Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hogwonguy1979]

Yeah I've been ranting about how hard it is for us to be able to do basic things here in Korea like get a cell phone, cable service, int atm card etc. Today I discovered one reason why.

The foreigner who used to live in my apt left in a rush in May (some sort of emergency before the end of the semester) well he left some of his bills unpaid, my school made him leave money for the gas, water, electricty but not his other bills

I opened accidentally his cell phone bill today. It was for 900,000 won!!!!!! Is SK Telecom ever gonna get that money back? I doubt it.

Lesson here is folks when you leave, leave enough money with SOMEBODY to pay for all your final bills. Its so easy for them to blame all waygooks and make anti-waygook policies because some morons think since they are never coming back to Korea they can run up bills and screw the company.

It makes it very hard for the rest of us to deal with things becaue of this

[laogaiguk]

As hard as it is to believe, I posted something like this a while ago, and I got attacked! I forget what they said as their opinions were quite obviously worth less than that of the wall I see infront of me, but still... Some people actually see no problem with this as they got screwed in some way themseleves by someone with no attachments to whom they are screwing now.

[gang ah jee]

How could one live in a foreign country for 5+ years and not know that people who aren't citizens of that country are able to walk out on their financial obligations with relatively little difficulty? And no matter how many times you've been issued an E-2 you're still only a temporary guest worker.

[Beej]

I have more than a few korean female friends who hated korean society so much that they just bailed: England, USA, Australia. Upon leaving they maxed out their credit cards and phone bills and left those unpaid.

[gang ah jee]

[europe2seoul]

quote="Beej"]I have more than a few korean female friends who hated korean society so much that they just bailed: England, USA, Australia. Upon leaving they maxed out their credit cards and phone bills and left those unpaid.[/quote]

I also know a lot who went home to Russia/India from US and maxed out their credit-cards and phone bills. Even parked Audi/BMW on airport's parking lot and walked. Still - foregin people in US can have credit cards and can buy a car/phone/etc. Its a risk....but companies take it.

[indytrucks]

A friend of mine wanted to buy a new mobile phone recently, and she was told by both KTF and LG that they would not let foreigners buy a mobile phone without a 200,000 won deposit first. They were also quite rude. The reason: foreigners leaving unpaid bills.

Nice work.

[jajdude]

It sounds bad and wrong, but a lot of people who think they would not come back, or could get away with it, would leave a $900 dollar (even $100) bill unpaid. That's a lot of money. Maybe the one who left could not really afford it. Sure, it's irresponsible and doesn't help the honest foreigners among us, but a lot of people do it. Hell, a lot of people do this everywhere, not just foreigners leaving a country. Some people probably feel, well, I've been screwed over before, so this is not so bad.

[hellofaniceguy]

It's not going to happen 90% of the time....you have foreigners who will cheat or screw over someone or something the first chance they get.
When it comes to money....all stops are pulled.
Remember this....in life, no matter what you do, work, relations, no matter what...two things will always break a relationship; sex or money. So, if he/she is not having sex with their school owner...then it's about money. And a reason to split and leave others hanging.

[hogwonguy1979]

what I'd like to know from somebody is what happens to a Korean who doesnt pay a bill, figure the service gets turned off but what then? Can their credit get messed up? Can it affect other aspects of their lives like in the US?

[jlb]

Although I can see the temptation to rack up bills and then leave without paying, isn't is just a matter of integrity to pay for what you use. I think the guilt would eat me up inside if I did something like some of the people who leave somewhere do.

[laogaiguk]

[SuperHero]

[alinkorea]

I can understand why people bail on their final month's bills. It's irresponsible, but understandable. To purposefully rack up a huge bill then bail is stupid though.
Unpaid bills are common all over the world, especially when people are leaving the country. It was vitually a sport when I was at University.
In response the companies of most countries don't decide to punish the foreign community, by making it harder to receive various services though. I'd bet it would be illegal to do so in many countries. The problem is with the companies, not the bailing waygooks.
Poor SK, KTF... losing a few Won. My heart bleeds.

[laogaiguk]