Western Union Money Transfer China

Is It Worth It?

China. Sunday morning. I'm getting ready to go to the bank and send money via Western Union. I look at the list of banks which do Western Union money transfers and get out of my apartment,  full of energy, ready to finish one important and urgent task.

***

Kina. Nedelja ujutro. Spremam se da odem u banku da pošaljem pare Western Union-om. Pogledam spisak banaka na netu i izlazim iz stana, puna energije, spremna da obavim jedan bitan i hitan zadatak.

I walk into the first bank, expecting everything to go the way it usually does-with no big problems or delays. The first and the next five banks tell me that they don't do WU money transfers and they even look like they have no clue about what WU is. In the seventh, eight and ninth bank they tell me that they cannot send money today because it's a Sunday (and yet they are open!). Desperate and confused, I walk into the tenth bank from my list and to my surprise, they know what WU is and they can send it today.

***

Ulazim u prvu banku, nemam neka specijalna očekivanja, pošto računam da ne može da postoji neki veliki problem. Prva i narednih pet banaka mi govore da oni to ni ne rade, a tako i izgledaju-kao da nemaju pojma sta je Western Union. U sedmoj, osmoj i devetoj banci mi govore kako je danas nedelja i oni to danas ne mogu da urade (a banke im rade nedeljom!). Očajna i zbunjena, ulazim u poslednju banku sa spiska i na opšte iznenađenje, oni znaju pta je WU i mogu danas da šalju.

And here I encounter more complications. To send 400 dollars, I need to pay 120 dollars for the commission fee. Say what? And I only have that much money on me right now and it cannot wait.

***

Tu počinju ozbiljnije komplikacije. Da bih poslala 400 dolara, treba da platim proviziju od 120 dolara. Kako, molim? A ja imam samo toliko para kod sebe i ovo ne može da čeka.

After some thinking and calculating, I decided to send 300 USD and the polite lady behind the counter told me that the commission fee for that amount is 110 USD (?!). We filled out the WU form, I gave her the money, but she said that she can't take it because she can only accept dollars and I have 300 dollars and the rest in Chinese yuans AND they have an exchange office in the bank but they just can't change it for me. Huh.

***

Nakon kraćeg razmišljanja i računanja, odlučila sam da pošaljem 300 USD, ljubazna bankarka mi govori da je na taj iznos provizija 110 USD. Popunile smo WU obrazac, dajed joj pare, ali ispada da ne mogu da joj dam 300 dolara, a ostatak u juanima, već moram da donesem sve dolare I oni imaju menjačnicu u sklopu banke ali jednostavno ne mogu da mi promene novac. Hm.

I go to the exchange office and there they only have one one hundred dollar bill and no smaller bills.

Okay. I will go to a bank. One MUST have smaller bills... Before long, I managed to find a bank that had dollars and only twenty dollar bills. I decided to take it and think about the rest later when I go to the bank to send it. The queue in the bank was long and I had to sit for 30 minutes. During that time and idea occurred to me. Why not get two twenties and try to send more money for the same commission fee? I thought I was so smart. Ha! The bank only has ONE twenty dollar bill.

***

Idem u menjačnicu, a tamo imaju samo jednu stotku i uopšte nemaju sitnije novčanice.
Dobro. Idem u neku banku banku. Nema banka MORA da ima manje novčanice... Ubrzo uspevam da nađem banku koja ima dolare i ima dvadestku. Rešila sam da uzmem tu dvadesetku i da smislim šta ću kad odem da pošaljem novac. Red u banci je bio velik i morala sam da sedim pola sata i za to vreme sam razmišljala. Za to vreme mi je pala na pamet jedna ideja-zaštone uzmem dve dvadesetke i pošaljem više para za istu proviziju? Ha! Banka ima samo JEDNU dvadesetku.

After 15 minutes of begging and telling the bank lady to check, she managed to find another twenty an I got out of the bank relieved because now I only had one more thing to do and this nightmare would be over.

***

Posle 15 minuta prosjačenja i mojih molbi da bankarka proveri, uspela je da pronađe još jednu dvadesetku i ja sam izašla donekle s olakšanjem jer me je posle toga čekala samo još jedna stvar i ova noćna mora će se završiti.

Now all I had to do was wait for the girl at the counter and her assistant to type all the information about the sender and receiver, and to triple check it. I almost fell asleep there. I was already exhausted and ready to leave. The good thing is that the bank is very nice, has a mini-kitchen, a couple of sofas so it's quite comfy.

***

Sad samo treba da sačekam da devojka iza šaltera i njena pomoćnica otkucaju sve informacije o pošiljaocu i primaocu, i to triput da provere. Umalo sam zaspala tamo. Već sam bila iscrpljena i spremna da odem. Pozitivno je što je banka lepo uređena, ima i mini kuhinju, dve sofe i prilično je udobno.

Minute 215 since this nightmare started and I hear a "Oh, no" followed by a "So sorry" and the second girl leaving. My stomach in in knots. What else?!

***

U 215. minutu od kako je počela noćna mora, čujem jedno "O ne", a zatim jedno "Žao mi je" i druga devojka odlazi. Stomak mi je u grču. Šta sada?!

I'm waiting to hear that there is another problem but the girl tells me that the computer made a mistake and the commission fee is 15 USD. Are you laughing yet? :)

***

Očekujem još jedan problem, ali mi devojka govori da je kompjuter napravio grešku i da je provizija ipak 15 dolara. Smejete se? :)

After little over four hours, the money is sent. I have nothing else to say...

***

Posle nešto više od četiri sata, pare su poslate. Nemam više šta da dodam...