Thursday was a strange day. Things had started to go wrong in the morning. First of all, the regular monthly transfer of my UK pension to my Spanish bank failed. This meant I was overdrawn with bills and direct debits waiting for payment. Then I realised my mobile phone wasn’t working. What a disaster!
My UK pension payment is transferred to my Spanish bank account at CaixaBank from my UK account at Santander UK via currency conversion bank Wise. This should be automatic, but in July it didn’t happen.
So, I grabbed my phone and dialled Santander UK. I couldn’t get through, getting a strange message about the number not being recognised. I tried other calls to the UK. Same result. I rang my wife here in Spain. The same. What the f**k!
I borrowed my wife’s mobile and placed a call to Santander UK. It worked, although I had to wait over 20 minutes for the call to be answered by an agent. I explained the problem and asked them to transfer my pension to Wise on my behalf. After passing all the security questions and two waits of 10 minutes while my interlocutor disappeared to talk to a supervisor, she finally said I would have to call back the following day as the department that could help me was closed for the day! At 6 pm UK time! And this is the UK’s largest high street bank!
I thanked the phone operative for wasting nearly an hour of my life and hung up!
I hunted in vain for the number of Wise, which is normally stored in my phonebook. Not there! Strange, I thought. I hunted in vain for a number on the Wise website. There wasn’t/isn’t one!
I had arranged to change my mobile phone contract a few days before, but as far as I knew, the porto had not taken place. Using my wife’s phone I rang Atencion al Cliente at my new company, Yoigo, to investigate. The young man I spoke to was very polite but not very helpful. He suggested I go to the nearest Yoigo phone shop.
‘Bit late’, I said, ‘it’s gone 8.00 pm!’ (I think his shift had come to an end!)
‘No, I’ve just looked it up. There’s a shop in Ronda and it’s open until 9.00 pm’.
So, off I sped to Ronda and found the shop. The man and woman there listened while I explained the situation. They also could not understand why the company couldn’t help me over the phone. ‘We sell phones and contracts - we’re not techies!’
Despite this they sorted me out and got my phone working. However, the nice man pointed out that I was now live with two companies and paying twice: Másmovil, my old company and Yoigo, my new one. By the way, I’ve changed mobile phone companies a few times and it’s always been perfectly straightforward. Not this time, evidently.
I tried to ring Másmovil. Out of hours!
What next?
I went to the Santander España hole-in-the-wall and withdrew some cash from my UK account (Santander España don’t charge commission to Santander UK customers), which I promptly paid into my CaixaBank account to cover my direct debits.
I’d done all I could that evening and I needed a drink.
My first two choices were closed, so I went to Bar La Manzanilla, which I knew, and, guess who were sitting there?
Malcolm and Elaine, longtime English residents here, and Michael, my old mucker from North Wales, who’s been here for the best part of 20 years.
We had a bit of a catch-up and that led to my day improving beyond measure. Malcolm and Elaine were trying to sell their Casa Señorial, their magnificent house in the old part of Ronda. I dabble in a bit of independent estate agency (I’m what’s known locally as a corredor), so I asked if they’d be interested in working with me.
‘Yes, of course’.
‘Can I bring my estate agent friend Ian of Love Viviendas along?’
‘Yes, of course. Tomorrow?’
So, the following day Ian and I spent a very pleasant hour visiting the house, photographing it and signing contracts.
Then Ian and I popped down to Barrio San Francisco for a beer and a chat. We ended up sitting with some old acquaintances of mine, Antonio and Victor (I used to live in the barrio and they were waiters at Restaurante Almocobar), so Ian and I didn’t have our chat. Another time – Ian is a neighbour.
So, that day went from bad to worse, what with my banking issues and my telephone problem, and then to better with my serendipitous meeting with old friends and a possible house sale.
‘La vida no está mal, ¿eh?’
Factfile:
A1 Inmobiliaria, Conejeras 4, 29360 Montejaque (Málaga) Tel: 636 52 75 16
Restaurante Almocobar, Pl. Ruedo Alameda 5, 29400 Ronda (Málaga) Tel: 952 87 59 77
Love Viviendas, Partido Rural Fuente de la Higuera, 7 bajo, 29400 Ronda (Málaga) Tel: 619 056 055
© Pablo de Ronda
Tags: a1 inmobiliaria, Almocabar, caixabank, love viviendas, masmovil, montejaque, pablo de ronda, pension, ronda, santander uk, uk state pension, wise, yoigo