How to piss off your bank in China
In a wonderfully uplifting story of customer-turns-tables-on-bank, a solution has been found for people wishing to avenge all those wasted hours at the hands of Chinese banking incompetence, reluctance, and procrastination. There’s only one drawback; you’ll need RMB500 000 to execute it:
A Chongqing bus operator that purchased a bus decided to pay for the RMB500,000 purchase in cash–the kind of cash that bus operators are in no shortage of: RMB1 notes.
The money filled 13 burlap sacks that weighed 30 kilograms each. Put together, they occupied 9 square meters. When the time came to pick up the money, the supplier drove an eight-seat van to Chongqing.
The supplier promptly took the load of bills to a bank on Jinyang Lu (in west Chengdu), where the sacks of money caused an uproar. Seven staff members working four hours per day can make their way through only one bag of bills.
Bank manager Li Wei was annoyed. He and half of his 14-strong staff dedicated their two-hour lunch break to dealing with the massive quantity of bills. According to standard bank procedure, each bill must be sorted into categories based on the bill’s condition, and then by year of production. Then each bill needs to be smoothed out and its corners straightened. Only then can it be counted and bundled into stacks of 100.
April 29th, 2010 at 2:40 am
Resorting to something this trivial to deliberately take a swipe at China?
April 29th, 2010 at 8:41 am
I think it gives instant gratification. But as the bank now has more reason to waste time (its has all that money to count, right?), the underlying problem is still not solved…
April 29th, 2010 at 10:35 am
Never get in line behind the guys with the big burlap sacks, huh? I got stuck behind an old geezer who wanted to withdraw 100,000 in hundreds one time, and that took quite long enough.
By the way, I think I’m getting eaten by your spam filter again – I left a couple of comments yesterday which seem to have disappeared.
April 29th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
@ ph
Very true. Then again, I’m out of the Chinese banking loop for now – so I can afford to laugh.
@ Juche
What the hell are you on about? Taking a swipe at China?
I’d have thought you’d have more pressing concerns than to harass humble foundinchina in the wake of DPRK’s torpedogate. A Chinese torpedo, apparently. And probably paid for in cash at the Pyonyang branch of BOC.
April 29th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
@ Froog
Many Chinese still prefer to settle even large deals (such as property buys) in cash. Then you end up behind either the withdrawer or the depositor in the queue. Or, on a really bad day, both.
Sorry about my spam filter – you got caught and Michelle slipped through!
April 30th, 2010 at 7:45 am
stuart,
Apparently your site doesn’t tolerate *harmony*, how about “what a *harmonious person* you are stuart. A bored *harmonious person*? *harmony*!
What the hell are you talking about? A Chinese torpedo? Unless you know something Kim Tae-young and 2MB don’t know (and by all means, share with us please!), you are just BSing as you have been. *harmony*!
April 30th, 2010 at 10:10 am
It’s a shakedown, Juche.
There’s no need for the lack of civility. Your comment has been ‘harmonized’.
As for the torpedo’s origin, it’s all in the report:
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/04/26/u-s-official-n-korea-torpedo-likely-sunk-s-korean-warship/
An act of war, I believe.
May 1st, 2010 at 1:27 am
An impassioned commenter should voice his concerns more frequently. Otherwise, too much pressure builds up while staying away. Which may then result in uncivilized comments.
May 1st, 2010 at 7:29 am
Justrecently,
Oh really? What is there more to say about stuart’s so-predictable, alarmist diatribe? Too much pressure? From who? stuart? You’ve got to be kidding.
stuart,
“The Korea Times is reporting a Chinese developed Type EO-3G torpedo may have been the weapon used. It is said to have the homing capability to hit a ship after tracking the vessel’s screws acoustically. ”
Is that all you’ve got? A two-liner from the Korea Times? “may have been”? Anything more conclusive and convincing from the SK government or hell, the US government?
May 1st, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Hi Juche,
of course it can’t have been torpedos from China. So far, only Chinese tanks are equipped with German motors, so that they can at least manage the parade every October 1.
When the Taiwanese will, with your kind permission, get their submarines from Germany, your Liberation Navy can get German torpedos, too.
Deal?
May 1st, 2010 at 10:07 pm
Dunno what’s alarmist about a bus operator who actually manages to make Chinese bank clerks work.
And a “swipe at China”? Is it? Isn’t the bus operator Chinese, too?