Warning - this will be a bit of a rant.
Today I am frustrated. Well, not all day - just for the past 20 minutes or so. Here's why...
The week after we got here Aaron and I spent hours (literally forever) opening a bank account in town so we could
a) have easy access to our money
b) have an account to pay our future british bills with
c) get the credit/debit cards with the little chip that are used (and favored) everywhere here
The lady helping us was very nice but it was sllooww going.
We finally got things mostly sorted out but the "system" needed proof of residency so the poor manager had to stop by our apartment the following week to verify that yes, we are indeed staying here long term.
The bank information was mailed in a timely manner (surprisingly efficient) BUT my card was not in the pile of envelopes. Not a big deal, I'll wait...and wait...so today I thought I would do something about it.
I called the local branch like 10 times and not once did someone answer the phone. Yes I had the correct number and no, it is not a bank holiday (I checked). Next I called the 800 number equivalent (these numbers are not included in our pay-as-you go phone plan so we had paid additional money on each of our cells for such a time as this). I waded through the automated system and finally landed a real, live operator. I successfully communicated my name, birthday, answers to security questions, account number (all while thinking "way to go me!") when I was asked for a recent transaction with the account. How am I supposed to know that - I'm the one without a credit card!? So then I tried to log on to my online banking account to find an answer when I couldn't remember my passcode. I clicked on "forget your passcode" and, gosh darn it, I need a dumb credit card number and security code so they can email me a passcode!
The nice man on the other end of the line told me they were open tonight until 11 so maybe I could try again later. I hung up and then cried. And then called my hubby. He was sympathetic to my plight and told me the neccessary details. Armed with the knowledge of a recent transaction I redialed the bank help line and was met with the web of an automated system...again...and just as I had almost made it to a live operator - my phone ran out of money.
This time I didn't cry. I just ate chocolate.
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