Another "fun" trip to the bank....ugh!

Soooo for those who have not had the pleasure of hearing about my latest bank drama in China I will recap!  Since we have to file international insurance claims with our BCBS plan every time I go to the doctor I decided to submit the claim and have them deposit the money into my China Construction Bank account so i would have to transfer funds as often from the US account.  Thinking this would be easy as you provide all the information and then have them wire the money I wasn't concerned about it.  After I checked online and saw the claim was listed as "processed and paid" I checked my atm card to see if there was money in there.  Of course there was no money put into my account, even though i requested it to come in as RMB because to receive in USD i have to fill out a form for it to go into my account for use.  The bank apparently called my relocation specialist; who's information is on my account because I didn't have a phone number or address when we set up the account, anywho they called him and said there were funds sent from the US but since my name was spelled wrong they couldn't release the money....this was three weeks ago!  Since then i have been on the phone with BCBS trying  to get everything straightened out and just have funds go into my US account, two additional claims have come in since they which i listed to go to Chase and they have now apparently sent to the China account too.  Seriously???

On Wednesday i get a call from the relocation specialist saying it was a mistake the bank wasn't talking about my account when they called and there was no longer any issues.  I assume at this point the insurance company has requested their wires back to fix the issue.  But i am so fed up with this bank i want to go in and close my account so i can go to a bank that i understand has better service, English speaking employees and and English website for me to logon and check my account.  We schedule a time on Monday where he will go with me to close the account and open a new account at Bank of China.

BAD: They charge you for using THEIR ATMs in other cities in China. Who does that???



Today is Monday, around 10am we arrived at the China Construction Bank when they opened and there is already a line of people.  My relocation specialist, Alex goes into the back to help me get this account closed, it seems everywhere has some sort of VIP experience for expats so we were able to get helped right away.  The lady at the bank says they can't close my account because there is money from the US there and pulls out the paperwork which shows that not only were there two deposits from the US BCBS, but they are in BRIAN's name.....not my name spelled wrong but my husband's name!  And not only would they not put us on a joint account originally which would have solved this problem, but they won't release the funds to me or to him unless he opens his own account and then they can transfer the funds over!  We don't want another account with your bank, you have terrible customer service and everything takes FOREVER!!!!  So i get someone on the phone to explain all this to then in Chinese while i am getting madder by the minute ...this would never happen in the US, i would have talked to the bank manager if it had gotten this bad and all would be solved, but NOT IN CHINA!

After trying to explain what is going on to them 3 different ways and them insisting i only need to have Brian open and account or have the US company change his name to mine (like i have full control over this and don't have to jump through hoops with BCBS).  So in the end we leave the bank, I am pretty sure i have gotten my point across that this is not good customer service, their solutions were not helpful to me and i would be closing my account and taking my business elsewhere.  Since today is Sunday in the US I have to wait to call BCBS to have them retract their wires which i have requested twice now and then once completed go back to China Construction Bank to close the account.  OMG!

We continue our morning after over an hour at the first bank to Bank of China which is within walking distance of my apartment, easier for me!  We go in, fill out a few items on a form, get a number (china seems to like to do this to keep some order) and wait about 5 minutes until the number is called.  There are a few people waiting and there are only two tellers working, however the wait was very reasonable.  Once we get to the teller, Alex communicated that i would like to open an account and receive a Union Pay bank card.  (Union Pay allows you to use your card like a Visa debit/credit card at home to pay for things at most stores and restaurants in China.)  They ask for my passport and finish the paper work with the large metal red stamps they like to put on all paperwork in China, they stamp things like a judge hitting their mallet down at a sentencing.  I get my three different red stamps on the paperwork, provide some cash to deposit into the account, she makes a copy of my passport, then i have my new debit card (very cool by the way with a dragon on it) and I am on my way not 20 minutes later, so I ask you....was that so hard????  It took me two hours i think to open my account in China Construction Bank.

Once I close the China Construction Bank account I look forward to more positive experience banking in China!

GOOD: Super helpful and seem to know how to do their job!