November 11th, 2010 Thomasso
So much for today done, but still so much left to do.
The emails from my interviews back in October are still rolling in. Every place that I have had interviews with are still asking me to make appointments and schedule further times for more meetings, and I have two short-list interviews coming up very shortly. Remember that this is on top of my existing work schedule, and I am entering into the last round of midterms for this semester.
I have nine more trips to make into Richmond for my French class then the commute into hell is finished. I am nearing the $150.00 mark in cost of fuel, and have logged 21 hours in travel time because of this stupid class. My anger towards Kwantlen Polytechnic University is quite high right now because of this, but all I can do is bite my tongue. There is less than five weeks left, so I will make it, but at great cost. They could have had this class in Surrey instead of Richmond where most of the students go. But Richmond does have one huge plus: It has lots of parking!
I am not going to complain about homework in this post. I will spare you this time.
Banking Hell:
I had a very interesting adventure with cashing a cheque at the R* Bank in Langley City yesterday. The teller was down right snotty when I asked to cash it. I did not have an account with them, but I do this quite regularly with lots of other Banks, so I am an old pro with cashing out cheques. I listen to her spew for ten minutes before I finally asked if she could just exchange it for legal tender. All I said was, “please, can I have my money,” and she went ballistic. The amount for the cheque was $840.94, and was dated for that day.
Here is some of what the teller said to me:
Thomasso: “I would like to cash this cheque; I do not have an account here; I have I.D.; the cheque is from this location.”
R* Bank Teller: “Do you have an account with us?”
Thomasso: “No. I would like to cash this cheque.”
R* Bank Teller: “you have to have an account with us, or I can’t give you money.”
Thomasso: “I would like to cash this cheque; I do not have an account here; I have I.D.; the cheque is from this location.”
R* Bank Teller: “You don’t talk to me like that! You are not a member here and you do not have the right to make demands here. We don’t don’t clear cheques at this branch”
Thomasso: “Well, hum, this is cheque is made from this branch, and your member banks here.”
R* Bank Teller: “I don’t like your tone. You don’t talk to me like that!”
Thomasso: “ All I asked for was my money – I don’t want to open an account here…”
R* Bank Teller: “You know you are costing us a lot of money, and by not opening up an account with us, you may not get all of your money – I have the right to limit the amount of money you can get here you know?”
Thomasso: “Well, then it is your member who will bear the cost, as I will pass any costs back to him. And if his cheque is no good then he is in trouble. He does have this amount of money in his account to cover this cheque”?
R* Bank Teller: “You open an account right now!”
Thomasso: “Are you going to honour this cheque?”
R* Bank Teller: “We don’t give out cash for cheques, there is a clearing process, we hold it for five business days – and there is a service charge for all of this.”
Thomasso: “Really, then my friend’s cheque is no good?”
R* Bank Teller: “O.K., I will do this just this once, but from now one you will need to open an account with us if you want your cheques cashed. And I am charging you five dollars too!”
She starts writing on the paper and then heads to the rear of the room to get the cash. She is also telling her coworkers and gives me the odd glance, and they all seem to be giggling and shacking their heads.
R* Bank Teller: “Here’s your money.” And she starts counting really loud, smacking the bills hard on the counter.
All this time I was worried if the Bank actually had any cash at all in it. With the credit crunch and debt so high, I heard rumours that most Banks were only carrying small amounts of money in their vaults. Dealing with this Bank really made me start to think. Of course, I will, ever, Bank at a R* Bank after this! This is just bad business. And this tells me that this Bank is hard-up, and could be in trouble, if its employees are to go this length to hassle people.
A lesson for a Bank who wants people to bank with them would be to really open up and be nice to people, then maybe they will see more good people come back to them as customers? I will not wipe my feet with this Bank, unless I have to cash another cheque with them, again.
Addendum:
Of course, today is one of Canada’s true holidays, well, at least in some provinces. I thought today was a national holiday but my friend in Ontario told me yesterday that it is a regular work day for him, so I may have to do some further investigating on whether this is true or not. I call today Canada’s true holiday because it does not have anything to do with any one religion, or customs, from an outside group or culture, or that it predates events beyond Canada’s creation from 1867. This is a truly Canadian holiday, even though it spawned from our early days as a byproduct of British colonialism, each man that fought in the first world war did so as a Canadian. Yes, we share this date with all those who also fought from their respected lands, but for Canada, Remembrance Day is a Canadian icon of who we are and our identity as a free and independent nation.
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