Welcome back people.
In order to get my internet up and running I had to call the
guy from Melita and set a time on when he could come back, and also call the
electrician and book him to come by at the same time, and then have them argue
it out together in Maltese, and hope they could come up with a solution.
The result: SUCCESS! And I have internet now.
The problem with it all was that the pipe where the cables
should go was covered by 15cm of concrete…and the two Maltese guys were using
hammer and screwdriver to chisel their way through so that the cable could be
connected.
There are things that really do get my blood pumping down
here, and it is mostly the lack of “think it through” that comes up from time
to time.
It can be the fact that they decide to have a “festival” for
a local saint in Sliema, which they decide to celebrate in one side of the town,
and the other side could not care less about.
And by having this feast they decide to block off the
highest trafficated road in the entire Sliema, and this by just setting up a
block where they decide to start the feast, and NO warning for people going on
this road in order for them to start taking alternative routes.
Instead this will cause a massive traffic chaos, yes bigger than normal when cars are standing still and honking the horn for the poor fucker in front, who cannot go anywhere and are trying to find a way out of there.
If I did not mention it in the last post, I got shafted out
of the biggest part of my deposit on the old apartment, and they paid me €110
by writing me a cheque that I could cash in at their bank HSBC.
I thought this was ok since I had decided to change bank
from Banif to HSBC in due to better loan possibilities and a bigger bank with
more branches as well as international offices.
So when I was at work the last time I checked online to see
when the closest branch (St Julians) was open, and I saw they were open until
13.30, and I decided to go the next day.
Since I work nights I am not keen on getting up at 10.00 or so, and I set the alarm at 12.00.
Got up in time, stepped on the bus and went over to HSBC,
brought the cheque and my passport and such stuff I thought I would need for
opening an account.
I came into the bank and not many customers were there and I
felt lucky (my mistake)…
A women comes up and asks if she can help and then asks me
to sit down at her desk when I informed her I would like to open an account.
She says that I need to book an appointment for open an
account, and then proceeds with informing me that there is only one HSBC branch
on the island where they can open new accounts, and it would be best to book an
appointment to do this…
I proceed with a few questions in order to find out how it
could be that only one branch have the “authority” of opening new accounts, and
her reply is :
“I’m sorry but this is the way it is, and I do not know why”.
Very well then, I inform her that it is not exactly the
welcoming start I was hoping for when trying to open a new bank and giving them
my money but ok, let us book an appointment.
She looks on the computer and ask me if 9.30 would be ok,
even though it is a bit early I decide to say yes, as to make sure I get this
out of the way and can start using the new account as soon as possible.
She then follow this up with :
“I have now booked you for an
appointment at the xxxx Branch on 28th of August at 9.30…
“Sorry, but did you say August?”
“Yes, it is very busy this time of the year…”
HOW FUCKING LONG DOES IT TAKE TO OPEN A BANK
ACCOUNT!??!?!?!?!
This is a procedure that will take some button clicks to do,
and once this is done there might be some checking with other banks before the
account is set up, but these checks are done AFTER your appointment and you
later get informed when the account is opened… what the hell is the problem
with getting stuff done???
I inform her once again that I am disappointed with having to
wait over 1 month in order for me to even “apply” for a bank account, but still
sets the appointment, after all I could just cancel it if I decide to do so
later.
I thank her for her time and ask her where I need to go in
order to cash the cheque that I have, and she looks at me and says :
“I am sorry
but we only cash cheques until 12.00”.
“But you are open until 13.30, so what is the problem?”
“I am sorry but this is our procedure”.
I decided to cancel the appointment in regards to opening an
account and then left the bank with a strange taste in my mouth, it taste like
blood, I guess my heart was about to explode…
Now I will try and get some sleep and we’ll see what the day
will hold when I wake up.
I must admit it is very relaxing to just sit and listen to music in the sun sometimes, even though the sun is a bit too hot for me.
/Jonas
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