Havenbasin Road

Today is another complaint session, this one about banks and different accounts and stuff. I think an open bank account is fine, but the reason for the complaining is because I am trying to get a business card for my new business and it has been a pain. The initial stuff was alright, but then the wait began. I was initially told about a week, but after three weeks I figured I had been patient enough and called, went through a week with calling and waiting for a reply back. Finally, after that week, called a different person directly and she was very helpful! The guy who was supposed to be doing the cards contacted me and apologized for taking so long, giving various excuses but saying there was no excuse for taking that long. He said he would be taking care of things, so the next thing I know I get another call in a day or two and he wants more paperwork. I was about irritated by this time, but I played along and sent it in and now he wants a cosigner. I already have a couple of my own cards but this business card is being a pain in the butt. It is a different bank than the one I normally deal with and I am seriously considering cancelling everything and going with my regular bank as these guys are becoming annoying.

Banks don’t want to get it anymore, I don’t have any of the problems that would keep them from giving me the card, they are just being a pain about things. What they don’t get is that while they are nice and neat it is our money and they really need us. It might be easier to find some offshore finance, easier than obtaining a business card from these bank dimwits.  Maybe a foreign bank would be less hassle than these people, it feels like they probably would. I am not going to do that but it is a thought.

I now have accounts in my business name and am down to just needing to move on to the part of the business that fills those accounts up. It took a while and quite a bit of searching for me to decide on a bank to go with. Credit unions are usually much better than regular banks, at least for their member/customers. Most of the banks recently have issues, plus many of the card givers definitely have issues. They are a few that are still good deals, but you seem to have to look for them. However, a credit union, on the other hand is normally a good deal. After looking around at different banks I went ahead and settled on a credit union, because of their stability and because they are less inclined to screw you just on general principles like many of the banks and credit providers are currently trying to do. I thought of an offshore bank account but I think you already need quite a bit in an account before they will consider you for something like that.

I wonder if banks look at credit ratings to decide whether to offer you an offshore account or not? Even if you just went overseas with an account it might turn out for the better for you. That does of course depend on what country you choose and what, in general, their currency trades at. The only other factor I would think to be very important is stability. Will the place you are investing retain the rights it currently allows for non-citizens or will those be taken at the whim of those running that country? It makes a difference, trust me. The main difference being whether you get to keep your money or not, and how safe you feel trading in that currency and what your bank account size is.

It is challenging to choose a broadband company, of course, relevant to any business SDSL availability you might find your choice to be an easy one. Otherwise I am trying to just find out as much information about each company as I can. Basically, just Googling. Checking for reviews of each company and of course the all important price factor. Although, to be honest, I find that while price is certainly a factor, quality comes first. Quality of service, which includes stability of the line is truly essential for a business. I think many regular users probably figure it is really important for home use too.

My business is in the starting stages. I’ve still got a few things to iron out but most of it is done. One of the last things I am looking into is the need for a very good internet connection. I may have mentioned it before, who knows. Things get jumbled together after a certain age or certain number of long nights, and I’ve had a few. Depending where you are there can be several different broadband companies to choose from. It seems to be more of a pain than I thought it would be. Trying to figure out what means what and whether I want leased line providers or some other thing I have yet to hear of.  There seems to be a lot of stuff to learn, if you want to make and educated decision and not just go off of what the salesperson is telling you. My first thought there, is that it could be a big mistake to trust a salesperson. I am sure most are perfectly honest, but their job is to sell you something. If they need repeat customers you are probably good.