Perversion & The Perils of a Sketchy Mail System
Earlier this week it occurred to me that I hadn't received, or consequently paid, a phone bill in months, well six or seven weeks at least. I called the phone company to enquire only to learn that my phone line was about to be blocked due to my serious delinquency. For some reason, pleading non-payment due to non-receival didn't seem to earn me much sympathy!
Paying bills in Brazil is always an adventure. Often bills can be paid at a bank, however, not all banks have agreements with all main service providers. So Bank #1 will accept payments for the telephone but not the electricity. Bank #2 will accept payments for the electricity but not the long-distance plan. Bank #3 will accept the cellphone bill but not ... well, you get the idea! Another common way of paying bills is to directly deposit the money into the service provider's account. This is by far the most annoying way since you never know which bank you will need to find and how out-of-the-way it will be. And of course, if there are several bills to pay, you can guarantee that the accounts will not be with the same bank! Internet banking is catching on here and I think that it will be the next thing that I investigate. The caveat being that poor people can easily have neither a bank account nor internet access, making this option clearly out of reach.
The one place that accepts all payments is, surprisingly enough, the state lottery kiosques. Personally, I find it a little odd [read: perverse] that people need to line up outside the lottery booth to pay their essentials of life. By the time a client has handed over significant amounts of money I am sure that the temptation is high to try and win some of it back. One for Telemar. One for the State. One for CELPE. Two for the State. One for Claro. Three for the State.
So this morning, in an effort to remain connected and tarnish-free, I scoured the neighbourhood for a lottery booth. Fortunately there was one nearby which was open until noon. I diligently paid my bill and managed to get out before succumbing to the allure of the draw.
posted by Karen @ 10:57 p.m.
5 Comments:
How interesting....it makes me feel bad that I haven't been to a pysical bank in months because I do everything electronically.
I am really spoiled!
Are you coming up to North America for some snow?
Fascinating how other countries do things.
I pay everything through automatic withdrawal from one bank. Check goes in check goes out, ha,ha..
Michael: I can't even remember the last time I was in a bank in Canada - life is so much easier with the Internet! I think that these things are possible, and even rather advanced, here. I just need to figure it out! Of course, for the poor, this is simply not an option.
And yes! Se Deus quiser, I should be arriving in the land of ice and snow [and hopefully not slush!] in less than two weeks!
H&B2: They have auto withdrawal here too, but since most of the accounts that I am responsible for [except my home phone] are office accounts, I have less control on the "cheque goes in" part potentially creating problems for the "cheque goes out" part!
Sangroncito: You can pay bills at the Bom Preço?!? Who knew? At least at the BP, the money you spend has a direct return. As for the loto, it's like throwing money down the drain....
And we thought the Canadian Postal System was slow (and it is compared to the US). Your blog is terrific. Despite extensive course work in Latin American history, a former girlfriend from Piaui and students from Manaus--I never fail to learn something from your wonderful postings. It's the minutia of life that's so interesting.
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