Does it ever get easier to say goodbye?

No, it doesn't. I have been away from home twice now - three times if you count this recent period at home - and it doesn't get easier to say goodbye to your family, your friends or everything you know or have come to know.

Here is the thing. Even if you are leaving for a great adventure or opportunity, you are still walking into the unknown so it is hard to leave behind the familiar and the comforts of home. If you are leaving a great experience abroad to return home then its hard to say goodbye to those friends you've made, the life you created and that chapter in your life that will soon become but a memory. And if you are leaving home again, for the second or third time, you know what you are getting yourself into. You know about the struggle, the occasional loneliness, the things you will miss about being home, how hard it is on the people you are leaving behind and how much you will miss from each others lives.

Sorry if I'm rambling a bit, it is 7am Sydney time, almost 1am here and I'm on about 2 hours of airplane sleep. Probably not the best time to be writing a deep and meaningful post but I have the time.

OK, so how do you deal with saying goodbye? Here is what I think helps me.

1. Acknowledge your feelings, say what you need to say, feel sad, feel a bit panicky. But set yourself a limit or it might overwhelm you. If you don't think you can do this then just skip to #2
2. Focus on the positives. Why you are going? What is the long term/overall objective?
3. Figure out a communications plan and visits. This will not just help you, but those around you.
4. Distract yourself. Take silly photos, talk about anything but your leaving at the airport. Save that book you have been dying to read or movie you have been itching to see for the departure.
5. Remember that it isn't really a goodbye, you will see the people you care about again.

I have to say, some of these are hard to do and I'm always keen to hear how other people manage. How do you deal with saying goodbye?

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A disappointed expat - my experience with Westpac

Following on from my post yesterday about Expat Banking and 5 Lessons Learned, I'm sorry to say that i have not heard back from Westpac after lodging a complaint and them advising they would get back within 48 hours.

I did promise you the full story so here it is, be warned, it is lengthy but i hope you learn a thing or two or at the very least, if you're having a bad, it doesn't seem so bad afterwards ;) 

And its not all bad, I've written 10 things Westpac can do to improve their service for their international customers, expats and travelers.

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Background

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in the year 2012-13 there were 369,500 permanent and long-term resident departures from Australia. Clancey Yeats of the Sydney Morning Herald recently wrote an article about big banks thinking small and how Roy Morgan has found that customer satisfaction with big banks has steadily climbed to almost 80 per cent. I do wonder where Roy Morgan gets such data from and if any of the 369 thousand residents (expats), who may still use their home banks, are surveyed.

I also wonder whether Westpac cares about any of its customers that form part of those 369 thousand traveling residents. 

I have had a Westpac Earth credit card since 2008. I’ve always made regular payments, often paying the balance in full. This year has been hectic for me,and I found out the other day that I’ve missed a few of repayments. I admit it’s not the best thing, but in trying to resolve the issue, my experience could have been so much better than it has been, and might not have resulted in Westpac losing a customer.

Earlier this month I received a letter explaining that my account was overdue and that I needed to pay my outstanding balance as soon as possible. Last week I paid it off and then some. This week I needed to use my card again only to find that my credit limit was not showing on my account.

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Day one: Getting nowhere

On Tuesday I called the "Overseas" number on my credit card and futility ensued, here is what happened:

First phone call: The first person I spoke to didn’t know what was wrong with my account and he put me through to someone else who realised there was a "block" on my card. She put me through to the Collections team, a member of which spent 3 seconds on the call "hello can I have your account number? Hello?" then, click, I was disconnected. The line was bad, I barely got a word out before I was hung up on - nice right? But he probably had SLA's or, as it turned out...he just wanted to leave the office not a moment past the end of his shift...

Second phone call: I called back and explained that I needed to speak to collections about a block on my card. She put me through to collections and would you have guessed it: their hours were up and they were closed for the day! Do their tier 1 support people really not know when their other service desks operate?

Third phone call: I explained to the agent what I’d already been through and asked if there was a way to email the collections team to have them call me since I was overseas. He said a) they couldn’t email, they didn’t have that facility and b) they couldn’t make international calls. Seriously? No, Seriously??? A bank like Westpac doesn’t allow its customer service teams to make international calls? He then said there were 15 minutes before a specialist team would close and maybe they'd be able to help....I was on hold for more than 15 minutes before giving up - after all, it’s only fair that they go home on time too.

Needless to say, I wasn’t happy. I had spent about an hour and a half making international calls, waiting, trying to get somewhere. I wrote a complaint email and submitted it via the Westpac website. They sent me a confirmation email (no tracking/incident number), and advised that if it was urgent, to call them on the listed numbers...between 8am-8pm 7 days or visit a local branch...yeah that’s going to help if its "urgent"...cue eye-roll....

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Day two: Really? There’s nothing you can do?

Yesterday’s events didn’t go any better.

First phone call: I explained the situation and the girl advised that collections were looking into my account, so she would put me through to them. 15 minutes on hold later, she comes back to say she hasn’t had any luck but can keep trying. I asked if she could have them call me back, but she said she would still have to call them to ask, (fine by me) but that if she couldn’t get through, I could call them back direct. She then proceeded to give me the generic customer service number to use as the "direct" number, odd, so I asked for a number I could use from overseas. She gave me the same number that was on my credit card...cue raised eyebrow, that’s the number I'd called her on! Needless to say, I didn’t get a call from collections.

Second phone call: I spoke to a guy who, poor thing, could not do a thing to help but was fiercely defensive and loyal of Westpac and was more interested in pointing out that I'd missed payments than in actually helping me remedy the situation. He made no apologies for the lack of service so far, and an attitude that implied I deserved what I got. That may be, but it’s not appropriate.
However, he did explain that my card had not been "blocked" but it was CANCELLED! He said that "several" letters and phone calls had been made by the collections department. I never received a call...at least not to my international number. He said my "primary" number was an Australian number so maybe they had been calling that instead of my international one. Fine, but that puts me between a rock and a hard place.
The address on my account is a UK address, there is a UK number listed as well. Why didn’t collections call the UK number? Common sense, right? Also, the reason there is a "primary" Australian number is because I couldn’t list a non-Australian number as a primary number! Anyway, I explained my situation again and asked if there was anything he could do? "No." Was there an escalations team that could help or had the authority to help? "No." What would he do if he were in my shoes? He said, did I have another card I could use? Wow...

As it stands I don’t have another card, I don’t like credit cards in general, and the Westpac credit card is the only Australian credit card I’ve ever had. While in Australia the service was fine. As an expat however, this has been a very frustrating experience, which is a shame. I'd had one prior experience which was actually very good when I was pick pocketed on the tube, and they replaced my cards within a few days. The process was simple, hassle free and fast. This situation has been the polar opposite. Clearly the lost/stolen process has had a lot of attention and improvement but similar service is lacking other areas. Sadly, it is enough to tip the scales in the other direction.

I get that I am responsible for not making regular payments and that they are entitled to withdraw their service, but seriously, all it would have taken is for someone with a brain to call my international number as a gentle reminder and I would have paid any outstanding balance. Everyone goes through odd patches in their lives and the banks could use some humanity and consideration. Not to mention that if, in fact, my card had been cancelled, it was a fact that should have taken no more than the first 2 minutes of the FIRST phone call to discover, not a 2 day saga of incompetence, disorganisation, and rudeness. Till this year they never had any problems with me, it’s a shame that loyalty and being a good customer gives you nothing these days.

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How Westpac can improve their service

So to Westpac, if you care, here are some suggestions to improve your service:

1. You need to have a DEDICATED International customer service team

a. This team needs to be available outside of Sydney hours
b. There should have the authority to sort out any issues (even if it’s on a  temporary basis) OR 
c. Have an escalations team that has such authority

2. Generic service desk improvements

a. They should know the hours of operations of other teams b. You need to have a method (that isn’t phone calls) to allow your teams to communicate with each other (at the very least this should be used for urgent cases), logging notes against a customer’s account isn’t good enough
c. If it’s true that your service desks can’t call international numbers, you need to make this possible. Not all your customers stay in Australia all the time or afford to make long distance calls with lots of time wasted on hold.

  

3. Collections team service improvements

a. Every effort should be made to contact a customer before cancelling cards/accounts. They should call any/all numbers listed on an account before taking any action not just the primary number
b. If they cannot get through, they should leave a voice mail

c. If there is an email listed, contact should be attempted that way too

Westpac, if your response to any of this is to a) Say that this is entirely my fault and quote terms and conditions or b) say that all of the suggested improvements are too costly to implement, then I’m sorry, but you don’t really have a customer’s interest at heart.

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Final words

I will reiterate, I’m not claiming innocence here, I know I missed payments (not my intention) and that is my responsibility. All I’m saying is that the process Westpac has to resolve this has not made me feel like I’m a valued customer, nor that their processes support anyone who doesn’t live in Australia. I am seriously grateful that this isn’t an emergency situation otherwise I would be at a total loss. I have spent the better part of the last two days dealing with this, it has really wasted my time.

Lastly, I have waited 48 hours after lodging my complaint and still nothing, I'll continue to chase them especially since my account is in credit and if they really have cancelled my card, i want my money back! In the meantime, if you have had a similar experience, let me know, I’d like to hear what happened, and how it was resolved. Drop me an email or leave me a comment – even if you think I’m overreacting! ; )

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Expat banking - 5 Lessons Learned

I have just had a bad experience with Westpac Bank. This is a bank that claims to be "Proudly supporting Australians for over 196 years"...if you live in Australia that is, and you are not an expat anywhere...if you can contact them during Sydney hours of operation...if you can be contacted on an Australian number.

If you would like to know details about what happened to me to prompt this post, stay tuned. I raised a complaint with Westpac yesterday morning and they have just under 24 hours remaining to respond. I will be posting the full story tomorrow. In the meantime, here are some sage expat banking advice and tips i learned due to this incident.

Expat banking - 5 Lessons Learned

1 - If you are going to be an expat or will be travelling for a long period of time and would like take your credit card from home with you, make sure your bank has the support infrastructure in place. For example, check the customer support times, if the international support number is different to regular local support etc.

2 - As much as you like your bank, it is worthwhile taking out another secondary credit card just in case you run into issues with your main one. Your loyalty and clean credit history will, apparently, mean nothing to the banks so there is no reason to not have an alternative.

3 - Review the bank's support, a simple Google search will show if anyone has encountered any issues with support while living/travelling in another country. I'm sure I'm not the only one to write about my negative experience.

4 - Make sure your account details are up to date and that your international number is your primary number. If this cant be done, make sure there is a note on your account to ask all communications go to your international number.

5 - Find out about your bank's policies in various scenarios. Not only will this tell you if they have good support, it gives you an understanding of what you need to do if disaster strikes.


If you have any other expat banking tips, I'd love to hear them, drop me an email, comment or tweet me :)

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The Perils of the UK Working Holiday Visa and being an Expat

Tower Bridge and the Thames at twilight, London.

The perils of the UK working holiday visa and being an expat in London is that eventually, you have to say goodbye. As an Aussie, I'm lucky enough to qualify for a UK working holiday visa. Back in September 2011, i was jumping around the house like a kid waving my brand new Tier 5 working holiday visa (or Youth Mobility Visa as it is officially known) excited about the prospect of making the move to London and adopting it as my home for two years. The problem with this visa is that it cannot be extended and has to end after two years no matter how much i love London or how much i want to stay (despite the weather!).

A sunny day at Regents Park, London

This sunny weekend i realised that my visa deadline is looming. It is barely 5 months away. Eeep! I feel as though I've barely scratched the surface of this city or the travels i could have. I need more time! So, what are my options? Sponsorship. Short of coming up with a business idea and finding funding for an entrepreneurship visa, that's about it. Ive been speaking with my umbrella company about that but i wont find out either way till sometime in August.

Currently I'm resisting the urge to panic. I really enjoy living in London. Yes i do miss Sydney, its my home, but London is my travel home and its such a great place to base yourself for travel anywhere. Even if you don't go anywhere, there is always something going on in London, always something to see, do, experience.

The London Eye at night

I have survived living in a hostel, slowly built up friendships, endured the crazy house share/house market quirks of London and finally landed on my feet where I'm not struggling as much as i used to.
Travel wise, being in London has let me jet off to some great places. Ive fallen in love with Japan and the beauty and majesty of its cherry blossoms, managed not to kill myself on the slopes of Borvets in Bulgaria, seen a glimmer of the Northern Lights in Iceland, became enchanted with Venice, travelled through Italy, ate my way through Athens and Santorini and soon I'll be not sleeping in New York City.
Even inside the UK I've walked the city walls of York, dragged a friend to Edinburgh, visited the beautiful Lakes District, been blown away at Brighton, repaired a snowman in Oxford, punted along the Cam in Cambridge, and fell in love with a non-Shakespearean play (A Soldier in Every Son)  at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Big Ben and Westminster Underground Station, London

If i cant get sponsorship, I'll be OK to go home...after trying to fit in as much travel as possible in warmer climes. If i do, brilliant, it just means I'll have loads more to blog about and share with you all.

Either way, I'll keep you posted. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

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Moving in...thoughts on my new London home

Its an odd thing moving into a house share. If you think about it, you are sharing a home, a set space with people who are perfect strangers. How often do you walk up to a random person on the street and see if they will let you use their shower? Or when was the last time you let a perfect strange sleep in your house? But that is essentially what happens when you move into a flatshare or have someone move in with you. It is the oddest thing yet completely acceptable. What happened to the "stranger danger" concept you were taught when you were little? It gets thrown right out the window...here are 2, 3 or 4 random strangers, move in with them and share your daily life with them why dont you? Heck, even people in relationships think things through before they move in together, they want to get to know the person before they take that step. And yes while i realise that its not quite the same thing, you have to allow for some similarities.

I have moved into my new home in London. I am sharing with 2 girls and im sure they are lovely but for all i know they could be axe murderers or serial killers. I spent all of half an hour with each of them before moving in. Call me uptight but i dont give perfect strangers my home address or phone number after only speaking with them for half an hour and i certainly dont move in with them! But thats the thing, put in the persepective of sharing a house, it no longer seems strange, odd or even slightly daring or crazy, it becomes normal. Move in with perfect strangers? Dont know a thing about them? Well if the house is near a tube stop and the rent is affordable, you better snap it up before someone else does!

Of course my flatmates are lovely and very sweet. I have settled into my new home and im thoroughly enjoying the novelty of not being in a hostel anymore. But i just wanted to illustrate how crazy the whole house share social schema is. It is not the first time i have shared a house but its the first time i have viewed it from such a perspective and the laughable notion just had to be shared. Come to that, writing about my life on the internet where an innumerable number of strangers can read about it is just another example of an "accepted" thing to do that, seen in the same light, is just as crazy, but i digress.

Finding a place to live in London is not easy, as anyone will tell you. It is as serious as applying for a job...if not more so! Places are listed on flat sharing sites and within hours they are gone. If you manage to get a response to your enquiry you are invited to attend an interview, yes, an interview. Well its an interview masquerading as a house viewing. Anyway, you can rock up to the "interview" which is usually in the evenings, meet all the flatmates, get a tour of the house, be asked what you do, where your from, how long you staying in London and all sorts of other questions and think everything went well but never hear from them again. You do not get to choose where you live, it chooses you. If you do hear from them, you attend a second round of interviews and/or get a reference check. And you thought i was kidding about it being like applying for a job...

So 6 weeks after landing at Heathrow, luck chose to smile on me and, finally, i was able to say goodbye to the hostel and hello my new home :) And it is lovely. It is a terrace house on a quiet street but only a few minutes walk to the tube, local shops, bars and cafes. The biggest bonus is it has a roof terrace!!  Come summer time it is going to be brilliant! While living in the hostel was one heck of an experiance and allowed me to meet and befriend some people, i can honestly say that i will not miss sharing a room with 3 to 13 other girls, being woken up at odd hours because someone is either coming in late/leaving early/snoring/having night terrors/turning on their hair dryer or not being able to make myself dinner.

And now that i am settled (and have a stable internet connection!), i will be able to post a lot more about my adventures in London and other travels. I have a couple of posts already planned and of course there is my upcoming trip to Japan that you simply cannot miss.

VP

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