I called BanColombia today to see why they haven't returned my 18 grand.

Paisa/Calena/Luver says on Nov 14, 2008, 09:22:

Im so frustrated for you just reading this... What B.S. and I would be anxious, nervous and furious at everybody.. At least we forum like this to help each other and avoid following in your foot steps. Good Luck..

I love Laura Acuna & Jessica Cediel! lol

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PBHjon says on Nov 14, 2008, 09:28:

seems like a lot of fuss over $9 usd

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pavo says on Nov 14, 2008, 09:42:

This sort of stuff really sucks. And the worst part is that it can go on for years with no resolution. I wish you luck.

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scumbuster says on Nov 14, 2008, 09:53:

I heard a good suggestion to beat the bank hassles and take more out at a time than using a machine. Go to a casino and take out in chips. Have a drink and play optional, then cash out. Good rate plus no transfer charge. Might need to do it a couple times for $18,000 but looking at the problems its still easier.

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calipro says on Nov 14, 2008, 10:03:

pavo

If they take much more time on returning my money or depostiing in my account they'll be seeing me in court.

Gringoloid got his money returned in 59 days and attributed it to the help he got from the "defensor del cliente".

Could be that Colmenia has the same sixy day rule as BanColombia and they were going to return it either way.

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spigrimace says on Nov 14, 2008, 10:20:

They probably invested it in a pyramid scheme!

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yummyj says on Nov 14, 2008, 10:28:

...seeing me in court...

calipro is from the USA, I see.

Take a Colombian bank to court? Go for it...I'd love to see the end reult of that.

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badboy says on Nov 14, 2008, 10:35:

it's ok to get insulted, spat upon, etc. but never mess with a person's money. doesn't matter how much....it's infuriating to have this happen.

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calipro says on Nov 14, 2008, 10:50:

Well yummy dummy

I wouldn't be the first to take BanColombia to court and I'm sure I won't be the last.

I know a lawyer in Cali that has two clients (colombians) sueing BanColombia right now. I don't know how successful they'll be but someone has to call their bluff once in a while.

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gringoloid (Trustee board) says on Nov 14, 2008, 11:28:

calipro........i know you feel frustrated, but you did everything all of us asked you to do. i'm glad you contacted the el defensor.

you've done everything correct so far.......just wait it out until your money is returned. YOUR MONEY WILL BE RETURNED.

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huskie says on Nov 14, 2008, 12:51:

What if you transfer USD from a bank in the US to Bancolombia, maybe about 2,000.00usd
anybody?
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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gringoloid (Trustee board) says on Nov 14, 2008, 13:22:

huskie.......i transferred $4800 from my bank in the usa to colomena. i spoke with the bank mgr before hand and she said she has authoriity up to $5000, so it's fine; go ahead a send it.

after the money was wired, colmena refused to deposit the money to my account where i have been a customer for 18 months. they would not send it back either.

after 55 days, i notified the el defensor del cliente and the money was returned in 4 days.

lesson to be learned:...........USE CITIBANK!!!

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larryrn says on Nov 14, 2008, 14:16:

Dude, I bought a car taking cash out in pesos daily at Citibank and making daily payments to the dealer. This worked great and the conversion rate was above trading rates by 12 percent. Larry

Larry Snyder, www.rn.org

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gringoloid (Trustee board) says on Nov 14, 2008, 14:38:

larry, i agree.......i bought a car the same way. i will never do another bank wire. no fee debit cards are the way to go.

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huskie says on Nov 14, 2008, 14:57:

What my bank in the US told me is that they will make two small transfers to the account in Bancolombia (they call it trial transfer) and that I should check back at my bank in the US to see if the money was tranfered and then ckeck with Bancolombia to check same. My problem is that I am outside the US and Colombia right now and need to put money into Bancolombia to pay for expenses for a home I bought in Medellin( caretaker,phone, electricity, health insurance and so forth. So I do not want for them to hold and ""take my money" if you know what I mean...So, Loid, you think 2.000.00us would be ok?
Thanks and cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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huskie says on Nov 14, 2008, 14:59:

BTW I did not have any problems buying my finca as the seller had an account in Panama and the purchase money was wired directly form my US bank to his dollar account in Panama.
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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gringoloid (Trustee board) says on Nov 14, 2008, 15:02:

huskie......whatever you do, DON'T do that. you have to be here to register that money with form 5. i can't predict what bancolombia will do......but your money will be in limbo for awhile and then sent back like mine and calipro.

i know a guy in medellin that had his money returned after 4 months. you don't need this kind of aggravation.

look at the baloney calipro is going through.

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durito2 says on Nov 14, 2008, 15:06:

how easy was opening a citibank colombia account?

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huskie says on Nov 14, 2008, 15:08:

Ok, I will not, Thanks for the advise. What is form 5?
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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gringoloid (Trustee board) says on Nov 14, 2008, 15:10:

durito2.......it's the same to open an account anywhere.....bank or brokerage. they need to know where the money came from so you have some paperwork to gather.

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gringoloid (Trustee board) says on Nov 14, 2008, 15:13:

huskie, form 5 is the declaration for the Banco de Republica to register the money.

gator or pedro may be able to provide more details.

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huskie says on Nov 14, 2008, 15:28:

I did not have any problems opening a bank account at Bancolombia or Banco de Bogota, but I had influential help...I spoke to two different Bancolombia branches, the first one refused to open an account because I have been outside Colombia and eventhough I have a cedula and Colombian passport , they would not do it. Then I was lucky enough to find out that my cousin's sister in-law is an executive for the bank and she helped me through the process and was able to open the account at another Bancolombia branch. No problem when I went to Banco de Bogota; by that time, I knew and was prepared to answer the right questions asked by the person who opened the account. I must say Colombia has the weirdest, most complicated and most ridiculous banking laws in the whole world!!!! Nowhere, in the planet have I encountered such a complicated system and believe me I have lived in many different parts of the world. When will they learn?
Cheers

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds-"

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pavo says on Nov 14, 2008, 16:00:

And you wonder why people stick their money in Pyramides instead.

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calipro says on Nov 14, 2008, 16:56:

gringoloid

I would be interested in kniow if you called your bank to have the wire returned before you contacted the defensor del cliente.

huskie

I have wired money to my BanColombia bank account a number of times before but nothing over ten grand at a time. Each time I would wire the money shortly before leaving the States so I could claim it at the bank myself when it arrived.

Well a couple of months ago I sent down $4500 and when I went to BanColombia to have them post it to my account I asked the teller if there was anyway I could avoid having to come in personally before you guys deposite the money in my account and he said sure and gave me a form to sign.

The next month I wired down $5,000 and the money went straight into my account no questions asked.

Then I sent down the $18,000 which they are refusing to deposite into my account for any number of made up reasons ranging from the sum is to large to I haven't been in the country continously for six months, to you will have to bring in all kinds of paperwork and if you do bring in the paperwork you'll have to prove what you are going to use the money for.

If BanColombia hasn't returned my money by the time I arrive, I'm just going to go to the bank stand line and ask the teller to deposit the wire into my account like I have done a dozen or so times before and just see what happens.

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gringoloid (Trustee board) says on Nov 14, 2008, 17:02:

calipro.........i month before i called the el defensor i asked for citibank in the usa to recall the money. the next day i went to colemena and asked them to release the money to citibank. nothing happened.

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elk says on Nov 17, 2008, 06:58:

The rules are always changing.

I know a Gringo who recently sold his apartment for 200,000,000 COP using form #5.

I told him he would have a problem returning the funds to the U.S. since had failed to use form #5 and #11. He simply opened an account with Citibank here in Medellin and wired the total amount back to the U.S. without problems.

Everyone will have a different experience...Welcome to Colombia.

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elk says on Nov 17, 2008, 07:01:

Sorry...It should read form #4 and #11.

The funds for the original purchase came from the U.S. He had purchased the apartment using form
#5.

I suspect he may have problems when he returns to Medellin to visit friends. I'm not sure how DIAN tracks sales and funds wired back to the U.S.

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cali373 says on Nov 17, 2008, 08:06:

Citibank is a good option to have when conducting financial transactions between Colombia and the U.S. because there is no middleman involved. Citibank is the sole agent for international transactions between north america and Colombia. Deutchse bank is the agent for Europe. Colombian banks like bancolombia have to use Citibank to process the wire transfer. There are also over-regulated rules for transfering money and we can thank the US government and the drug trade for that.

Just want to point out this is one of the issues along with other red tape that hinders economic progress in Colombia. SOMETHING URIBE HAS DONE NOTHING ABOUT. Those that think a trade agreement with the US is an advancement have little knowledge about what is takes to develop an economy.

Smile if you are a thinker!

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