A cri de couer – No more cheques!
We had an interesting problem with a client’s payment for a tour last month. Yes, we do have tourists in Kyrgyzstan … despite this year’s “little local difficulty” … not as many not as many as last year, nor as many as would have liked or hoped for.
As is often the case, there was a fair amount of correspondence back and forth discussing the itinerary – the dates, what he was interested to see and do, services that he required and, of course, the safety and security situation here in the country … whether it was safe for him to come, or not. In the end, everything was agreed including the price and we sent him details about how to make payment … our bank account details and the information needed to arrange a bank transfer.
That’s when the trouble started.
As he told us, his bank said that they could not arrange a transfer to a bank in Kyrgyzstan. This astounded me … as we have already received payments from that particular bank, (albeit a different branch), several times in the past and had given him all the details to effect a bank transfer, (correspondent Bank details, etc.). Still, that’s what he says they told him. I wasn’t a party to the conversation so I can’t comment on that more than I already have.
Apparently, what they proposed was to issue a Banker’s Cheque, or Banker’s Draft, which he could then post to us … and we could pay into our bank account. And this he did.
So, as well as paying the fee for issuing the cheque, he also had to pay for the courier fee in order to send us the cheque. I am not sure what it cost him, but I am sure that it was more than the fees for a bank transfer.
When it arrived, I strolled off to the bank and queued up to see one of the clerks. That’s a story in itself … but, perhaps, I‘ll tell you about that another time.
It’s not the first Banker’s Draft that I have had to deal with, so I knew roughly what to expect … first I have to write an “application” … something like: “please encash this cheque and credit our account with the funds. I agree to the Bank’s fees for the transaction being charged to our account.” The cheque is then sent back to the original dank on which it is drawn for authorization … we, of course, had to pay the courier charges … (and to add insult to injury, it seemed to me that the bank charged me more than I would have paid the courier service to carry a document to the same city … but we’ll let that pass, for now). Once they received authorization and the cash, I was told, the bank would credit our account with the funds. The process could take up to six weeks. This astounded me … I calculated that it shouldn’t take more than two … four days for a courier from Kyrgyzstan to (well, I won’t say where, exactly) the originating bank, four days for processing (which seems to me excessive … but let’s be generous and allow for, say, weekends), and four days for the courier back. I was told that there would, of course, be a transaction fee to pay.
The clerk asked – did I agree to these terms and conditions. Now, the bank had me in a “cleft stick” … did I want the payment or not … it was Hobson’s choice – i.e. “no choice”. Of course I agreed.
Two weeks later, (told you so!), I got a phone call from the bank … but it wasn’t to say that the funds have arrived and been credited to the account … that would have been too simple … no, apparently there was a small problem, could I go and see them. So, off I strolled once more and waited in the queue for the clerk, (fortunately it wasn’t as long this time.) Apparently, the issuing bank hadn’t encashed the cheque as it wasn’t endorsed … I had to sign and stamp it on the back. You can imagine that I wasn’t particularly happy … there were several instructions written on the cheque but nothing about the need to endorse it … and my bank hadn’t asked me to do so … all they had asked for was the written application. So, although I muttered my dissatisfaction, (not exactly under my breath) I signed and stamped the document and asked if there was anything else. No, apparently not. “No extra fees?”, I mischievously asked. “No, no” came the reply … at least they got that bit right!
Two weeks later, (told you so), I got another phone call to tell me that the funds had been received and how much the bank’s fees would be. Our account had been credited with the balance.
So, the transaction took four weeks to complete, (although, to be fair that could have been just two weeks if I had been asked to endorse the check in the first place), instead of the usual four to five days. In fact, the tour was already underway before we finally received payment …
I still don’t understand why the bank apparently told the client that they couldn’t effect a bank transfer to Kyrgyzstan … they did send the money in the end – so obviously it was possible and, as I have said, we have received several payments from that bank, (albeit from different branches) in the past.
All in all, this particular transaction probably cost the client more than an international bank transfer, it certainly cost us a lot more – in fact, it probably cost us most of our commission on the tour, it was a far more complicated procedure and took far longer.
So, a cri de couer: No more cheques! Please!
Bishkek