Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cheonmunka]

You know that visa holders can get on a normal monthly direct debit plan for their cellphone account via the bank. But setting up the direct debit with the bank can be problematic due to foreigners� ID numbers. Our ID number is sometimes not workable with online sites and some companies, the same with banks. I think KB Bank recognizes these variations of number and allows for it, but other banks have not.
I disappointed some customers recently. The bank ID�s didn�t match their ARC IDs but I feel I should have known this could be a problem beforehand.
If you buy a cellhone on plan then first one must go to their bank and get a yaegumja bonho (예금자번호 - account holder number) a number that may be quite different from ARC ID. The bank may provide you with the number that was used to open this account. It may differ considerably from your ARC. (Banks may devise their own numbers to suit their digit needs.) The number may have some similar numbers as ARC. You will howver need this number so the telecom provider can match your details directly with your personal account at the bank.
I am sorry for inconvenience to customers due to not knowing this discrepancy in advance and being aware of it earlier.
However, I will try to understand and work through this in order to work out a way to enable all visa holders in Korea to receive phone accounts that are consistent with Korean nationals.
Once again, I am sorry for the loss of time for my customers while working this descrepency out.

[Cheonmunka]

Bump

[Sina qua non]

We need a "Newbie: Read Me" stick that has everything (EVERY-thing) an newbie needs (and an experienced expat might not have caught the first time around) sticky.

This is one of those things that would be helpful for all to be aware of.

[Smee]

That's the first I heard about 예금지번호, thanks. Does it work for other things, too, or just cell phones? For example, could a person get one and use it to shop online for things in Korea (w/o having a 주민번호)?

[Cheonmunka]

에금자번호

We are talking about a banking account's special account personal number designated to a holder with unrecognisable Korean national ID number. A number made up or designated by the bank to cover this contingency of foreign ARC number not matching allowables within one company's banking system.

I suspect that if computing programmes are made to accept foreigner ARC numbers as per comany to company then it is an individual company thing. It will be necessary to write down what your individual number at the bank is (not an account number but an account holder number) in order to get a bank account direct debit plan for any cellphone initialised by a telecom company. (In this case LG as they are the only ones that allow visa holders to run direct debits as monthly plans.

You may well wish to bank with KB Star as they seem to interract well with foreigner ID numbers.

I do not have any idea abaut the op's question pertaining access to websites etc. This a banking thing.

[Smee]

Thanks for the correction.

I have an ARC, but as you mentioned it's not recognizable, and so I can't shop online with places where one is required (for example, for airplane tickets). My question is: if I get one through a bank, will I be able to plug that in online and shop? Will it act as a way to vouch for both my visa status and my credit?

[Cheonmunka]

How can you get an ARC number through a bank?
The ARC number is a given. A national ID given by Immigration.
Then, it's a company by company thing whether or not to make a programme to accept that number for use of purchase, use, etc.
Whether or not Nepal Ganja Industries accepts the number or Hyundai Ind. Inc. doesn't is a moot point.
The number sticks to you.
If you want xyz and credit and Nepal Ganja accepts your credit number, sweet.
If you want xyz and Hyundai says, "We can't fathom this number, it's because our programming doesn't allow it." Well let them tell you your client number to get the ball rolling.
That's what I'm asking clients to do. Get that client number for cellphone direct debiting service.

We have to appease the program. For a cellphone, get the number that your bank uses for you and give that to the retailer.
Ask the bank assistant to go back to the file, or just on PC, to when you first opened the account and get the numbers from that. There will be a number that sticks out.

Or, open a KB account.

I'm gonna check CHB tomorrow, and will post here about whether accepted for a cellphone debit account with them.

[smwood]

I think you ought to state on this thread that you are involved in a business that sells cell phones to foreigners and that you have a financial stake in giving out this information. It would at least allow people to make choices based on the information you give out here knowing that it is partisan.

For example: it would have been nice if you'd told us that there were problems getting approval for phone plans before we came all the way to Bucheon and sat there like eejits waiting for your shop to tell us there were problems. After all, you did tell me it would take under an hour and I made sure I brought all the documents you requested. As it was, the only thing we could do was leave without getting a phone and having wasted the best part of our day.

The annoying part of this is that in the store you said this was "a small problem" knowing full well that it wasn't. I wonder, how long you would have let us (and, presumably, others) sit there until you admitted that it was a big problem?

[Milwaukiedave]

[Sina qua non]

Hmm...interesting.

[Cheonmunka]

Regardless that your bank gave you an unrecognisable number and where other stores would give up on you, if you had given us just a little more time yesterday you would have walked away with your cellphone and cheap plan. All you would have had to do on Monday is call in your bank registration number, (we would have given you a letter writtten in Korean to take to your bank) and the phone would be connected through the network.

As it is you have found out information pertaining to your registration with your bank. You have that information for when you do purchase a phone elsewhere. Yet, you still must find out your correct bank reg. details, and you will still have to wait another hour to get the phone and connection while sitting in the other store.
Or, you can forget all that and simply keep paying 40.000 won a month extra for your cardphone.

You walked out of the store because it took a long time sorting out the unique problem which occured solely because, whether you like it or not, your bank treated you as different and gave you an unrecognisable number.
Why do you blame me for helping you get over your problem?

Having patience would have been much better than dismissing us and walking out.
As a foreigner you will have to contend with many more similar incidents as these at various times.
But, you are new to Korea and haven't much experienced working with bureacracy yet.

And you are right. I don't have much experience working with these cellphone plans, (there's a lot of red tape) but I'm pushing and learning. And no matter what, you will have still come away with what you wanted.

As for the business? Our average sale is 360.000 won. Yet I manage a special deal for expats. Do you really think there is a large profit involved with a 150 K won brand new Cyon cellphone with all the accesories plus all the software, and no application fees?
There is almost none.
But that's the whole idea of it.

If it weren't for the fact that there are expats who benefit from having inexpensive calling plans I would cease doing it.
There's no big 'stake.' No big payoff.
It makes me happy when I get mail from people thanking me for the service and that they are happy to be on a good plan without all those strange costs and fees that Yongsan et al phones are.

They don't complain that they waited two hours. They thank me for sorting it all out.

After all this, if Dave's ESLCafe wants to close off the posts about the cellphones that's their and your choice. This was all done to assist us, and the store is just an outlet by which to do so.
Unlike what you think, it was not conceived to be a profit venture, but was a response to expats not getting recognised to receive the same plans as Korean nationals.

[smwood]

I guess my point is that you should maybe have thought about two things here:

#1: tell people that you operate a business. I don't much care how much money you make or what your reasons for doing so, but it's relevant information when you use the site for trolling customers - otherwise it looks shady.

#2: two hours or not, you said it would take "less than an hour" and, most importantly, you said that although the phones at your shop might be more expensive than at Yongsan, if we used your shop it would take the hassle out of the transaction. As it was we sat there for nearly two hours while you failed to get the transaction completed. You did not tell us that there were solutions, or what you were doing to sort out the hassles: we were left sitting there not knowing what was going on - no mention of letters to banks, no mention of anything but problems.

If you think that "hey, it was all worth it 'cos now you know what you have to do, right?" is enough of an explanation for my time & money being wasted, then frankly Andy, I disagree. I could have stayed in bed, saved my time + effort + money and read all about it here.

Did you really expect me to walk away from your shop with a cell phone but no plan? Is that the level of service you offer to foreigners? We only went there in the first place becuase you promised that you would sort out the plan. I can get a phone anywhere!

I think two hours waiting is more than patient. If you fail to see that or don't agree, maybe you shouldn't be trying to work a business and learn the ropes at the expense of our time and money. You might also want to think about blaming me on this site for your failures. That seems to be a bad way to do business.

[Cheonmunka]

[smwood]

I think, as the saying goes, what we have here is a failure to communicate.

[mishlert]

As useful as the information is for foreigners living in Korea, if you want a cell phone with a monthly plan:

SK- KW 200,000 deposit, ARC, connection fee, and monthly plan of your choice.
I had a friend do this, and when he went in to end the contract, they tallied up his bill, showed it to him, and then paid him back the deposit minus the bill.

LG- ARC, Korean bank book, connection fee, and and monthly plan of your choice.
My K-wife asked the people at the COEX store and this is what she was told foreigners needed to get a phone in their own name.

KTF- Korean credit card, ARC, connection fee, and monthly plan of your choice.
I am doing this and what happens is that every month they charge my bill to my Samsung Card.