US Customer Support from DR is Useless

[chico bill]

I am looking to receive documents from one of my banks in the US
It took me several days 10 days ago dealing with the morons at Bank of America (never use that bank). After some CDs I hold mature I will close the accounts.
Calling from DR is time consuming and pricey but that wouldn't matter if you could talk to one person and get things done - all you get are people who are non-native English speakers. Most are Asian or Jamaican with heavy accents that are near impossible to decipher, but after speaking with 3 people at B of A the package finally got sent. ( I had to ask the first lady to give me someone who I could understand )

But instead of sending it via DHL, as was promised B of A sent it by UPS. (they have become almost as bad as USPS)
So UPS can't seem to find a street called Pedro Clisante in El Batey, Sosua, 57000.
One water-head even told me the town does not exist in thier system !

So after being transferred 4 times in UPS, the last non-English speaking person told me it will be updated. All I did was repeat the shipping address which was on the envelope, which was correct except Domex was misspelled as Domax by B of A.
Had they shipped it via DHL, as I requested and was promised, it would have arrived by now.

Dealing with customer service in the US the past few years is like playing whack-a-mole with a blindfold on.
But you are certain to get someone near useless. And they want to raise wages ?

 

[SKY]

Calling for "customer service" to the US you NEVER get a living human until you press a dozen or more buttons and then you are on hold listening to Nat King Cole. After that you get an illegal foreigner that you cannot understand and can do NOTHING for you. But the US is tops. Just don't go to a Mall, Church, or school without a bullet proof vest..............

 

[JLSawmam]

OP mentions Domex and the documents were to be shipped by DHL. I assume they were to be sent to Domex in Miami, same as packages? If so, were they not received there? Or were they to be sent via DHL or UPS to Domex in Sosua?

BTW, there are some apps that you can use to get a free "US" number that allows you to call toll-free numbers. At least that would take the pricey part of the calling headaches away

 

[JLSawmam]

Calling for "customer service" to the US you NEVER get a living human until you press a dozen or more buttons and then you are on hold listening to Nat King Cole. After that you get an illegal foreigner that you cannot understand and can do NOTHING for you. But the US is tops. Just don't go to a Mall, Church, or school without a bullet proof vest..............

The hate in this is completely unnecessary.

 

[chico bill]

OP mentions Domex and the documents were to be shipped by DHL. I assume they were to be sent to Domex in Miami, same as packages? If so, were they not received there? Or were they to be sent via DHL or UPS to Domex in Sosua?

BTW, there are some apps that you can use to get a free "US" number that allows you to call toll-free numbers. At least that would take the pricey part of the calling headaches away

I could not send them to a forwarding service, the bank's rules. In any event Bank of America is likely on its way out of business in the next couple years so I will be glad to take away by business.

 

[cavok]

DHL is way better than UPS or FedEX when sending something to the DR. The few times I received something from UPS it was delivered right to my door. No need to send it to a courier here for pick up(?). Same with DHL and FedEx - delivered to my condo door.

I use Skype to call the US. It's $3.40/mo. for unlimited calls. I call the US enough that it's well worth it.

Most of the customer reps I usually get are Indians. Very hard to understand.

 

[Mm530]

Calling for "customer service" to the US you NEVER get a living human until you press a dozen or more buttons and then you are on hold listening to Nat King Cole. After that you get an illegal foreigner that you cannot understand and can do NOTHING for you. But the US is tops. Just don't go to a Mall, Church, or school without a bullet proof vest..............

This is funny but you are describing small town america with the whole bullet proof thing. In major cities in the US where MOST people live like Nyc, philadelphia, Houston , Miami , Charlotte ... You will rarely if ever experience this. I lived in Philadelphia all my life and grew up around love, diversity, culture and amazing food options! So please actually KNOW what your talking about

 

[josh2203]

I'm not exactly sure how is this DR related (aside from the OP being in the DR)? It might well be that UPS nor their employees are experts on DR related addresses, as even DR based companies are often not...

 

[chico bill]

I'm not exactly sure how is this DR related (aside from the OP being in the DR)? It might well be that UPS nor their employees are experts on DR related addresses, as even DR based companies are often not...

One DR issue is UPS can't relate to a verified DR commercial addresses & that it couldn't find Calle Pedro Clisante and apparently didn't even have Sosua in their system although they had Santiago.
The failing of once good companies that used to work in DR 6-7 years ago can only be blamed on useless hires.
I think this forebodes a coming failure of all Western countries as Gen Z fails up.
Keep in mind I had 4 people transfer me until I was finally in contact with UPS's "international shipping operations", who seemed to know little about DR and about the only thing international about it was the voice seemed Asian, with some of the worst English imaginable.. not Spanish for DR help, which I could have understood far better than a person who had no business pretending to speak English.
All call centers now seemed equally ill equipped.

 

[johne]

I could not send them to a forwarding service, the bank's rules. In any event Bank of America is likely on its way out of business in the next couple years so I will be glad to take away by business.

LOL...probably too late for you CB. Back to your OP: Did you establish and open your account in the US? Do you have any relationship with the branch or a contact at the local branch? I ask because this subject hits home with me as about a month ago my principal checking account at BOA was hacked. I know how it was done. It was caused by a business contact in the US that owed me some money and wasn't knowledgable on the use of Zelle. He screwed that up BIG time and I got hacked because he put information out there that was prime info for the guys in the black hats.

BOA fraud dept was absolutely 100% on it for me while I sat in the DR scared to death that this is a BIG problem because of communicating
as you pointed out in your post. Turned out fine...because I spoke directly to my contact at the bank in the states. Done deal. New account. Reimbursement. Etc. The works.
I have no comments regarding any other parts of your post regarding the effect of your withdrawal of your funds or the solvency of BOA.

 

[SKY]

OP mentions Domex and the documents were to be shipped by DHL. I assume they were to be sent to Domex in Miami, same as packages? If so, were they not received there? Or were they to be sent via DHL or UPS to Domex in Sosua?

The best way is NOT to send it to Domex or EPS in Miami, but direct to an office in the DR. I had documents sent that way and had no problem receiving them................

 

[RDKNIGHT]

Fed Ex never a problem ..

 

[josh2203]

One DR issue is UPS can't relate to a verified DR commercial addresses & that it couldn't find Calle Pedro Clisante and apparently didn't even have Sosua in their system although they had Santiago.

So just for me to understand: You sent the mail to Domex address in Sosua? I'm asking this because you mentioned UPS in the first post and that they would not send it to Domex in Miami? I agree that this would make it DR related but rather so that the addressing system in the DR is simply c**p... If the US based UPS employee had used Google Maps, locating that street in Sosua would not have been an issue, but who knows what does an UPS internal system have for foreign countries where addresses are not assigned/used in the same manner than in the US/EU... This despite the fact that UPS may have offices in the DR. Just my humble opinion...

 

[chico bill]

So just for me to understand: You sent the mail to Domex address in Sosua? I'm asking this because you mentioned UPS in the first post and that they would not send it to Domex in Miami? I agree that this would make it DR related but rather so that the addressing system in the DR is simply c**p... If the US based UPS employee had used Google Maps, locating that street in Sosua would not have been an issue, but who knows what does an UPS internal system have for foreign countries where addresses are not assigned/used in the same manner than in the US/EU... This despite the fact that UPS may have offices in the DR. Just my humble opinion...

I asked them and they agreed to use DHL. So I provided an address for the end destination which is a DHL affiliate.
The idiots used UPS instead. Could not use a freight forwarder address. And I'm paying for the 'expedited' shipping - likely I'll never see the documents m
You will find many shippers won't ship to them (even from Amazon)

 

[josh2203]

I asked them and they agreed to use DHL. So I provided an address for the end destination which is a DHL affiliate.
The idiots used UPS instead.

Got it, thanks for the clarification. Don't know that bank, sorry for your bad experience... I once had to ship a card from Germany to the DR, and believe it or not, the forwarder from Germany to US refused the shipment due to the contents, but card issuer had no problem with a forwarder in Germany nor Domex in Miami... So I gave the card issuer the Domex address in Miami and I received the card in POP in less than 2 weeks...

Could not use a freight forwarder address. And I'm paying for the 'expedited' shipping - likely I'll never see the documents m
You will find many shippers won't ship to them (even from Amazon)

Yes, I been there done that... Many Ebay sellers have cancelled my orders due to the address, saying that the Ebay system won't allow them to print a label with that or something. I have then replied that do whatever you have to do to put it through in the system and then just hand write the proper Domex address on the package and that you can see on my Ebay profile that I'm not any scammer. Most times that has in fact worked, but some don't reply afterwards... If they reply with something less than polite, I just let them know that no problem, already found your article from another seller and order is placed...

 

[reilleyp]

I am looking to receive documents from one of my banks in the US
It took me several days 10 days ago dealing with the morons at Bank of America (never use that bank). After some CDs I hold mature I will close the accounts.
Calling from DR is time consuming and pricey but that wouldn't matter if you could talk to one person and get things done - all you get are people who are non-native English speakers. Most are Asian or Jamaican with heavy accents that are near impossible to decipher, but after speaking with 3 people at B of A the package finally got sent. ( I had to ask the first lady to give me someone who I could understand )

But instead of sending it via DHL, as was promised B of A sent it by UPS. (they have become almost as bad as USPS)
So UPS can't seem to find a street called Pedro Clisante in El Batey, Sosua, 57000.
One water-head even told me the town does not exist in thier system !

So after being transferred 4 times in UPS, the last non-English speaking person told me it will be updated. All I did was repeat the shipping address which was on the envelope, which was correct except Domex was misspelled as Domax by B of A.
Had they shipped it via DHL, as I requested and was promised, it would have arrived by now.

Dealing with customer service in the US the past few years is like playing whack-a-mole with a blindfold on.
But you are certain to get someone near useless. And they want to raise wages ?

Are emailed copies not an option for you?

 

[chico bill]

Are emailed copies not an option for you?

No

 

[reilleyp]

No

If it is a check, have it sent to the US. Then have someone take a photo and email or text it to you. You can then take a photo of the photo and use mobile deposit if your bank supports it.

 

[chico bill]

If it is a check, have it sent to the US. Then have someone take a photo and email or text it to you. You can then take a photo of the photo and use mobile deposit if your bank supports it.

It is not a check - it is some documents I need to execute for an affiliate of B of A, a Merrill Edge account. However I can assure B of A on my next trip to the US all 3 accounts I hold with them will be closed.
Between B of A and UPS I have talked to 9 people to try to facilitate this. But it's OK only a couple more months and I will be there to deal with incompetence.
I can say (so far) when I call Schwab and Citibank I get real English Speakers, who seem capable. Chase Bank seems to be going downhill the last two years too.
What it really boils down to is I have 8 accounts and that's too many, I will cull 3.
But as bad as Banco Santa Cruz service can be in comparing it to Bank of America - Santa Cruz isn't any worse. The only plus on B of A's side is their ATMs always seem to be functioning unlike BSC.