Banco Sabadell - Frustration!

The last few days have been hell on earth, dealing with my Spanish bank. Darrell and I no longer reside in Spain and have been attempting to close down the financial side of our life, living on the Costa Blanca, which is easier said than done. Darrell and I have been trying to make a final payment to Banco Sabadell, something that has proven to be impossible.

It sounds simple doesn't it, but nothing is simple in Spain, least of all banks. In order for Darrell to send a payment to my account he has to receive a code to a Spanish telephone number to make sure the transaction is legitimate. The trouble is Darrell is living abroad and can not receive the code, since his Spanish phone number will not work there. We then tried to change the telephone details online to allow a code to be sent to a new number, but to no avail. All personal details have to be changed in person at the branch the account was opened. So if you are spending time abroad, as Expats often do, you can not adjust your phone details, rendering your mobile app inoperative!

Sabadell is an international bank that doesn't allow the transfer of money from one of its accounts to another because the person requesting the transfer is living abroad; isn't that the point of international banking, to be able to carry out financial transactions whilst in another country? Needless to say, I have been pulling my hair out talking to this institution, trying to resolve this dilemma. So far no joy, We have not been able to find a solution to this problem and at a time when I should be concentrating on my Mother and family, I am having to once again deal with Spanish bureaucracy, not the easiest thing to navigate!

After taking advice from online forums, I have been communicating with Sabadell through Twitter, the easiest and quickest way to get a reaction from them and I have to say it has worked like a dream, with very quick response times. Sadly the language barrier has proved a bit of a problem but they have been doing their best to solve the problem. It isn't the employees fault that the bank they work for has ridiculously impossible rules in place, that prevent customers from carrying out perfectly reasonable requests.

At the moment I have given up with Banco Sabadell, reaching a state of impasse; I am awaiting further correspondence from them, to discuss what we can do further to finally close down this bank account and move on. There were many reasons I fell out of love with Spain, the main one being the absurd amount of paperwork involved in ones daily activities and for that reason alone I am glad to be back in the UK. Spain remains a country with high unemployment and a difficult economic climate, because it does not tackle problems that make people's and businesses lives harder. Banks like Sabadell just reinforce ideals that are no longer welcome in the modern World. In order for people like me to live a less stress free life, we need to be accorded the same courtesies offered by other banks while abroad. There is no need to make lives more difficult, I await further instruction...It could take rather a long time.