I just want to pay the damn cable bill
When I first moved to Korea, there were lots of little things I had to do in which I had no idea how to do it. One of those was setting up a bank account. I chose a bank at random and entered, wondering what to do. A fairly attractive woman in kind of a uniform approached me, brought me to the teller, and attempted to translate for me with her own nearly-nonexistent English skills. Task completed, and then on the way out I noticed the gun strapped to my helper's belt. They have armed guards in Korean banks? Let alone attractive, nonthreatening, helpful ones? Do they even have bank robberies? Every time I returned to that bank I looked for the armed guard, and constructed numerous implausible fantasies.

It's difficult doing things like this, because there are a lot of things not permitted for foreigners, or you need ridiculous amounts of ID, fees, or medical tests just to sign up for free e-mail. You never know what you're allowed and what you can't do. Another more difficult task was getting a home Internet connection. I was told I could easily pay the bills that arrive in the mail by taking them to the bank. So I went to the bank and there she was, and she helped me over to the counter.

I didn't know how to pay the bill, so I brought all my bank account information, my foreigner registration card, and even my passport. I gave them the bill and the money, and they were confused. So I gave them my bank card to show I was a customer, and they were confused. I provided all the other documents, but they didn't really want to see any of them. It took about ten minutes, and then finally the security guard told me "We think this is not your bill."

They refused payment of my bill...very slowly. Why? Here was the bill in my name, my bank account, and several proofs of ID. I lost cable for several days as a result.

My (Korean) then girlfriend told me all I had to do was go to the bank and give them the bill and pay the money. Nothing else was needed. So why did they refuse to accept it? Their only reason was that they thought the bill belonged to some sort of scam artist who gives bills to foreigners in order to trick them into paying 20 000 won (probably about 10 pounds).

Anyway, I was so adamant that I couldn't do it, she took the bill. She went to a bank that was not my home branch, where I was not a member, without any of my ID. She gave them the bill and the money, and they gave her a receipt. Not once did they tell her "We think this bill is not yours."

It's been over five years, but I'd really like to go back to that bank and ask them what they were thinking.
(racetraitor has an alibi for, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 6:17, 1 reply)

Sounds like
living in Japan too. The amount of extra shit they will cause in your life by being "helpful"
(knackerz is skinning up, Fri 17 Jul 2009, 7:23, closed)