panickstricken help!!! - Page 3

Jo & John · 15-06-2007, 06:25 PM

Just a quick question to Alan Collet iif you are there. My brother has a sister in law who is Australian, he has suggested her writing a personal cheque out as it would be an Australian bank account. Our agent has said it needs to be a bankers draft in ozzy dollars. We have not had chance to ask her about the personal cheque as brother just phoned to offer a solution and it is after office hours.
Do you know if bankers draft is the only way they will accept payment. Any answers would be greatly received thanks, if you are right about the timescale not coming into force for the first of the month then the panic is off.

Alan Collett · 16-06-2007, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jo & John

Just a quick question to Alan Collet iif you are there. My brother has a sister in law who is Australian, he has suggested her writing a personal cheque out as it would be an Australian bank account. Our agent has said it needs to be a bankers draft in ozzy dollars. We have not had chance to ask her about the personal cheque as brother just phoned to offer a solution and it is after office hours.
Do you know if bankers draft is the only way they will accept payment. Any answers would be greatly received thanks, if you are right about the timescale not coming into force for the first of the month then the panic is off.

I'm here!

I'd not be lodging the application with a personal cheque - a bank draft is probably the way to go. I recall Thomas Cook (do they still exist in the UK?) are quite competitive on the price of bank drafts ...

Alternatively, use a credit card - I'd say 90% of our clients pay the VACs that way.

Best regards.

melpaul · 16-06-2007, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jo & John

Just a quick question to Alan Collet iif you are there. My brother has a sister in law who is Australian, he has suggested her writing a personal cheque out as it would be an Australian bank account. Our agent has said it needs to be a bankers draft in ozzy dollars. We have not had chance to ask her about the personal cheque as brother just phoned to offer a solution and it is after office hours.
Do you know if bankers draft is the only way they will accept payment. Any answers would be greatly received thanks, if you are right about the timescale not coming into force for the first of the month then the panic is off.

hi jo i used hifx i pay them into their bank and they send it to the tra if you open account with them they take care off all future payments also when it comes time to transfer all moneys they take care of this to

Jo & John · 16-06-2007, 12:10 PM

We are under the impression that we can only pay with a bankers draft 300 australian dollars Cant speak to our agent until mon morning. We really need everything to go back to her in the post Tuesday morning. If we can pay with credit card then there is no problem. We are not with the halifax, so I dont know wether we will be able to set up account with them and sort in time we are currently with lloyds TSB.

KazzE · 16-06-2007, 12:12 PM

Hi

Bankers draft - we did ours (twice, long story) through Lloyds bank, went in to request and it arrived in the post 2 days later both times or you can collect but for some reason that takes longer

Courier - I have used Interparcel several time around the £20 mark for padded env containing documents, excellent very quick service, went straight to airport that day and in Oz as soon as poss

Calm down, calm down, as Alan says we have to get used to the laid back attitude, it is very frustrating when you are waiting and you have a tight deadline (I am not the most patient, but I am learning), at the moment we are in the waiting zone for a case officer .................................................

Jo & John · 16-06-2007, 12:55 PM

Have just phoned Thomas Cook, and they said they can do it and could have it by Wednesday, which is quicker than the bank. We just need to know if they will accept this we think so but would hate to send it off, then find out it has to come from a bank. Has anyone used Thomas Cook for this and been successful. Once this is done we can sit back and relax, we just need to meet deadline before the change comes inot force.

Jo & John · 16-06-2007, 10:15 PM

Hi to everyone who has helped me with this thread. Thanks to the advice of Alan Colett we have now ordered the draft from Thomas Cook, they have assured me it is fine and lots of people have done the same. It will be at the branch on Tuesday for collection so everything can be sent special delivery from the post office. PHHEEEEWWWW!!!! Just need to cancel the instructions sent to the TSB. and hope they have not already sent info to get draft sorted.
I have learnt something valuable today, one is that if you think there is no way round, dont give up, and two, just how informative and invaluable this site is, and is going to be in the future, the replies are always so quick!!!! So a big thank you from both us

buckbuchanan · 17-06-2007, 11:45 PM

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree!! I have actually managed a business (ok, not run a business) and have seen the effects that under staffing has on the staff and the customers. If you have too many customers to handle then you are going to loose quality and hence loose customers and good staff - fact! If you know in advance that your work is seasonal then you are already in a good position to plan for the peak of your season - so why would you be caught out? Why would you then try to defend poor performance when you are already aware that you are about to hit a peak? At the end of the day, keeping customers waiting is bad and there is no way to argue around that! We all hate it and we all vote with our feet.
Having said that I take onboard what you say about aussie life being more laid back - however I work for an aussie company which is obviously different because they are 10 times more sharp than any UK company I have ever worked for and will not take poor performance sitting down, so I guess getting away with the laid back approach is becoming a thing of the past in Australia as well.
I don't mean to sound offensive but poor service is the number 1 thing that gets my back up - I think we have come to expect it but I also think we are now reaching the point where we are willing to pay a little bit more to have good service.

Alan Collett · 18-06-2007, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buckbuchanan

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree!! I have actually managed a business (ok, not run a business) and have seen the effects that under staffing has on the staff and the customers. If you have too many customers to handle then you are going to loose quality and hence loose customers and good staff - fact! If you know in advance that your work is seasonal then you are already in a good position to plan for the peak of your season - so why would you be caught out? Why would you then try to defend poor performance when you are already aware that you are about to hit a peak? At the end of the day, keeping customers waiting is bad and there is no way to argue around that! We all hate it and we all vote with our feet.
Having said that I take onboard what you say about aussie life being more laid back - however I work for an aussie company which is obviously different because they are 10 times more sharp than any UK company I have ever worked for and will not take poor performance sitting down, so I guess getting away with the laid back approach is becoming a thing of the past in Australia as well.
I don't mean to sound offensive but poor service is the number 1 thing that gets my back up - I think we have come to expect it but I also think we are now reaching the point where we are willing to pay a little bit more to have good service.

Poor service gets my back up too - I can assure you I don't readily accept some of the nonsense businesses sometimes throw at me.

The flip side is that sometimes customer demands are sometimes out of kilter with reality, or what is reasonable ... this seems to be particularly the case in the UK. People seem to be so stressed and think that by hassling a supplier they will achieve what they want ...

Back onto migration advice. As you may know, most migration businesses are small, one or two person operators. There is little or no back up when the advisor is unwell or on holiday. In addition, finding employees who are competent technically and professionally is not an easy task.

Without wanting to sound pompous, I also find that many who advise in the area of migration are not business minded, and have little background in client management issues.

If you put all of these issues together you can perhaps see why the experiences of some are "mixed" ... it isn't as straightforward a task as simply employing another advisor.

Best regards.

Alan Collett · 26-06-2007, 12:35 PM

Details are now on TRA and VETASSESS websites:
workplace.gov.au - 3 New skills assessment service
VETASSESS - Vocational Education Training and Assessment Services

Note that the changes come into effect from 1 September, 2007, not 1 July, which takes the immediate pressure off those with relevant trades skills occupations for the next week or three at least ...

Best regards.