Stupid and ignorant bank staffs are in many banks here!

If you talk English like you write it I can understand why the bank staff dont have a clue what you are on about. Are you teaching English here in Vietnam by any chance??

charmavietnam wrote:

Guys, my English is very BAD to listen but how about writing?

Um...since you asked, I have difficulty following what you write, sometimes.

Syntax issues and misspellings mostly.

Cheers!

n1tw1t wrote:

If you talk English like you write it I can understand why the bank staff dont have a clue what you are on about.

Please try to make a nice username yourself as a BRITISH, uncle
No, am not intend to TEACH English in forums with grammar rules
DON'T remember the 'old days' and 'climb over' me uncle
India already got independence

Sure, was bit angry when created the post so...

I can just imagine the situation with you at the bank trying to lord it over some poor Vietnamese bank teller in your broken English & trying to get a loan too!!!! bet he or she was thinking, you got little to no chance mate & then gave you the run around.

Bank staff are very inflexible and scared to make decisions. Ive had numerous issues with staff over the years, free thinking just doesn't seem to be part of ghe job.

What made me angry is that the Techcombank staff told me - 'yes, you can open new account, transfer money from Vietcombank, open new Savings Deposit with that money and finally take a loan from that Savings Deposit
Then I told her that, em oi please ask your boss before fill the forms

Yeah, I did experience several times these kind of situations from Vietnam bank staffs. Surprise is that even bank manager has no clue about banking rules!

colinoscapee wrote:

Bank staff are very inflexible and scared to make decisions. Ive had numerous issues with staff over the years, free thinking just doesn't seem to be part of ghe job.

colinoscapee wrote:

Bank staff are very inflexible and scared to make decisions. Ive had numerous issues with staff over the years, free thinking just doesn't seem to be part of ghe job.

Yeah, as I posted in another thread, I've asked the question about opening a bank account five different ways, but it wasn't until the 5th time that they were willing to say yes.

Perhaps NO is the default with foreigners...

I was trying to either xfer USD at VCB HCM downtown.  For an hour, both my wife I peppered the nice clerk, asking could we xfer direct...NO...can we xfer from my USD acct to my VN wif's acct, then to US?...NO...after the hour was happily over, I thanked the clerk for no help at all.  She had told us 8-10x NO :-)

Now, chi oi, that we know all the NO's, can you tell us the YES ways?  Surely a bank with so many NO's must have 1-2 ways to say YES.  There were only 2...My wife could xfer funds out of VN, if she were to be permanently moving to US, and I needed to document the source of the money.

VN is like a black hole for USD

what an idiot.

i agree 100% with your comment. God help all expats with total knobs like that on the loose.

Neil Farrington wrote:

what an idiot.

There are a lot of us competing for that title in this thread.

Could you be less ignorant and use the quote feature so we know who gets the trophy?

Is there any so called international bank like HSBC you can try? I think you have been lucky with the Vietnamese banks until this happened.

Just FYI, India has the second largest English speaking population in the world, behind only the US.  Of course not all speak as a first language but the use of English is widespread.  I have given students listening exercises with Indian speakers, because I firmly believe that they will need to be able to follow Indian accented speakers in business settings.  I related to them that one of my neighbors worked in HR for a very large multi-national, which I will not name here, and that all top level staff meetings were in English because the overall country head was Indian. 

I don't think anyone can deny that Charmavietnam is a valuable contributor to this forum, particularly on visa issues.  Its just that he got a little emotional in this case, and maybe did not edit his post well.

THIGV wrote:

I have given students listening exercises with Indian speakers, because I firmly believe that they will need to be able to follow Indian accented speakers in business settings.

So true!

I used to go to Abu Dhabi for training.
The teacher was an Indian woman.
My English was not as good as that of my colleagues.
I understood only about 30% of what the Indian teacher said while my colleagues understood practically everything.

Especially for people who don't speak English perfectly it is difficult to understand English speaking Asians.

I am totally mystified by the problems noted here on banking in Vietnam & opening a bank account. Let me give you my experiance.
1....I went to Sacombank main office with my passport, 3 months tourist visa, a letter from my international bank to say i had been a customer there for 10 years confirming my accounts there were genuinely financed by my salary & legal investments & proof of address in Vietnam.
2........I was immediately assigned an English speaking assistant (I SPEAK NO VIETNAMESE) who introduced me to my soon to be relationship manager & I explained my requirement.
3......within 2 hours i had 3 accounts opened. One Current  USD, one Current VND  & one VND Term Deposit & had my internet banking up running.
4.......3 days later I returned to pick up my debit card & account books & confirmed that the funds transferred from my International bank (not in Vietnam) had been received & all was good.
All through this process i was treated with the utmost respect, professionalism & friendliness.
5.......Sacombank on line banking site is excellent & easy to use & since opening these accounts i have transferred money in to & out of Vietnam on many occasions without any problems.
6......You get what you give as in any country. If you are polite & understanding to will get the same back. At Sacombank branches I have only had  friendliness, politeness & to be honnest as a Westerner VIP treatment in every visit. 
7........Wonder how a Vietnamese person speaking absolutely no English would get on trying to open a bank account in UK, USA, OZ or India & even better trying to borrow money there????

n1tw1t wrote:

I am totally mystified by the problems noted here on banking in Vietnam & opening a bank account. Let me give you my experiance.
1....I went to Sacombank main office with my passport, 3 months tourist visa, a letter from my international bank to say i had been a customer there for 10 years confirming my accounts there were genuinely financed by my salary & legal investments & proof of address in Vietnam.
2........I was immediately assigned an English speaking assistant (I SPEAK NO VIETNAMESE) who introduced me to my soon to be relationship manager & I explained my requirement.
3......within 2 hours i had 3 accounts opened. One Current  USD, one Current VND  & one VND Term Deposit & had my internet banking up running.
4.......3 days later I returned to pick up my debit card & account books & confirmed that the funds transferred from my International bank (not in Vietnam) had been received & all was good.
All through this process i was treated with the utmost respect, professionalism & friendliness.
5.......Sacombank on line banking site is excellent & easy to use & since opening these accounts i have transferred money in to & out of Vietnam on many occasions without any problems.
6......You get what you give as in any country. If you are polite & understanding to will get the same back. At Sacombank branches I have only had  friendliness, politeness & to be honnest as a Westerner VIP treatment in every visit. 
7........Wonder how a Vietnamese person speaking absolutely no English would get on trying to open a bank account in UK, USA, OZ or India & even better trying to borrow money there????

Just to give you an example of how ridiculous they can be.

My brother was called by his local branch, they knew him by name and by face. They asked him to come to the branch. Money had been sent to him from a friend in Australia. The sender didn't put my brothers middle name on the transfer.

They asked him about a transfer to his account, he informed them of the amount, the sender and the location. All this info matched. They discussed the transfer for 2.5 hours, as the sender didn't put my brothers middle name. The bank rang my brother knowing it was him, he confirmed everything they needed, yet they just couldn't think outside the square.

Finally my brother had had enough, he asked if there was a form that could be completed making him liable for any problems. "Oh yes" came the reply. Out came the form and he was on his way. It took 2.5 hours to solve a problem that should never have been a problem. Banking staff here are poorly trained and can't think for themselves. My ex-gf is very high in the banking sector and she has 500 staff under her, most of them useless, her words not mine.

"I DON'T want to hear, "THIS IS VIETNAM..."

You are so right!
It's NOT Vietnam, It's YOU.

I hope you don't teach English like you write.
Also, maybe when you are doing banking, YOU should pay attention to what's going on and NOT talk on the phone for and hour and a half.

Go home. Good luck.

Wxx3 wrote:

hope you don't teach English like you write.

"Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English.  It means they know another language." - H. Jackson Browne Jr.

How's your Hindi?  If you read up on charmavietnam's previous posts you would know that he is an entrepreneur and not a teacher.  Don't be so quick to pull the trigger.  I am fully deputized by the Grammar Police and I will be watching you.    

Wxx3 wrote:

Go home. Good luck.

Are you suggesting that a valuable expat member of this forum should return to his home country?  I certainly hope not.  Unless you are a Vietnamese citizen that's not really your call, is it?

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Andy Passenger wrote:

THIGV wrote:

I have given students listening exercises with Indian speakers, because I firmly believe that they will need to be able to follow Indian accented speakers in business settings.

So true!

I used to go to Abu Dhabi for training.
The teacher was an Indian woman.
My English was not as good as that of my colleagues.
I understood only about 30% of what the Indian teacher said while my colleagues understood practically everything.

Especially for people who don't speak English perfectly it is difficult to understand English speaking Asians.

Unfortunately (in my experience) it seems that, in an effort to be both precise with their language AND culturally/socially deferential to the listener, ESL speakers in India, Vietnam and the Philippines all tend to utter a lot of superfluous words that aren't truly necessary in communicating their point(s).

Personally, it drives me nuts when I call an American company for assistance, only to discover I'm talking to an offshore representative somewhere across the Pacific.

"As you yourself most very certainly might understand completely, my very dear and highly respected forum reader, it is very most difficulty a hard task for my quite dear and precious ears to both closely and patiently with significant accuracy listen concentratingly to and most fully comprehend the fully pseudo eloquence uttered most incessantly for my own precious so-called good benefit by the very most respected members of certain most highly esteemed and honorable ethnic groups of many peoples."

Anybody 'feel' me?

Very good!!KK

n1tw1t wrote:

At Sacombank branches I have only had  friendliness, politeness & to be honnest as a Westerner VIP treatment in every visit.

Before singing the praises of Sacombank, I suggest you read up on this:  https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/trial … 82403.html  This scandal originally occurred in 2012 when the government had to step in to stem a run on Sacombank deposits.  Of course I guess you could go with the old wives tale that lightning never strikes the same place twice.

n1tw1t wrote:

7........Wonder how a Vietnamese person speaking absolutely no English would get on trying to open a bank account in UK, USA, OZ or India & even better trying to borrow money there????

Have to agree with you on this one.  A lot of people forget to look in the rear view mirror once in a while.

THIGV wrote:

Wxx3 wrote:

hope you don't teach English like you write.

"Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English.  It means they know another language." - H. Jackson Browne Jr.

How's your Hindi?  If you read up on charmavietnam's previous posts you would know that he is an entrepreneur and not a teacher.  Don't be so quick to pull the trigger.  I am fully deputized by the Grammar Police and I will be watching you.    

Wxx3 wrote:

Go home. Good luck.

Are you suggesting that a valuable expat member of this forum should return to his home country?  I certainly hope not.  Unless you are a Vietnamese citizen that's not really your call, is it?

The initial post on this thread was a PERSONAL RANT!! not a post that had any informative, helpfull information what so ever or request for help from other members. Is that what this Forum is about?

n1tw1t wrote:

The initial post on this thread was a PERSONAL RANT!! not a post that had any informative, helpfull information what so ever or request for help from other members. Is that what this Forum is about?

The forum is about whatever its members want it to be, within the bounds placed by the moderators.  When you have contributed a small fraction of what charmavietnam has, get back to us.

Before singing the praises of Sacombank, I suggest you read up on this:  https://e.vnexpress.net/news/news/trial … 82403.html  This scandal originally occurred in 2012 when the government had to step in to stem a run on Sacombank deposits.  Of course I guess you could go with the old wives tale that lightning never strikes the same place

I already know about the problems Sacombank had in 2012 .....like 7 years ago, however what relevance has this got to my post detailing how well I am treated there?

Banking can be a problem for foreigners in VN.

My best experience in recent years has been with Asia Commercial Bank, abbreviated to ACB, which is the largest private bank in Vietnam by assets:

http://acb.com.vn/wps/portal/en

n1tw1t wrote:

I am totally mystified by the problems noted here on banking in Vietnam & opening a bank account. Let me give you my experiance.
1....I went to Sacombank main office with my passport, 3 months tourist visa, a letter from my international bank to say i had been a customer there for 10 years confirming my accounts there were genuinely financed by my salary & legal investments & proof of address in Vietnam.
2........I was immediately assigned an English speaking assistant (I SPEAK NO VIETNAMESE) who introduced me to my soon to be relationship manager & I explained my requirement.
3......within 2 hours i had 3 accounts opened. One Current  USD, one Current VND  & one VND Term Deposit & had my internet banking up running.
4.......3 days later I returned to pick up my debit card & account books & confirmed that the funds transferred from my International bank (not in Vietnam) had been received & all was good.
All through this process i was treated with the utmost respect, professionalism & friendliness.
5.......Sacombank on line banking site is excellent & easy to use & since opening these accounts i have transferred money in to & out of Vietnam on many occasions without any problems.
6......You get what you give as in any country. If you are polite & understanding to will get the same back. At Sacombank branches I have only had  friendliness, politeness & to be honnest as a Westerner VIP treatment in every visit. 
7........Wonder how a Vietnamese person speaking absolutely no English would get on trying to open a bank account in UK, USA, OZ or India & even better trying to borrow money there????

I had exactly the same experience with Sacombank.

When it comes to security, e-banking is at least as good as, if not superior to, Western banks.

Lately I've been using almost only the Smartphone App.

Wxx3 wrote:

"I DON'T want to hear, "THIS IS VIETNAM..."

You are so right!
It's NOT Vietnam, It's YOU.

I hope you don't teach English like you write.
Also, maybe when you are doing banking, YOU should pay attention to what's going on and NOT talk on the phone for and hour and a half.

Go home. Good luck.

Not sure if you should be taking someone to task over there English skills. Maybe you should check your own.

n1tw1t wrote:

I already know about the problems Sacombank had in 2012 .....like 7 years ago, however what relevance has this got to my post detailing how well I am treated there?

It depends.  Do you think there was a culture of corruption that was instantly cleared up in 2012 with everyone too scared to do anything illegal?  Do you think that only the chairman was crooked and everyone else in the bank just works in the interest of customers?  Hence my comment about lightning striking twice.  There are lots of places to park your money; take your choice.

THIGV wrote:

Its just that he got a little emotional in this case, and maybe did not edit his post well.

Thanks, some old members like you got me. I was on a run and just shared here because expat.com is one of my old 'playground' to help others. In return what am getting.... you know

Time is money! So I don't have much time to come here often like before as am bit busy with own business (yeah, Julian is not paying ) and many senior members are here to help newbies.
Anyway, I WILL deposit that amount in VIETNAM bank when I free

Okay guys, no more fight here!
Got some time today.
Paid EVN bill for this month through Vietcombank online and remembered that we can open 'Fixed Deposit' account online !
Found in the left pane and did it within 1 minute!


Actually, I saw this before but forgot due to multiple tasks during TET and now.
Anyway it's common sense the amount already in or out FD is verified the 'source of income' so no need a second verification, like many (stupid) banking staffs think. They are lazy to read or update the banking rules.
We, customers should suffer for their laziness and ignorance!

THIGV wrote:

Wxx3 wrote:

hope you don't teach English like you write.

"Never make fun of someone who speaks broken English.  It means they know another language." - H. Jackson Browne Jr.

How's your Hindi?  If you read up on charmavietnam's previous posts you would know that he is an entrepreneur and not a teacher.  Don't be so quick to pull the trigger.  I am fully deputized by the Grammar Police and I will be watching you.    

Wxx3 wrote:

Go home. Good luck.

Are you suggesting that a valuable expat member of this forum should return to his home country?  I certainly hope not.  Unless you are a Vietnamese citizen that's not really your call, is it?

I think you missed the point. He is complaining about the bank's poor communication. YET, he is speaking English in a not so clear manner (if he speaks like he writes) AND he expects someone who is peaking a second language to understand what he wants, WHILE he spends his time on the phone talking to his clients.

IN NO PLACE IN  THE WORLD is that a recipe for success.

But since he thinks so, maybe it is at his home!

Haven't been on here a while. This is the type of catfight I'm looking for to take the stress off my day.

Yeah but it's over

QuidProQuo wrote:

This is the type of catfight I'm looking for to take the stress off my day.

Nope, was talking about the 'ignorance of law' of banking staff !!

"Ignorantia juris non excusat" - For common people. So how about concerned department staff?

Language is NOT the issue here as someone may think but how to solve expatriates' problems!
Afterall, I was NOT seeking help from newbies
May be some of the 'old' members know me well that I am NOT getting anything but GIVING
Person who started the 'game of harrassing' is a newbie to this forum and in Vietnam.
When completing 10 years of 'successful' life here, am greatful to myself first for not being a dependent of ANYONE !
Yeah, I am proud of my arrogance because am not a person who exploit others for personal gains!
I suugest, you UNCLES, who want a retired life here shouldn't waste your time for these kind of small things but do some morning yoga then meditation, which will give you peace and happiness all day!

If you need help in Vietnam, just come to me. Yeah, it's absolutely FREE with a cup of Indian Tea or a Sapporo or a disənˈfektənt Pepsi

Wxx3 wrote:

I think you missed the point. He is complaining about the bank's poor communication

charmavietnam wrote:

Nope, was talking about the 'ignorance of law' of banking staff !!

"Ignorantia juris non excusat" - For common people. So how about concerned department staff?

Language is NOT the issue here as someone may think but how to solve expatriates' problems!
Afterall, I was NOT seeking help from newbies
May be some of the 'old' members know me well that I am NOT getting anything but GIVING
Person who started the 'game of harrassing' is a newbie to this forum and in Vietnam.
When completing 10 years of 'successful' life here, am greatful to myself first for not being a dependent of ANYONE !
Yeah, I am proud of my arrogance because am not a person who exploit others for personal gains!
I suugest, you UNCLES, who want a retired life here shouldn't waste your time for these kind of small things but do some morning yoga then meditation, which will give you peace and happiness all day!

If you need help in Vietnam, just come to me. Yeah, it's absolutely FREE with a cup of Indian Tea or a Sapporo or a disənˈfektənt Pepsi

Wxx3 wrote:

I think you missed the point. He is complaining about the bank's poor communication

Jees, another RANT!!! get a life man & go to evening class to learn how to write understandable English & by the way I am new to this forum but actually have lived in Vietnam since June 2008!
Remember also that just because you have been a member on this forum for a long time does not mean your countless posts are helpfull & relevant.
Its quality that counts, not quantity!

n1tw1t wrote:

Remember also that just because you have been a member on this forum for a long time does not mean your countless posts are helpfull & relevant.
Its quality that counts, not quantity!

I can plead guilty to the above.  Irrelevance can be fun.    However this accusation is really out of line if you wish to apply it to charmavietnam.

I suggest that you enter the general Vietnam forum level (you can do so by clicking on Vietnam in the tree near the top of your page) and count the number of sticky threads started by him.  I count three, unequaled by any other member.  This is an acknowledgement of value by the moderation team.  Let me know when you reach that level of quality.

n1tw1t wrote:

charmavietnam wrote:

Nope, was talking about the 'ignorance of law' of banking staff !!

"Ignorantia juris non excusat" - For common people. So how about concerned department staff?

Language is NOT the issue here as someone may think but how to solve expatriates' problems!
Afterall, I was NOT seeking help from newbies
May be some of the 'old' members know me well that I am NOT getting anything but GIVING
Person who started the 'game of harrassing' is a newbie to this forum and in Vietnam.
When completing 10 years of 'successful' life here, am greatful to myself first for not being a dependent of ANYONE !
Yeah, I am proud of my arrogance because am not a person who exploit others for personal gains!
I suugest, you UNCLES, who want a retired life here shouldn't waste your time for these kind of small things but do some morning yoga then meditation, which will give you peace and happiness all day!

If you need help in Vietnam, just come to me. Yeah, it's absolutely FREE with a cup of Indian Tea or a Sapporo or a disənˈfektənt Pepsi

Wxx3 wrote:

I think you missed the point. He is complaining about the bank's poor communication

Jees, another RANT!!! get a life man & go to evening class to learn how to write understandable English & by the way I am new to this forum but actually have lived in Vietnam since June 2008!
Remember also that just because you have been a member on this forum for a long time does not mean your countless posts are helpfull & relevant.
Its quality that counts, not quantity!

👎

Wxx3 wrote:

"I DON'T want to hear, "THIS IS VIETNAM..."

You are so right!
It's NOT Vietnam, It's YOU.

I hope you don't teach English like you write.
Also, maybe when you are doing banking, YOU should pay attention to what's going on and NOT talk on the phone for and hour and a half.

Go home. Good luck.

👎