Warning!!

[dido72]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this on here but I have been having a nightmare trying to open a Spanish bank account and wanted to share my experience. I won't name the bank but feel free to PM me and I will tell you.

We opened the account over the Internet in December and received an e-mail saying the contracts would be sent to us straight away and we had to sign them and send them back with ID and other paperwork to fully open the account, in the mean time we could deposit money but not withdraw until the contracts had been received. Great we thought as we were coming to Spain in Jan so we arranged to have our money transferred into the account, which took a week or so, and expected it to be up and running by the time we got to Spain so we could pick up our cards etc.

A week later we still hadn't got the contracts so we rang them and they said they would send them again. To cut a long story short this happened several times and we ended up coming to Spain with a shed load of money in a bank account we couldn't touch.

Since then there have been a hundred phone calls (I do not exaggerate!) and paperwork has gone backward and forward 4 times, we send it AND fax it then ring them to make sure they have it which they do, then when we don't hear anything we ring again to be told they have never received the paperwork!!!!

The latest thing was that we now have to go to a branch and show our passports before we could open an account which was the first we had heard of it, why didn't they tell us this as we could have done it in Jan, because the rules have changed since then, I can't even begin to tell you how annoying THAT was as it was not our fault it has taken so long!!!

So after many irate phone calls to supervisors etc they agreed to let us open the account if we sent a tax residence declaration (which we had sent 4 times and faxed 4 times already) and we said please close the account and send the money back to us via the transfer company. That was on Friday and they were in the process of sending the money while I was on the phone....checked the account today and the money is still there!!! The saga continues we still don't have our money back but hopefully it is in the pipeline...I will keep you posted.

I know you are all going to say but this is Spain, *beep* to that, it is totally unacceptable and they will be receiving a stinking letter from me in English and in Spanish just to make sure they get the message. Please be warned all those who think it would be easier to open an Internet account...don't. Go into a bank armed with a dictionary and do it that way, it takes about 10 minutes

[Beachcomber]

I know you are all going to say but this is Spain,

No, I'm going to say 'this is Andalucía'. Spain may have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century but Andalucía hasn't got there yet.

[Paula]

Extremely annoying dido, but unfortunately not uncommon. Nor will it be uncommon when they shrug their shoulders at your complaint. Complaining at service that sucks will be something you find yourself doing on a regular basis until you get to that point where you start to shrug your shoulders. Took me bl00dy ages, and some days I still find it difficult.
But when over, vent your anger at the bank manager, they do still have them here, may make you feel better even if he may seem unconcerned that he either works for or employs imbeciles.

[lyndajo]

I'm sure there are many horrendous tales over banking, but I have to say that the only problem my partner and I had was with my bank back in the UK. Despite going in to see them before I left UK, being assured this and promised that, when it came to transferring a relatively small amount of funds, they wanted me to call in at a UK branch. I could not get to speak to the person I had seen.The bank in Iznajar, where we had opened our Spanish account, could not have been more helpful, and contacted my bank, confirming I was who I was supposed to be etc., as I was sat in front of him! They really went out of their way to help us on several occasions. I'm glad I wasn't relying on my UK bank transferring the bulk of the money(that was done thru' a third party.)

[annie_d]

When my husband and i opened our bank account in Andalucia there seemed to be a great reluctance to accept that we have differing surnames. Still, when we receive our bank statements in England, they are addressed only to him.
When we bought our house we were advised many times that "it would be easier" if we had the same surnames. For whom would it be easier?

[Beachcomber]

I don't know because a Spanish married couple have different surnames anyway.

In a country that has seen fit to legalise homosexual 'marriages' it seems a bit of an anomaly!

[lis48]

[quote="annie_d"]When my husband and i opened our bank account in Andalucia there seemed to be a great reluctance to accept that we have differing surnames. Still, when we receive our bank statements in England, they are addressed only to him. quote]
We had no problem opening an account with two different names but they just always send them to the first person named. I was told that they would do the same with a Spanish couple who as Beach says of course always have different names. Put your name first, and they´ll send to you instead.

[Retro P]

Dido 72, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if this has pi55ed you off you'd better be prepared for much worse.
Spanish beauracracy is in itself an art form, designed by it's employees to make the public in general (including and especially Spaniards) suffer as much and for as lengthy a period as possible, what you must remember is that in Spain a government agency job (and I'm not kidding here) is more sought after than almost anything else, remember that it's a meal ticket for life, it's almost impossible to sack a government employee in Spain, the sullen faced Spaniard who treats you with total disrespect has nothing personal against you or anyone else but is merely stretching his workload in order to protect his very safe job.
Believe me if this is the worst thing that happens to you during your experience in Spain you should feel very lucky, just wait till you get stopped by the old bill and you produce your driving licence!

[dido72]

Oh joy! So much to look forward to I can't wait

What really p155ed me off was when a bloke asked to speak to my husband so he could discuss the problem with him!!!

[annie_d]

thankyou lis ---i will try that.
Dido--THAT'S the sort of attitude i meant. Even though i do support the patriarchal order, when dealing with the bureaucrats in Spain i often feel ignored.

I don't particularly mind the llllloooooonnnnnggggg wait to get things done. My own job here prepared me for that...but often in business etc. females do see to be overlooked. IMO!

[dido72]

Not a problem Annie, it will be a cold day in hell before I let anyone treat me as a second class citizen I told the bloke at the bank in no uncertain terms he could "discuss" the problem with ME

[Chrissie]

Doesn't it make your blood boil What did some of us burn our bras for in the 60s Nothing has changed
When I bought my last house in Spain the escritura came back with both mine and MY HUSBAND'S name on it I had particularly stressed that it must only have my name on the deeds but the Powers That Be dictated otherwise - obviously all men

[Busymum]

This makes me cross too!

My other half doesn't speak Spanish but I do and if we go somewhere 'official' I do all the talking and 9 times out of 10 they just talk straight back to him and don't even look at me! Eventually though I do find a way to make the point that I am there, I do exisit! It is just a 'macho' society and I have got used to it to a certain extent and looking at the other side I had a puncture today and I had plenty of men coming to help (honest help, not scams to grab my handbag) all wanting to be more macho that the other ..... never had a wheel changed so quickly in my life!!

Busymum

[annie_d]

On one sojourn to Spain we were robbed, by 2 children of my husband's wallet. I really felt that speed was of the essence if we were to have any hope of a successful outcome. Despite the fact that my ability to speak Spanish surpasses my husband's the police officers conducted all of the conversation to him and i could have been invisible.

The bizarre outcome of this was....that night we were informed that the wallet had been found by an old woman close by. As it was dark my husband went to rescue it (but of course)......and the old woman called the police to have him arrested as a "strange" man was knocking on her door late at night. He managed to extracate himself from this predicament by speaking Spanish fluently. Am i overshadowing him???

[Paula]

Not quite as bad as what I caught a glimpse of on Channel 5 last night!
Some daft thing about subservient women, whereby you basically surrender all decision making and total control of your daily life to your spouse These silly women asked their spouses each night for a list of what they must do the next day etc.
Yeah, right

[annie_d]

Ahh, now then! I did say i support the patriarchal order...and yes, my husband makes the big decision stuff BUT i am not a doormat, or a fool.
I am aware of "surrendered wives" and their work. It's an unusual choice to make in this day and age, but if done with love i see no harm in it. Each to their own, but it wouldn't do for me.

[Retro P]

OK, here's how it goes in our gaff, My wife takes care of all our income and has done since 1973, I trust her with every penny that comes in or goes out and never question her decisions, she will often ask me where I would like to go for holidays (when we're not in Nueva Andalucia) I may offer some wishes or suggestions but invariably we will abide by her decision, we're going to Egypt for xmas for god's sake!
When it comes to making money or business decisions that's my call and always will be, women often (but not always) do not have the cold critical eye or sometimes ruthlessness to make hard decisions.
My wife is also our company secretary, a big job in itself, I only have to make decisions about how much we can make from a particular project and get the lads moving but she takes responsbility for all the necessary planning and execution of any given job, in business we are equal partners BUT, there are some things better left to men, cooking is the prime example, choosing cars and dealing with certain people who might otherwise take the pi55 out of a lady, is another.
On a distressing note however she refuses to iron my trolleys and I could safely hide my wedge under the iron knowing that it would never be discovered by er indoors!

[annie_d]

Hmmmm in our Gaff? The opposite. Often people seem to have difficulty with this, "Don't you let him boss you about "etc. HE DOESN'T....Why is our decision any "worse" than Retro's?
P.S. Egypt at Christmas? Fun but tiring.

[dido72]

It is completely 50/50 in our house, I will wash the cars and he will change the nappies etc etc etc, I can't imagine it being any different, I couldn't bear to be dominated (very dominant dad who I have totally rebelled against) yet I have been in relationships where I was dominant and found I had very little respect for my partner.
I've found a happy medium at last

BTW my dad has fathered 4 kids and never changed a nappy!!

[annie_d]

washed a car??? not in my lifetime