Monday, March 12, 2007
Touring Oaxacan banks
We got up early to eat breakfast at Marco Polo, the restaurant across the street from our hotel. It was as delicious as we remembered. Best of all, they refill your coffee. I had huevos rancheros with tasty chilaquiles con salsa verde on the side. Ana Maria got to the hotel at 8:40 a.m. to shuttle everyone to the DIF (orphanage) in three taxis. Karen, Blair and I told them that we would meet them later. Karen needed to tie down some loose ends on her Turkey study abroad, and Blair and I needed to head over to the bank to retrieve our ATM card.
We got to the bank when the doors opened at 9 a.m., and we were asked to take a seat. At 9:30 a.m., we were given the card back. Yipee! The teller said she thought it had been retained because that bank (Scotiabank) did not take Pulse (called Plus here) cards. She said that another bank BBVA took Pulse/Plus cards. So we trekked over to BBVA. Their ATM machines showed the Pulse/Plus logo. Hooray! We slipped the card in, and a "card retained" message appeared. Sigh! We went inside, and a woman directed us to a young man who would be able to retrieve the card for us. Sure enough, he walked to the back of the machine, popped it open, and gave the card to us. He noticed that the plastic was peeling from the card, so he said that was what was causing the problem. He directed us to another bank, HSBC, that could swipe the card at the counter inside. So, we trekked over to that bank. When we got there and stood in two lines, they said that the only cards they swiped at the counter were credit cards, not ATM cards.
They directed us to Banamex, yet another bank. We went there and explained the situation. They said that if we used their machines and the card was eaten, they would not be able to give it back. We decided to go back to BBVA, peel the plastic layer off of the front of the card and try again. So, we trekked back to BBVA. We told our friend what we intended to do. He agreed. We tried. The card was consumed again. The message at that point said that our bank had cancelled the card. We asked if it was possible to have money wired from our bank to his. He pulled out a list of banks that BBVA does business with in the U.S. Frost Bank was not on it. He recommended we go to Banamex.
So, we trekked back over to Banamex. We told the woman at the door that we wanted to have money transferred from our bank to theirs, and she wrote down the street address of their branch. (It is on the corner of Porfirio Diaz and Morelos.) We went back to our hotel to check our e-mail to see if Frost had responded to our earlier pleas for help. We did get a phone number to call. (Neither one of the 1-800 numbers worked, of course.) Luckily, Karen has a cell phone, so we called Frost Bank and explained our situation. They said that we had to get approval from that bank to be able to wire money to them, since we do not have an account with them. They said yes, and Blair had to answer a million questions from Frost for security purposes.
At that point, we jumped in a taxi to visit the orphanage. Unfortunately, our group had already departed, but we were given a mini-tour by the medical doctor in charge of the children. It made me happy to see that the soccer ball I had brought along was already being put to good use. The doctor also said they were happy to get the basketball hoop and basketballs I brought along, which were donations from an older troop in our Girl Scout Service Unit. Donations of clothes, tennis shoes and stuffed animals from our group and my daughter's Girl Scout troop were warmly received. We were also able to tour the metalworks shop. The kids cut tin into intricate shapes (fish, mermaids, hummingbirds, butterflies) and paint it. I bought a hummingbird, one of the only painted items left. (Karen bought an unpainted butterfly.) Turns out that our group cleaned the place out. Gail bought a gorgeous, large butterfly painted with bright colors.
On our way back to the hotel, we got a call from Frost Bank saying that the transfer had been made. We asked the taxi driver to take us there instead of the hotel. We raced in, ready to walk away flush with cash. It didn't happen. The gentleman at the window asked us to come back before the bank closed at 4 p.m. We did after lunch and a stroll through Oaxaca's Benito Juarez Market. When we went back to the bank, same story. Not there yet. He explained that the money first went from our bank in San Antonio to the headquarters in Mexico City. He said we should try back again tomorrow morning. We will.
Frost warned us that if the bank didn't know us, they'd send the money back. This bank knows us. I don't think there's any danger of that. I just hope that the money finds its way to the correct Banamex branch. After our day's experience with Oaxaca's banking institutions, we highly recommend BBVA. Stay away from Scotiabank and HSBC. Banamex is still up in the air.
Tonight, we're just going to take it easy and get to bed early. Our Oaxacan drama continues.
We got to the bank when the doors opened at 9 a.m., and we were asked to take a seat. At 9:30 a.m., we were given the card back. Yipee! The teller said she thought it had been retained because that bank (Scotiabank) did not take Pulse (called Plus here) cards. She said that another bank BBVA took Pulse/Plus cards. So we trekked over to BBVA. Their ATM machines showed the Pulse/Plus logo. Hooray! We slipped the card in, and a "card retained" message appeared. Sigh! We went inside, and a woman directed us to a young man who would be able to retrieve the card for us. Sure enough, he walked to the back of the machine, popped it open, and gave the card to us. He noticed that the plastic was peeling from the card, so he said that was what was causing the problem. He directed us to another bank, HSBC, that could swipe the card at the counter inside. So, we trekked over to that bank. When we got there and stood in two lines, they said that the only cards they swiped at the counter were credit cards, not ATM cards.
They directed us to Banamex, yet another bank. We went there and explained the situation. They said that if we used their machines and the card was eaten, they would not be able to give it back. We decided to go back to BBVA, peel the plastic layer off of the front of the card and try again. So, we trekked back to BBVA. We told our friend what we intended to do. He agreed. We tried. The card was consumed again. The message at that point said that our bank had cancelled the card. We asked if it was possible to have money wired from our bank to his. He pulled out a list of banks that BBVA does business with in the U.S. Frost Bank was not on it. He recommended we go to Banamex.
So, we trekked back over to Banamex. We told the woman at the door that we wanted to have money transferred from our bank to theirs, and she wrote down the street address of their branch. (It is on the corner of Porfirio Diaz and Morelos.) We went back to our hotel to check our e-mail to see if Frost had responded to our earlier pleas for help. We did get a phone number to call. (Neither one of the 1-800 numbers worked, of course.) Luckily, Karen has a cell phone, so we called Frost Bank and explained our situation. They said that we had to get approval from that bank to be able to wire money to them, since we do not have an account with them. They said yes, and Blair had to answer a million questions from Frost for security purposes.
At that point, we jumped in a taxi to visit the orphanage. Unfortunately, our group had already departed, but we were given a mini-tour by the medical doctor in charge of the children. It made me happy to see that the soccer ball I had brought along was already being put to good use. The doctor also said they were happy to get the basketball hoop and basketballs I brought along, which were donations from an older troop in our Girl Scout Service Unit. Donations of clothes, tennis shoes and stuffed animals from our group and my daughter's Girl Scout troop were warmly received. We were also able to tour the metalworks shop. The kids cut tin into intricate shapes (fish, mermaids, hummingbirds, butterflies) and paint it. I bought a hummingbird, one of the only painted items left. (Karen bought an unpainted butterfly.) Turns out that our group cleaned the place out. Gail bought a gorgeous, large butterfly painted with bright colors.
On our way back to the hotel, we got a call from Frost Bank saying that the transfer had been made. We asked the taxi driver to take us there instead of the hotel. We raced in, ready to walk away flush with cash. It didn't happen. The gentleman at the window asked us to come back before the bank closed at 4 p.m. We did after lunch and a stroll through Oaxaca's Benito Juarez Market. When we went back to the bank, same story. Not there yet. He explained that the money first went from our bank in San Antonio to the headquarters in Mexico City. He said we should try back again tomorrow morning. We will.
Frost warned us that if the bank didn't know us, they'd send the money back. This bank knows us. I don't think there's any danger of that. I just hope that the money finds its way to the correct Banamex branch. After our day's experience with Oaxaca's banking institutions, we highly recommend BBVA. Stay away from Scotiabank and HSBC. Banamex is still up in the air.
Tonight, we're just going to take it easy and get to bed early. Our Oaxacan drama continues.
Labels: ATM, banks, DIF, Oaxaca, orphanage
