Back in the UK
What an anticlimax.
As the Heathrow Express emerged into the dusk as it departed from the airport, I felt happy to be home for the first time in three years. And then on the Monday, things turned bad.
I had ordered a new Switch card and had included the information when I'd be collecting it because I knew there was going to be a delay between the request and my arrival. When I got to the bank, I found that the card had been destroyed, although I learnt today that it perhaps should've been left alone because it seems that the date I'd be collecting it was passed on. I'm not sure of the facts, though.
I ordered a new card, but want of it left me in a difficult position because I was limited to withdrawing £50 a day. My plans to buy things like a new laptop, some games and various other items went up in smoke. I was told that a replacement card would take three to five days to arrive, but when I went into the bank yesterday, the card had yet to arrive. It turned up today and I hurried off to the bank to get it, thinking that I was free of the shackles which had been constraining me for the past week.
Let's just say that the shackles were loosened a little, but not removed. When I got the card, I was then told that I'd need a new PIN number, which wasn't going to arrive for five days. It might turn up on Friday (though I think not). I can get out as much money as I like (but only from the bank), and I can do some shopping online, but I can't use the card in money machines or shops. Thus the card isn't completely useless, but I still continue to be chafed by restrictions.
Today, I bought stuff via Amazon UK, including a new laptop which should be arriving tomorrow.
Overall, this has been a disastrous holiday because of the retarded banking system in this country. For a lot of last week, I was wishing that I'd stayed in China, and even thinking that I ought to go (or, have gone) to Hong Kong where I don't have any of these ludicrous problems. If I'm back next year, the Switch card won't be an issue. Mind you, I still don't know what next year will bring. It may be another of those occasions when staying in China is better than leaving the country because of practical reasons.
As the Heathrow Express emerged into the dusk as it departed from the airport, I felt happy to be home for the first time in three years. And then on the Monday, things turned bad.
I had ordered a new Switch card and had included the information when I'd be collecting it because I knew there was going to be a delay between the request and my arrival. When I got to the bank, I found that the card had been destroyed, although I learnt today that it perhaps should've been left alone because it seems that the date I'd be collecting it was passed on. I'm not sure of the facts, though.
I ordered a new card, but want of it left me in a difficult position because I was limited to withdrawing £50 a day. My plans to buy things like a new laptop, some games and various other items went up in smoke. I was told that a replacement card would take three to five days to arrive, but when I went into the bank yesterday, the card had yet to arrive. It turned up today and I hurried off to the bank to get it, thinking that I was free of the shackles which had been constraining me for the past week.
Let's just say that the shackles were loosened a little, but not removed. When I got the card, I was then told that I'd need a new PIN number, which wasn't going to arrive for five days. It might turn up on Friday (though I think not). I can get out as much money as I like (but only from the bank), and I can do some shopping online, but I can't use the card in money machines or shops. Thus the card isn't completely useless, but I still continue to be chafed by restrictions.
Today, I bought stuff via Amazon UK, including a new laptop which should be arriving tomorrow.
Overall, this has been a disastrous holiday because of the retarded banking system in this country. For a lot of last week, I was wishing that I'd stayed in China, and even thinking that I ought to go (or, have gone) to Hong Kong where I don't have any of these ludicrous problems. If I'm back next year, the Switch card won't be an issue. Mind you, I still don't know what next year will bring. It may be another of those occasions when staying in China is better than leaving the country because of practical reasons.
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