Postbank - cashcard issuing times

Thank you Postbank for making my life retarded!!!

(but god bless Toytown for being there..just being there..)

my bank card got demagnitized and it took me about two weeks to get a replacement in the mail..lo and behold, overjoyed at feeling the rectangular hard shape in the envelope, i could already taste freedom after being handed out "petty cash" intsallments from my boyfriend for 13 days...i tear it open..only to find out that my PIN is coming in a fucking week...
what the fuck??
(and i don't think i need an answer, this is just a rhetorical question, i am too raving mad right now to hear any logical explanation!!)
it's like what if i got locked out, would they send me an note, in say 3 hours, saying that someone will be coming by tomorrow to unlock my flat??!!

thank you
rant over

2 weeks is fast. I applied for a new card on January 5 and finally received the card (minus pin) on January 27! The pin took another week after that.

Also Postbank.

well, it's like anything else, right?

the amount of money you pay is (should be, but not always is I know) proportional to the service you get.

you pay 0,00€ for Postbank account right? so there you go..

@persik

Ah come on, you have my sympathy, but imagine somebody would have got your EC-card WITH the pin code, becuase it's Deutsche Post, who's delivering You might get it btw sooner than the week.

2 weeks is about average for ALL banks as there's only 1 or 2 places making the cards for all of Germany.
PIN will usually come a couple of days later. You do realise it is for your own protection right as people have been known to rob the post.

silly me, wanting to have fast, efficient service!! i guess i should go home for that...i did not pay anything in the US for a bank account, but they gave u a temporary card (for bank withdrwals only, no store purchases, but still something!) AND the actual card got there in about 5-7 days WITH pin...
i guess the rant is not over
i mean from what i have experienced living here so far, i do not see at ALL where the stereotype of german efficiency comes from, anything, telecoms, banking, KVR, language classes, anything really takes ages and is almost always accompanied by issues!! and i know i am not the only one who feels this way..
never thought i'd miss US this much...

Deutsche Bank issued mine within 5 working days (but this might be due to the fact that the profits hit they would incur by not issuing my card speedily would have been massive).

ok, ok, i know..i am now simmering down...
i think i am just worked up since there are other issues tied into this which do not need to be discussed here, but do pertain to germany's sluggish customer service in other sectors, as i already mentioned...and there have been numerous threads on that also..
like i said, just a rant...

Bit of a myth that really on "Service Wüste Deutschland". It has got a LOT better over the years.

Deutsche Bank - also less than a week for both. Now they send me letters saying, "we recently noticed you have some monies in your account". For some reason that makes me laugh and feel insecure about my account. Kinda like theres a shoe box with my name on it and some guy just found it under his bed.

i know, some things here about the service are so weird and funny..of course numerous threads on that..
but i love how the letter for my card also said the card is "ab sofort gueltig". ahhh that puts me completely at peace, it may lay on my desk for 4-7 more days, but at least it's gueltig...morons. IT'S NOT, it doesn't have a pin! in my book it's as good as the old de-magnitized one.

Well you can shop in Kaufhof or H&M, they still use Lastschrift and get you to sign (instead of asking for a PIN).

be careful about the magnetic strip on EC cards, mine's been ruined a couple of times, which I didn't realize until I was in the US and needed to get cash out. Love it.

They say not to put it against other cards or around magnets. I had to change wallets because the snap on mine had a magnet. Also mobile phones can apparently take out the magnetism.

At least you can use the EC card almost everywhere without having cash with you. Except, of course, where you have to put in your pin instead of signing.

A what is now funny Postbank story: I applied for a bank a/c last year. 2 weeks after filling out the forms etc., received a letter that my application had been rejected as they were unsure how long I was going to stay in Germany and they would like to have clients long-term.

I called the customer service number and the machine voice asked me to enter my account number. Ofcourse I didn't have one so I waited, assuming that I would be transferred to a live operator. In anycase, I was asked to enter my account number three times and then the lovely machine service said to me "We are not getting any further...please enter your account number". Needless to say, I hung up and am now a happy customer... of another bank.

Oh - I did write the Postbank a letter and they did apologise, although at the end of their apology letter they wrote that if I can guarrantee them that I intend to stay in Germany for a number of years they will gladly approve my application for a bank account.

And you can still get cash out with your card. You just need to pop into a post office. True, it's not as convenient, but still a possibility, as most large post offices are open till 8pm.

Anyway, you'd probably have started a similar rant about Postbank ignoring common security issues, if they had posted the PIN with your card.

God, yeah - be grateful they don't send the PIN with the card, bearing in mind what a bunching of dirty rotten tea-leafs the bloody Deutsche Post employs.
Grrrrrrrrr.

Persik. So you would prefer that the bank sends you the card and pin in the same envelope? Or on the same day? I don't understand.

1-2 weeks is fine for the card and another week for the PIN is purely a security issue. If it were only 1-2 days and your letter box got broken into, you would be in deep shit.

and thats why 3Lions card didnt work, chick magnet was the word used i think , oh i do miss his posts

oops sorry to ruin a good rant, on you go persik, down with the post

@persik: for moments like this, I would recommend:
Sonic Youth - Mildred Pierce
Sonic Youth - Kool Thing

ending with
Sonic Youth - Unwind
Royal Trux - Map of the city

I remember a few years ago back in Australia my card got eaten by an ATM. 5 minutes and a walk into an actual branch was all it took me to get a new one. OK, it didn't have my (or anyone's for that matter) name on it - it was just a temporary replacement card that I used until the new one arrived in the mail. Maybe this is something that the banks here could implement? Anyone working for a bank in Germany?

I pay ca. EUR5 for the Sparkasse and it's the same, Borracuda. It has nothing to do with the price of fish.

yes, i would LOVE for the pin to come with the card!! ok, i get it...
ffs, it's just a rant!! i was raving mad and no, logic did not enter the picture..i think i said that to begin with...i'm already a bit pissed, i don't need any smarty pants comments thank you...
but what i did think would happen and what i would prefer is for my card to show up within 7, not 13 days, and may be they can utilize a nifty little thing like calling the bank to activate your pin, as done in the US!!! ok already with the "you know this is done for YOUR security" i get it!!! but what i am saying it does NOT have to take 20 days altogether, the card, the pin!!

but to germany's banks' credit...what i DO love is that they, upon withdrawl, FIRST eject your card, THEN give you cash...see in US it was the other way around (well, san francisco at least)..can't tell you how many times i have taken off with the cash and forgotten all about the card..(and a new one took about a week to get there )

I would prefer they give me the card in person on the day that I apply for it. I would also prefer that I get to choose my own pin. Although by now I know better than to expect things to work even remotely similar to the way they do at home.

Just walk in your branch with some ID and they'll let you take out cash from your account if you need to wait for a card ( Stadsparkasse München)

On the one hand I'd like to be able to choose a PIN as I have loads.
On the other hand people would chosse shite like 1234 wouldn't they and a LOT of money would get stolen.

Good point. I'm sure it works the same way with Postbank, too!

elf's postbank story:

right b/4 i went on holiday a year back, the ATM stole my card, saying they suspected misuse on a machine where i got cash, so for my own protection, they sucked in the card. on monday, i went into the postbank & told them my situation, & they asked to see my card & i said "your machine retained it", so they said okay, i should write a letter requesting a new card, which i did. all was well & i got the new one on time, but i forgot about the "geldkarte" & so i wrote them another letter saying there was money on it, how to get reinbursed, then they wrote "bring your card to the bank & we'll reimburse you", so i wrote back "how could i when your ATM retained my card". well no response for 2 months. finally i called & they said, well they didn't know what to do, which is why they didn't replay, that they couldn't determine how much was on that card & i said i am honest & there was only enough to buy some stamps & maybe MVV tixs, so €30. so out of "kulanz", they reimbursed me.

i am a happy postbank customer.

on another note, a work collegue (who lives in berlin & commutes too) found one month that her visa card bill was €4k. apparently they sent her a new one & pin at the same time & someone, knowing her habits, stole her mail & used the credit card & spent as much as they could per day.

also, a mini-rant for postbank:

i wanted to get my mom her own EC card. the app was rejected three times (1) b/c she couldn't come in person to verify who she was (2) after insisting that my ma does indeed live in the u.s, they rejected her notary verification of who she was b/c she didn't fill in the info in the right blocks (3) and b/c she had the notary verify herself based on her d.l., not passport. needless to say, my mom refuses to fill out a new form & go to a notary!

It does. Did it a couple of times while I was waiting for my replacement card - forgot my PIN. Duh...

I agree the Postbank sucks. I opened an account, got the ATM card (2 weeks later), and no PIN. We called and requested a PIN. They said, throw out the old card. We got the PIN and No new ATM Card. It has been 2 months since the account was opened, and still no card and PIN.

Join the Sparda Bank, you pay €50 or so, and they invest the money then use the profit to cover the cost of all bank charges, in fact when there is a bit over you get it back. I lost my card in Sept, 3 days later newcard, day after PIN. PostBank sucks

Persik, I can totally relate to your issues! Just hang in there. There will be days when you want to run down the street and yell and everyone you see. It will get better - when the summer comes and the temps begin to rise - things like bank cards don't seem to matter as much anymore.
I will tell you - I am still not over the fact that in 85% of shops (and restaurants) in this country, you can only pay with cash or EC card! I mean, what the hell do tourists do when they come here?! People in Asia and North America don't carry cash anymore - everything is done with card (i.e. check cards or credit cards). This EC business is for the birds! When I first moved here, the time between when I opened my account and got my card and then my actual f'ing pen, a full month had gone by... it was hell! I am doing a little better now! Rant over!
Hang in there, Persik!!

I reckon there are more credit cards in use in Nairobi than Munich. I think a lot of the financial mentality here is about 50 years out of date.

Why oh why can we not have direct debit cards like Visa Delta, Switch and Maestro?

Doesn't all EC-Cards belong to the Maestro-System?

I am a happy Sparda-Bank customer The online banking is also free and you are credited 5 cents (woo) for every online transaction you make. There is never a queue on the rare occassions I have to go there either