Wednesday I had to wire quite a large sum of money - $1505 USD, to be exact. This is to pay for living expenses, food, any safaris we go on, etc. while I am in Kenya. The 15th of May was the deadline for this money to be sent out. Yes, I was cutting it a bit short...
I actually went to the bank on Tuesday, the 13th. I sat in the lobby for 25 minutes while the one woman on the floor helped a couple. At 4:55 she finished with them (pushed them out the door, really) and told me the cutoff time for wires was 4:00. She told me to come back the next day, before 4.
I arrived at this bank at 2:50. There were two people on the floor this time, and one woman helped me almost immediately. I told her what I needed, and she said "Oh, I'm sorry but the only person that can do wires is in meetings all day.' .... She went to call the other branches of the bank to make sure they would have someone that can do wires. She came back and told me "Ok, there is someone that can do them there, her name is Renee... I told her I'm sending you over."
So by the time I get to the other branch, It is 3:10. I sit in the lounge... and wait. There is only one woman on the floor, and she is helping a couple with what appears to be a loan... Eventually the woman comes to the counter to have the teller do something, and asks me if I need help. I told her I was waiting for Renee. She told me she would be right out. Some more time passes, and Renee never comes out. Finally, at 3:40 the first woman tells me she can help me.
She asks me if it's an international wire, and I explain to her that it IS an international wire, but it needs to go through a bank in New York before going on to Kenya. She tells me I do not have the information necessary to send the money to Kenya. She asks if I can call our travel agent in Kenya... I laugh and tell her no, but this is the same information our professor gave everyone and others didn't have any problems sending the wire. So, after 20 minutes of her being condescending and basically telling me its my fault if my money gets lost in transit, she finds the name of the bank in Kenya on my piece of paper which she had taken from me. So, we're on our way and she gets the computer to accept the account numbers I gave her.
She hands me the completed version of the wire form. Before I sign, I ask her what happens if, like she has said about 15 times throughout our conversation, my money gets lost. She then looks at me like a child and says "well, that shouldn't happen. The information you've given me seems to be correct." I simply resign myself to the fact that she will not be of any help. I sign the paper and just hope for the rest of this process to be over with quickly. She then tells me that when Renee (who came out RIGHT after I sat down with this woman) would 'second' the form as soon as she is done helping the people she was with. She told me to wait for this process, and shooed me away from her desk.
By now, it's 4:20. I start panicking. My final was going to be at 5:30 and it takes me more than a half an hour to get there in rush hour.
I wait another ten minutes, and finally just tell the woman that I simply cannot wait any longer. She says ok, she will call me if anything goes wrong.. I told her I would be calling in the morning to make sure it got sent.
So tonight, I randomly looked at the copy of the form she gave me. There is nothing at all about CitiBank in New York. And, to top it off, she put "ny, ny" (yeah, no caps on the form whatsoever) as the address for the KENYAN bank.
So.. pretty much I'm freaking out. I mean, I certainly don't want to lose 1500 dollars. But more importantly, if I don't get to go to Africa because of some incompetent, unprofessional, rude woman, I will scream.
Unknown Tired
- 16 years, 6 months, 13 days ago
