanted to find out what had really happened but unfortunately the branch was closed. In case you didn't know, the working day can start at noon. There was nothing for me to do but to go (or rather take a 25 minute bus ride) to the branch where I have my account. Once there, I asked for all transactions on my account since Christmas. I didn't recall making any money transfers other than to a Czech bank as payment for ice hockey world championship tickets. I have to say that ever since a new branch of my bank opened near my house I do all my financial activities there. That was where I made the payment for the ice-hockey tickets. And this was indeed the only transfer I made......except that it was made twice. The amount for the tickets, the delivery costs and the bank's commission - everything was sent twice. Instead of 500 złotys I paid around 1,000 złotys. How did this happen?
The lady who took my order of payment made a silly mistake - she also sent the order to the branch where I have my account, and both branches performed the same operation. Money transfers abroad proved to be far harder and more complicated than I had expected. My friend, who was also paying for tickets for the same event, was told that it wasn't posible to make a transfer in KCZ. I can understand that a bank may be short of, let's say, East Caribbean dollars, but the Czech Republic is our neighbor, and two blokes buying tickets for an ice hockey game probably aren't the only people in this country doing business with the Czechs this year. Only after consultation (via telephone) with her supervisors, did the clerk finally take his order. Things went more smoothly for me (well, except for that extra 500 złotys), but I still couldn't get any exact information as to when the money would arrive in the Czech Republic. Maybe in two, maybe in three days time. And to think that a money transfer company could have done it all in 15 minutes...
The lady who took my order of payment made a silly mistake - she also sent the order to the branch where I have my account, and both branches performed the same operation. Money transfers abroad proved to be far harder and more complicated than I had expected. My friend, who was also paying for tickets for the same event, was told that it wasn't posible to make a transfer in KCZ. I can understand that a bank may be short of, let's say, East Caribbean dollars, but the Czech Republic is our neighbor, and two blokes buying tickets for an ice hockey game probably aren't the only people in this country doing business with the Czechs this year. Only after consultation (via telephone) with her supervisors, did the clerk finally take his order. Things went more smoothly for me (well, except for that extra 500 złotys), but I still couldn't get any exact information as to when the money would arrive in the Czech Republic. Maybe in two, maybe in three days time. And to think that a money transfer company could have done it all in 15 minutes...
