Korean Job Discussion Forums

offtheoche · Joined: 21 Mar 2007

So recently I decided to take out Skylife (Satellite TV. Anyway yesterday I went to KEB Bank next to Gangnam Subway Station. I brought a copy of the skylife contract, ARC Card and passport.

Anyway the lady at the bank insisted I can't set-up and pay by direct debit (saying I have to pay the first month myself) ..but even though she is fluent in English..she can't give me a reason ..so I call Skylife whilst still at the counter. I pass the phone to the Bank Teller and after talking to Skylife she hangs up the phone (I'm not happy about this) then tells me "wait". I found out afterwards this bitch took a time-out (for 20 minutes) in the hope I would simply... dissappear. When she came back she told me that she need a registration number from Skylife and that they were going to call her back (which they did) with the number. I was pissed that she just walked out and left me there but I didn't say anything at the time. She looked pissed as well because after speaking with Skylife she has lost face after giving me the wrong information. I made sure I gave her my ARC Card to copy....and signed everything to set-up the direct debit....BEFORE I left the bank.

Then....this morning she calls me and says...I gotta pay the first month myself...because the registration number isn't confirmed. Nonsense I say! I ask if Skylife called her....she says yes. So I say...what is there to confirm????You have the friggin number! Then I say...I already signed everything yesterday...showed you ID.....you have the registration number......what's the problem????? Then she says...oh...you need your passport....coz you opened the account with a passport instead of the ARC Card. I say...no no...you are continuing to give me the wrong information here. My ARC is a legal form of identification...and good enough! If you needed my passport then you should have asked for it yesterday. You are wrong....AGAIN. Then I say...give me your name and cellphone number...coz I am going to make a formal complaint about you and your stubbornness/incompetence. Then she breaks.....and says.".sorry sorry sorry..I was wrong.....I will sort this out for you". Then I say....save your apologies.....and by the way...you would NEVER EVER treat a Korean person like this......GOODBYE....and hung up the phone.

I then called Skylife...and had a bit of a laugh with the manager about the whole thing. He has strong connections with a couple of people high up the ladder in KEB Bank so he's going to make sure everything is sorted out...without me having to go back into the bank.

Thoughts folks?

jdog2050 · Joined: 17 Dec 2006

Straphanger · Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Chilgok, Korea

ernie · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Location: asdfghjk

what the hell is the purpose of the damn alien card if it's not a valid form of ID?

i had this problem at KB when i tried to get a new bank book (what could be more harmless than this?). they said i needed 2 pieces of photo ID because i didn't have my passport (who carries their passport around 24/7?). so i pulled out my korean driver's license but this wasn't good enough because the addresses on the two were different. all for a goddamn bank book.

banks here are a joke. their customer service is horrible, especially to anyone who looks different. the alien card is the most useless form of ID on the planet.

saving face at MY expense will result in me YELLING at you in front of everyone. admit the mistake or your ignorance asap or be publicly humiliated for being incompetent and full of shit.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

You don't want it coming out of debit.

I canceled Sky Life when I found out that the channels (Even western ones) were dubbed-over in Korean audio, and that the additional streaming audio channels were all crappy elevator music.

They kept saying they canceled me, but kept taking money out of my account regardless. I had to cancel my entire bank account to keep it from happening.

IlIlNine · Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Location: Gunpo, Gyonggi, SoKo

pkang0202 · Joined: 09 Mar 2007

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

ernie · Joined: 05 Aug 2006 Location: asdfghjk

when i received my alien card, they used my passport to confirm my id, so why isn't my alien card as good as my passport within korea? what a waste of a piece of plastic.

re: knowing the policy
what IS 'the policy' in korea? it seems to change depending upon who i'm talking to. does the policy mention how the policy changes depending on what the customer looks like?

agreed, i should change banks.

offtheoche · Joined: 21 Mar 2007

Straphanger · Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Chilgok, Korea

nizpaz · Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Seoul, South Korea

It's true about the passport ARC thing. I opened my account with my passport and when I went to get a debit card there was some problem although the teller was really sweet and helpful. I did have a photocopy of my passport on me and she accepted that after calling my home branch. She then recommended I re-register my account using the ARC to avoid future problems, which she duly did for me even though the bank was closing. She stayed behind and did it.

I was really pleased with her help. But for other yes, it's worth getting your ARC registered to your account.

The Great Toad · Joined: 12 Jun 2004

Righto ole Chap I shall give you some of my infinite sagacity on dealings with Coreans (and Humans in General) Now I hate to be thee Judge and I know Little of you other than that you are disdainful of those who disdain you... but I wager you are a bit of a grudging fellow to those who begrudge you. Learn some tricks from the world's best social manipulators... You must befriend those who are condescending you play the Uncle tom to Her Masterful Bank Power and let her whip you. If you arrive in the bank with and attitude that you are her customer and she is there to serve you she will sense that... rather you must gather yourself before her a s if she is doing a favor for talking to wour fat foreign self (which I would bet is her mindset) you gotta play to her and ask her kindly for these things - if you go in there and pretend you are going to be treated just like a Customer service oriented bank in America wherein they get fried for slightest of customer unhappy making YOU ARE WRONG.

Remember this and it will work like a charm - when I wwould go to the bank I would smile and answer all their stupid questions which really they had no right to ask and they go ahead and transfer my cash as I wanted....

However if these measures fail then you must one up them on the chain of command and ask the Great Sumo of the Bamk to bare his stuffed unshirted gut down upon her miserable waif like body... True it is that she is his servant and will shame herself for his whim of helping the Fat White boy.

I recall one poster here who plays the Monkey told guys to bring gifts to the teller now I would not go that far rather I just say lame smitten comments of how pretty they are...

Ahh still though tis true WE HATES KEB BANK FOREVER THIEVES THIEVES THEY STOLE OUR MAGIC INTERNATIONAL ATM CARD WE HATES THEM FOREVERRRRRR CURSES THEM AND WE WILL ALWYS TAKE THEIR CANDIES FROM THEIR BOWL AND USE ALL THEIR TP IN THEIR POO HOUSES WE WILL MAKE THEM PAY WITH CANDY AND TP FOR THE THIEFT OF OUR MAGIC PRECIOUS ATM CARD EVILLLLLLLL

So I say go to SC bank so you can get an international Bank card and then every time you got to pay your gas bill in the KEB bank eat all the candy from their candy bowl and cruelly taunt their tough guy guard who has a baby girl air pistol....

Hope this helps

Alose it pays to be a Secrete Bourne Identity Spy like James Bond too with 20 different passports. (whenever my passport flags at the Airport the Official always turns white after he gets off the phoone bows profusely and motions for me to hurry on to my next covert sool guy operation)

steroidmaximus · Joined: 27 Jan 2003 Location: GangWon-Do

Skylife has taken a page out of the books of other subscription services like Rogers in Canada. They make it nearly impossible to cancel, and even if you do I've heard several times that they just keep taking money from your account.

We tried to cancel our skylife, and after jumping through 20 hoops while hopping on one foot and holding a jar of dwenjang, we had finally pinned them down to canceling us. Until the salesperson offered us an increased service for about 40% of what we were paying. Now we pay about 9000 a month for nearly everything except the porn channels ( Sad

). Skylife has been losing so many subscribers of late due to the ease and variety of internet downloads and HD TV services that they are desperate to keep cashflow.