I HATE the Dominican Republic

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
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Today at the Banco del Retroceso. I need to cash a check for one of the residents of our residencial. She pays the maintenance fee by check, signed in advance since she lives abroad. I passed on the administration of the residencial to another neighbor but the checks were already made out on my name, so I cash them for the neighbor who has the administration right now.

I use my 'valuable' time to make a line in the Banco del Retroceso, when it's my turn the clueless cashier girl takes a long while, talks to a clueless manager (also a lady) who makes two phone calls and then the cashier comes back at me: me informan que la firma esta alterada. I won't show a picture of the check here, but what it has is that the letter Y in the name had a slightly thicker line on one of the 'arms'. I know you shouldn't fight with ignorant Dominicans, but I did (not achieving anything ofcourse).

Anyway.....WHEN will I finally be back in an environment where people think for themselves and not follow some programmed rules like if they are trained ........ never mind.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
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Oh boy, if we all start telling the stories of dealing with banks here.....

We keep a dollar account at BHD. Because it sometimes takes so long to clear a US check, I deposit way before I need it. So Mr. AE goes into the branch [okay, he was dressed very casually, I think even leather flip flops], hands the bankbook to the teller along with a $5,000 check to deposit, and says he wants to withdraw $1000. Without opening/looking at the bankbook, the teller looked back at him and asked [rather loudly] "Do you HAVE $1000 to withdraw??"

I was off to the side, but when I saw the look on my husband's face I wanted to slip out the front door. It wasn't a pretty scene, and ended with a subdued and apologetic teller.
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
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yahoomail.com
Dominicans have a MORBID FEAR of cashing ANY personal checks!
They look for ANY excuse to reject them!
The "Altered" excuse is their ALL TIME FAVORITE!
I have been cashing my personal checks at the SAME "Casa de Cambio" for OVER 28 YEARS!!!!!!!!!
I once wrote a 12, instead of a 13 for the new year.
I made the 2, into a 3, "Altered", "No Bueno"!!!!
The US bank will not accept it!
Since I only brought one check, I made a "STINK"!
I finally told them, "If the check is returned, I will pay you double what it is made out for, that would have been 6,000 US!
They cashed it, and Guess What????
It was cashed by my US bank!
Part of the problem there is, most of the people working as cashiers there were not even BORN when I started cashing checks there!
The "Old Guys" that I have know for those 28 years,all work in the back of the house now.
Sometimes NEW cashiers ask to see my "Pasaporte".
I tell them to "Check Your Files" there's a copy there!
If the owner isn't there to tell them to cash my checks, they "Busca Problemas", that means,..."Customer Service" in Spanish!!!!!
Maybe we can find a nice Duplex in Amsterdam at a good price???????????
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jstarebel

Silver
Oct 4, 2013
3,330
333
83
These posts explain why I continue to bank in the US. Direct deposits , transfers even if need be, but I'm not dealing with this stuff. Feel sorry for guys that have to bank here because of local business transactions. FYI, its the same all over the Caribbean.
 
Sep 4, 2012
5,931
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Nothing to argue about here. Banking in DR is by far the most aggravating experience any human can expect. Banking folks are as stupid as a lose squirrel in the middle of the street.

I hate banking here with the most deepest passion, they are clueless idiots on these regards.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
i have been waiting 8 years for my bank to fix my name in their paperwork. it's not even misspelled, it's simply cut in two because those idiots here cannot accept the fact someone can only have one last name. so they always split it in half. despite the fact they see in front of them a cedula that spells it as one word (i need to correct the morons in oficina de cedulacion every single time, you'd think they'd get it right too).

other than that i cannot really complain about banking here apart from the fact that everything always takes so damn long.
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
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South Coast
i have been waiting 8 years for my bank to fix my name in their paperwork. it's not even misspelled, it's simply cut in two because those idiots here cannot accept the fact someone can only have one last name. so they always split it in half. despite the fact they see in front of them a cedula that spells it as one word (i need to correct the morons in oficina de cedulacion every single time, you'd think they'd get it right too).

other than that i cannot really complain about banking here apart from the fact that everything always takes so damn long.

Speaking of names.... When they opened our bank accounts, they refused to use my married name on the account [my passport has both maiden and married, not hypenated, maiden is middle name]. So Mr. AE has his two surnames, and I have my maiden name. Inevitably I forget and sign my married name, which causes a fluster every time :)
 

granca

Bronze
Aug 20, 2007
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I just do not understand why so many people have so many difficulties with Dominican Banks. I bank with Banco Popular whenever I go i am treated with the utmost courtesy, nearly all staff greet me and ask after my health. I go to the bank teller, produce my bank book and cedula and ask for mil or dos mil dollars the teller plays with his computer and passes me a paper to sign and fill in my cedular number. I have great difficulty writing since a stroke a few years ago but I sign my abbreviated signature he or she fills in my cedula number for me and counts out my dollars for me and bids me good day. I've only had one silly problem recently. I took out a 2 year CD but when I checked it over the weekend found they had issued it as a 2 month CD. I went back into the bank and saw the girl who had dealt with it for me, she apologised and suggested that the best course of action would be for me to go back in just after the due date and do a new one, commenting that the interest rate could have gone up by then, it couldn't go much lower ! I saw no problem and so agreed. Dominicans are great and marvellous at reponding to politeness.
 

granca

Bronze
Aug 20, 2007
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0
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I forgot to add that transferring money from my UK account just couldn't be easier or simpler. it takes a maximum of 10 minutes on the computer. I contact my transfer agent HiFX Ltd, arrange the transfer with them. transfer the money from my UK account to HiFX and four days later its in my Banco Popular account at no charge nor fee to me
 

RV429

Bronze
Apr 3, 2011
1,574
1
36
"Busca Problemas", that means,..."Customer Service" in Spanish!!!!!
This may be your best line EVER ccccccc.
 

bronzeallspice

Live everyday like it's your last
Mar 26, 2012
11,009
2
38
Banking in the DR can sometimes be a nightmare. Although not every bank that you go to
gives bad customer service but I do have to say that with some of the tellers you just want to
reach over and grab then by the necks and give it a good squeeze.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
I just do not understand why so many people have so many difficulties with Dominican Banks.

yeah, like i said, it ain't that bad. i am known to roll my eyes and make faces at the tellers because i feel like i am aging with double speed while they move in slow motion but generally no big issues. worse than UK but way better than poland...

when i was moving to DR i went to my polish bank to close my account used to receive the university grant from the government. went to the customer service and old bruja there tells me closing on the account is not possible. i need to apply in writing, send the letter to the central office in warsaw and they should respond within a month. wtf? i said i do not have a month, i am moving to DR. bruja saw some telenovela type of a story and asked me why. so i filled her in on falling in love,moving to get married, all that. she got all teary at how beautiful our love was and closed my account then and there. god help me. good thing i had a sankie story to tell ;)
 

Doncamilo

New member
Jun 22, 2012
23
0
0
Banco popular is the worst in my book.
When I opened my account there..it has been nothing but hassle. Honestly saying?NOT my fault, but all theirs!
Spelling my name wrong in the system?I told them?no change made?.then when changing my card next year?BIG problems. Nobody had a clue if I was really who I said I was :rolleyes:.
Passport shows the Netherlands as home country?.5 min in the hands of the clerk?and the systems shows I live in Belgium. When I mentioned that mistake?.?ahh si?no problema??.?? Some months later, out of the blue my account was blocked. Not possible to have it opened via telephone. I had to come by the office, not any office, nooo... the office where I originally opened the account. Sat there for 1,5 hour before being served and guess what?there was some sort of a security issue. The information in the system did not match my passport info. Something with the country?????

No I let my wife deal with that crap, cause I can?t go without being rude??.politely of course ;))
 

kampinge

Member
Jan 18, 2012
392
0
16
I have the same good experience with Banco Popular in Santiago. Customer since 12 years back never got a problem. But ok ,I never cashed a US$ check
I just do not understand why so many people have so many difficulties with Dominican Banks. I bank with Banco Popular whenever I go i am treated with the utmost courtesy, nearly all staff greet me and ask after my health. I go to the bank teller, produce my bank book and cedula and ask for mil or dos mil dollars the teller plays with his computer and passes me a paper to sign and fill in my cedular number. I have great difficulty writing since a stroke a few years ago but I sign my abbreviated signature he or she fills in my cedula number for me and counts out my dollars for me and bids me good day. I've only had one silly problem recently. I took out a 2 year CD but when I checked it over the weekend found they had issued it as a 2 month CD. I went back into the bank and saw the girl who had dealt with it for me, she apologised and suggested that the best course of action would be for me to go back in just after the due date and do a new one, commenting that the interest rate could have gone up by then, it couldn't go much lower ! I saw no problem and so agreed. Dominicans are great and marvellous at reponding to politeness.
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
I forgot to add that transferring money from my UK account just couldn't be easier or simpler. it takes a maximum of 10 minutes on the computer. I contact my transfer agent HiFX Ltd, arrange the transfer with them. transfer the money from my UK account to HiFX and four days later its in my Banco Popular account at no charge nor fee to me

Anything that they managed to automate is hassle free. I wire money from an account in the USA to a Banco Popular account monthly and it takes 1 minute. The money is in the Banco Popular account the same day. Sometimes in half an hour, sometimes it takes maybe 2 hours.

And besides that Banco Popular is probably the most advanced bank when talking about service (except that I don't trust them with the foreign exchange rates. It has happened just too many times that they rate is 10 or 20 cents higher (never lower) than the sign says (when I buy Euros). Today I thought let me ask first what the rate to SELL euros (to the bank) is and only then the rate to buy. And yes...at the end it was 20 cents higher than the sign said, but at least the rate for me to sell to the bank was also a little higher than the rate on the sign.

Anyway, my experience was with the 'busca problemas' of Banco del 'Progreso'.
 

drstock

Silver
Oct 29, 2010
4,502
2,086
113
Cabarete
Slightly off topic, but when I got my moto insurance here, they copied my name from my passport. When the laminated card came through, my name was written as "Jonathan Martin British Citizen"!
 

kampinge

Member
Jan 18, 2012
392
0
16
Nice name, they aren't used with just two names
Slightly off topic, but when I got my moto insurance here, they copied my name from my passport. When the laminated card came through, my name was written as "Jonathan Martin British Citizen"!
 

Mauricio

Gold
Nov 18, 2002
5,607
7
38
Well.....this is also Banco Popular...I have no desire to go to the process of getting a credit card on my name. I don't have a local employer and dont want to get reference letters from my dutch banks, so my wife opens the accounts and credit cards we think we need and we asked for a duplicate Credit card on the same account. Actually I didn't need to ask anything. My wife called them and told them on the phone she wanted a duplicate cc with her husbands name on it. No problem: what's his name and cedula number? I happen to have three names and one last name. My wife gave them my name and cedula number. I don't know how they determined what would be the name on the card, whatever my wife told them, or what the cedula systems says, but on the card my first name is written wrong, my two middle names are used as two last names (I think) and my last name is omitted.

Happily in the supermarket the cashiers are not as picky as the cashier I encountered this morning, when comparing the credit card information with the cedula I'm showing.
 

Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
21,843
191
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yahoomail.com
My "Middle Name","Robert" is listed on most of my Dominican documents as my "Last Name".
That's "OK" since they can pronounce THAT!
Makes me harder to find as well!

Here's a valuable tip to avoid waiting in "Lines" here in the DR.
Go when it is raining like hell!
And, NEVER go to the bank on the 15th,25th.,30/31st, or a Friday!
I go midweek, 3 pm, and hope it RAINS!
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I have been waiting for Banco Reservas to send my bank statements by email for over 15 years!!!!!
For a few years I reapplied every 6 months or so, they would ALWAYS promise it would then start coming, NEVER HAS!
They DO seem to be able to send their emails about bank promotions/events, with "No Problemo"!