On becoming a parent, I’m told, there are four things to do. Own a green card, giving access to all Cape Nature Conservation sites, such as Cape Point and Boulders, an Aquarium card, a Botanical Society card and a World of Birds card.
I’m not doing too badly, scoring 75% as a parent, the aquarium card being the only exception. The one I use least is the World of Birds card, situated as it is in Hout Bay, relatively the opposite end of the world from me in Capri, especially as I refuse to support the monstrous Chapmans Peak toll road.
The World of Birds produces a bimonthly newsletter, which always provides humourous reading. The owner seems to be engaged in continual bitter struggles with everyone around him. From the Jan/Feb newsletter, it’s his staff, his bank, and his neighbours (x2), with the government, teachers, a Pretoria researcher and some guests getting general complaints.
The bank story is most humourous. Obviously at the end of his tether with Nedbank, the owner wades in with an article subtitled How Your Bank Could Damage Your Business. Bad service from South African banks is so often taken for granted, so I love to see people slating their banks so publicly. After lengthy disputes with Nedbank, R75 daily penalties, R20 ‘excess fees’, R64000 in interest and service fees from Mar-Dec, and eventually having a bond turned down, they’ve moved to Absa, who’d aproved their bond. So Nedbank, quibbling about cash flow and making the situation worse with their charges, loses a R5 million current account as well. Are Nedbank even aware of the penny-wise pound-foolish behaviour of their staff in this case?
Anyway, it’s time for a World of Birds visit soon. Dorje loved it last time he was there, and they’ve done some more expansions recently. It’s much bigger than it looks, about a week’s worth of exploring. I’ll just have to be careful not to annoy the owner and make an appearance in March’s newsletter!
I have plenty to say about the banking in this country but for various political reasons I will refrain from doing so publicly, for now. I guess we (South African’s) in general don’t complain enough – well, not publically anyhow.
Infochoice (who does various banking research) are running a survey ” GIVE THE BANKS A PIECE OF YOUR MIND” at http://www.infochoice.co.za/phpsurveyor/index.php?sid=5
It boggles the mind why SA banks charge so many admin fees. In the UK the service is crap but you at least you aren’t charged for having an account each month.
I have been banking with 20twenty since they opened. They’re probably not any cheaper, and there are obstacles, such as the fact that they don’t have physical branches, but service has always been really good. They generally pick up the phone on the second ring and sort out any problem immediately. I hope new owner Standard Chartered doesn’t mess it up for them.