Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cosmic charlie]

Hello all, Pardon my ignorance but where can I find money orders here in Korea? Looking to buy something in the states and dont want to use a credit card. Thanks just curious.

[Meathands]

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) sells money orders from the Bank of New York in dollars. It's a good way to send money because you get the foreign remittance exchange rate, which is the best for selling won.

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

Okay, KEB money orders are good, just as long as they don't get lost. If your money order gets lost be prepared for a lot of bureaucratic hassle.

First off, I sent a money order back home and it got lost in the mail. I figured that I'd just go to the bank and get it cancelled and they'd issue a new one. Uh, no. Not even close. Their attitude was one of surprise like they had never dealt with such an issue as a lost money order before or even the possibility that it could get lost. The idiotic clerk was like, "well, you shouldn't have lost it." Uh, well, it's not like it fell out of my back pocket, you moron. It got lost in the mail". Then they want you to wait for a couple of weeks before filling out the paperwork. So, I waited and went back to do the paperwork. I completed it and I figured that I would get reimbursed. Again, not even close. They said that I had to wait for 6 MONTHS before I could get my money back. Better yet, you had to be in Korea at that time(when the 6 months expired) to sign the document. You couldn't do it ahead of time, you had to physically be in Korea after the 6 months.

So, I told the clerk that my contract was finishing and that I would not be in Korea at that time. He just shrugged his shoulders and said that there was nothing they could do about it. In other words, I was SOL. I was pretty pissed because I thought it was absurd that I had to be in the country at that exact time to sign a document. It made no sense why I couldn't have just signed it at the time I reported the money order stolen. Stupid bureaucratic nonsense.

Anyhow, I did come back to Korea and went back to KEB. Again, despite the fact that I have reported my money order lost over 6 months ago, they persisted in this "oh, you need to sign another document." Over and over. Oh, and then because they were depositing the money into my account, they had me sign another document that stated that if my old money order(the one that got lost) was cashed out(which would be kind of hard considering those KEB money orders have to be deposited and the banking number on my money order had probably been flagged), that I would be responsible for paying the bank the money back. I even laughed when they presented the document to me. It was just absurd and I think it was one of those little rules that they made up along the way in trying to make you(the foreigner) accountable. I doubt that they would have done the same to a Korean because a Korean would have told them to stick it. And the freaking amount of my money order was small. I imagine that they would have been even more ruthless if it were say for $1,000.

The point of the story is that, yes, the money orders from them are reliable. But if they get lost, be prepared to make multiple trips to the bank and be prepared to wait for at least 6 months for you to get your money back. Oh, and I hope you don't have to leave before that time because if you do, you won't be seeing a refund of your money because you have to be in Korea to sign a document. Absurd. Stupid. Moronic. That is why I will never get another KEB money order again.