I'm usually pretty good when it comes to paying my bills. Except for Etisalat, that is. But that's only because I don't receive my phone and internet bill until two weeks or so after the due date.
So far, Etisalat hasn't noticed. Or perhaps it has and is choosing to ignore my late payments. In my defence, I'm not responsible for the time it takes to reach me by post. And let's face it, I'm not about to call and find out where it is because we all know where that will lead: nowhere, but with a lot of frustration along the way.
To ensure that I pay my bills (except one) on time, I have a few direct debits set up and they are taken care of at the same time every month. There are a couple of payments that I have to take care of in cash, but they only relate to the guy who washes my car every morning - and who I never see unless it is payday, when he hangs about outside our house at the end of the first week of every month. And the water deliverers, who we pay cash on delivery once a week.
The rest I take care of through online transfers. Etisalat (when the bill finally arrives) is one of them. The other is my daughter's school fees, which I transfer to her school's bank account at the start of every term, and her piano tuition, which is also done through her school.
I don't normally have problems transferring funds via my online account. But it seems that my luck with technology ran out when my BlackBerry gave up the ghost last month.
So until further notice, I'm going to blame my online transfer problem on the fact that I've lost my technology mojo. Or perhaps it's on temporary hiatus. Or maybe it just needs an upgrade; my mojo, that is.
Whatever the reason, it doesn't explain where a transfer I sent via my online account nearly two weeks ago has disappeared to. I mean, if it leaves my account and doesn't land in the account that I sent it to, just where exactly does it go? And how do you find it?
HSBC, my bank, doesn't know where. At least not yet. I'm still waiting for its complaints department to get back to me.
National Bank of Abu Dhabi, the bank my daughter's school uses, has confirmed that my money hasn't arrived. Despite the SMS and email confirmations I received from HSBC, that Dh800 (US$217) I transferred for my daughter's piano tuition is somewhere in limbo.
Every other time I've sent money from my account with the "world's local bank" to an actual local bank, it has arrived the following day. And even though it is only Dh800, I am a little worried. The amount has been deducted from my account already. And I certainly don't want to pay again.
I know I filled out the online transfer form correctly, meticulously checking the account number three times before pressing the confirm button and sending the transfer on its merry way.
And I'm almost certain that I included the beneficiary's international bank account number (Iban) in the transfer instructions. But I wish I was 100 per cent sure on that one.
As you know, the Central Bank last year regulated that all bank account holders in the UAE must have an Iban, which is used for a range of transactions, including salary payments, remittances and transfers to other accounts.
The ruling came into effect on November 19. However, according to the Central Bank's website, residents could still carry out transactions without an Iban until April 12. "However, it is likely that your transfer may get processed with delays," the Central Bank warns on its website.
"Banks will not process and will reject such transfers if they do not contain a valid Iban account number after April 12, 2012. Furthermore, there may be additional rejection charges applied to the transfer. This is only applicable for payments made to beneficiaries in the UAE."
Oops. But if my transfer didn't include that mandatory 23-digit Iban, then it would have been rejected before I even got to the confirm stage. Right? Or is that too logical? If that is the case, do I face rejection charges, not to mention the indignity of losing face?
But perhaps the fault doesn't lie with me. As I said, I'm fairly sure I didn't leave off the Iban. And if that's the case, then perhaps my mojo is on its way back. I hope so; for me and the future of my daughter's piano lessons.
UPDATE: I did omit that oh-so-important Iban in my transfer, which means it didn't go through as planned. According to HSBC's customer care rep, the money was credited back to my account the day after. However, I can't find that credit. I've also tried resending the money - and guess what? There's nothing on the online transfer form for users to include the receiver's Iban. So much for my mojo.
