A couple of weeks ago, I went to my local bank to deposit a cheque from Australia. I explained the cheque had been sent to me by my university as a fee refund, and that I wanted to deposit it in my local account here. I was assisted with the deposit slip, and received a copy.
This week, the money still not having appeared in my account, I went to find out what had happened to it. I was told, much to my interest, that the cheque could not be deposited in my bank account here, that they had therefore returned it by DHL to the originating bank, and by the way the DHL cost was NT$1,000, for which we charged you.
Most interested, I asked for future reference if foreign cheques could be despoited in local banks here. They told me some yes, some no. I now have no idea where the original cheque is other than back in Australia somewhere, and I have paid NT$1,000 for the privilege of having it taken away from me and sent who knows where. Is this typical? It’s only NT$5,000, but it would be helpful to know for the future.
So wait a minute, they refunded the cost of your education.
Is this what made you dumb enough to take a cheque to a Taiwan bank?
:roflmao: :roflmao:
Many years ago, when one used to be able to get the GST refund after visiting Canookistan, I got a cheque from THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA for like a lousy CN$150 or something.
I spent A WEEK getting my Taipei bank to accept it, and even then, they put a 90 day hold on it.
But your story tops mine.
Call them and tell them you’re going to take legal action.
My own personal story is wiring money to Europe and the bank failing to inform me that they used another bank that took half of the amount in fees($30 Euros :fume: ). It took 2 weeks to sort it all out and the bank wasn’t helpful at all. It’s like dealing with little kids some times. :s
Don’t expect competence from local banks. Hell, you can’t even get joint checking accounts here… and online banking? Perish the thought!! And try finding one open after 3:30pm.
Taiwanese banks suck. I just use them to accumulate my paychecks in and make ATM withdrawals; then when I have enough saved I send my money to a REAL bank back home.
Sounds possible for a local bank, I go there now when I want to steam off, start to get loud, saying out loud what increadible thing they just did again and so on…
Usually have than 5 people around me, trying to calm me down and solve the issue before I start killing people, still takes hours till they solve it but it works…
One time somebody wired money to my account, all was fine it seemed and I checked with my bank after 1 week if the money was in. They said no, and I checked with them again after 2 weeks. You guessed it, of course nothing so I asked the guys back home if they transfered the money or not. Of course they did, got even a fax with the confirmation of the transfer.
Back to the bank here, asking if they would be so nice to tell me where my money is. Answer was they have no idea and there is no money for me waiting.
I showed them the fax and told them that this shows that there is. I kind of got louder by that time a bit, somehow felt I had better things to do than running back and forth to a bank to find my money, especially with them closing everyday at 3:30pm.
Ok, so they start to check and make phone calls and what not else. Turns out there is money and its for my account and all that, just they guys back home didnt use my middle name (account number, and everything was correct, just my middle name was missing…).
So I asked them to put it in my account but they refused and told me they cant because its a wrong name.
After getting really high blood preassure they told me that they have to wire it back, than the guys back home could wire it again with correct name. After asking why they didnt wire the money back in the first place or not accept the transfer if something is wrong, even me asking about it a couple of times before but instead just keep it and stay silent I got a couple of blank stares…
I use different bank now, better but still sometimes rather stunning…
Oh, yes! I’ve had these problems quite frequently. Middle name vs. middle initial vs. no middle name; full name vs. shortened form of name vs. full name truncated by computer that only allows ten characters in the name field (My name is NOT “Christophe”! ); etc. They seem to have no idea about the theory behind Western names.
In fact, few people do. I’ve met people here named Jenny who have no idea it’s short for Jennifer.
I use Chinatrust in NanKan and I’ve never had any problems with them. If I want to bring money over from the UK I just plug their details into my online account and it transfers overnight. They give me a call next morning to say the money is in my account and, I guess, verify that it’s kosha. It takes a little longer to wire money the other way. I’ve never cashed a cheque with them but I seem to remember them saying that they would accept cheques up to the value of $3000.
No problems with Chinatrust if you want to change banks.
[quote=“Chris”]They seem to have no idea about the theory behind Western names.
In fact, few people do. I’ve met people here named Jenny who have no idea it’s short for Jennifer.
What do they teach people in English class?[/quote]
I do bring this kind of thing up in my classes quite regularly, and the students indeed have no idea. The two Jens and three Jennies and two Jennifers are always quite shocked to realize they have the same name - just when they thought they couldn’t get any less original…
Then again, some of the original ones have names like Titty. I gently suggest such names are culturally inappropriate. Judgements about whether or not the name is physically appropriate remain unspoken.
As for closing bank accounts: not really an option when so many employers here will deposit to one bank and one bank only. (And my current employer uses the post office, which is a royal pain - that bank can’t do anything!) Once upon a time I tried to clean up inactive accounts behind me, but I gave up on that - I think have 3-4 accounts, each with 100NTD or so, besides the two main ones I use.
[quote=“tomthorne”]I use Chinatrust in Nankan and I’ve never had any problems with them. If I want to bring money over from the UK I just plug their details into my online account and it transfers overnight. They give me a call next morning to say the money is in my account and, I guess, verify that it’s kosha. It takes a little longer to wire money the other way. I’ve never cashed a cheque with them but I seem to remember them saying that they would accept cheques up to the value of $3000.
No problems with Chinatrust if you want to change banks.[/quote]
Theyv’e always manged wire transfers perfectly, but this was clearly beyond them. As lostinasia says, I need to keep this bank account open because I have an employer who uses it.
[quote=“lostinasia”][quote=“Chris”]They seem to have no idea about the theory behind Western names.
In fact, few people do. I’ve met people here named Jenny who have no idea it’s short for Jennifer.
What do they teach people in English class?[/quote]
I do bring this kind of thing up in my classes quite regularly, and the students indeed have no idea. The two Jens and three Jennies and two Jennifers are always quite shocked to realize they have the same name - just when they thought they couldn’t get any less original…
Then again, some of the original ones have names like Titty. I gently suggest such names are culturally inappropriate. Judgements about whether or not the name is physically appropriate remain unspoken.[/quote]
I was going to suggest to “Wennie” in our Long Hua office that his name was more correctly spelt with TWO e’s and ONE n, but IrishStu and housecat wouldn’t let me…
I have used Chinatrust too, they never seem to have any issue and on top of that they are pretty professional. Plus they have online banking and stuff.
Tomthorne has a good thing going.
I have had Cashiers checks held up for 30 days and also so travelers checks - same deal. I have accounts at several banks and if I try to deposit a check, even a U.S. Government check, I have to wait 30 days to get the funds.
I recently asked my local S.S. (Social Security) offifce in Manilla about how to have a direct deposit here and receive the funds the same day.
A fellow forumosa gave the answer before I got theirs. HSBC is the designated bank.
I really don’t think they will help you out with other checks. I guess it’s just an “Enigma” Sorry.
The thing that always got me with local banks and foreign cheques was never the 30 day holding period. It’s the insane amounts that they charge you in services and fees. Up to nt$2000 at Mega, if I recall correctly…
To be fair I wasn’t really answering Fortigurn’s OP. My bank are great with cash transfers, but I’ve never attempted to cash a check. I might try just to see how they do, but even then the result will no doubt vary according to the bank the check is coming from.
); etc. They seem to have no idea about the theory behind Western names.