Issue with Wiring Money

This post is all a complaint one. Skip it if you don't like to hear me whine.

Got a phone call from Canadian immigration office saying that I put down wrong account number when I wired the process fee. They need me to pick up the form or have someone go over to pick it up, go to the bank, have the account number corrected and bank stamped, and send it back to the immigration office. The lady kept reminding me to get it stamped by bank employees, or I may have to take the office run few more times.

So I went and picked up the form myself, ran (you know this is exaggeration..) to the bank. The gentleman was very nice to check for me and confirm the wiring was successful. But they cannot change the account and stamp for me.

FACT 1: The account number on my form is wrong.
FACT 2: The account number my bank used to wire is per my writing, so is wrong.
FACT 3: The wiring was successful to the correct account.

So how can this possible? Anyway the gentleman said since the wiring was successful, I can just tell the immigration office the fact, because the wiring information the bank stores includes my name, so it is easy to recognize. They cannot change the account number and stamp for me, because they have to key in exactly what the customer writes down on the form. They have no authority to change the account on my behalf. That makes sense, so I tried to call the immigration office to find out if the gentleman's proposal works.

The recording is done in English, French, and Chinese. Very friendly. I chose Chinese of course, the third option, using my expensive cell phone calling plan. The recording was also very nice to warn me to have a pen and paper ready, as I may need to write down some useful information. Then the recording went on and on to explain for which case, which website to refer to, for what query, which email address send a letter to. It went on like FOREVER, and finally it hanged up. I did not get to talk to anyway. They do NOT take calls. All the immigration offices all have their nose point at the high sky. Fxxx (censored).

So I turned to the gentleman and said, if the account is wrong, how can this wiring go through? Can you double check and confirm it is my name, and the recipient is Canadian immigration office? After a short check, yes, name and recipient are confirmed correct. The he started to call the recipient bank (HSBC). After a LONG while, he came back and said, oh, maybe the Canadian immigration office is one of their major customers, so their employee who did the wiring knew the account is wrong, so he/she made the correction for you and completed the wiring. If you'd like to have further information, you can call this number, or if you'd like to have a proof of the wiring, you can go to their office at this address, which is so far away from my office and my home.

I was annoyed at that point. I said,

I wrote down wrong account number. That's fine. It is my mistake. You keyed in as per my writing, so it is not your fault. But, HSBC should also key in the wrong number, confirmed it did not work, and informed you of this error. This way, I can just come downstairs to the bank from my office, and correct it. It saved me trips to the immigration office, and time! If someone should contact HSBC, it will be YOUR bank, not mine. If HSBC does not have a proper SOP (standard operation procedure) to respond, how can your bank trust HSBC? You should even escalate this to their manager. I am not going to their office to get any proof. If this problem is not solved, I want to have my money back, and YOUR bank is my contact window.

The gentleman at this point asked for his manager for help. The lady was nice to explain and contact HSBC again. After a long while, again, she said that HSBC is able to make a printscreen of my wiring information, and fax it over to us and to the immigration office. The person even called the accounting of the immigration office and explained the situation, and asked the accounting to inform the lady who processes my application. The person confirmed it is fine.

I was not sure what else I could ask for. The lady of my bank was very nice to say that if I still need to have any questions answered, feel free to go to them.

The employee of HSBC does not follow their SOP to input information, if they have one. He/she may think he/she is doing me a favor, but in fact, he/she is causing my so much trouble, and my bank, and I am complaining about HSBC right here.

Er.. Are you following?