Greetings. I am funding a non profit open Education project in China and have tried so hard to open an account, but was notified from the vise president that they are too automated to care.

They will accept credit cards.
They will accept checks and prepaid accounts.

But, they wont accept wired transfers.

I cant understand why. I think for credit cards and checks, they would have to pay a fee? I have offered to pay for an entire year, with 10 % at 650 us dollars. This is a huge amount for me in China. I offered to wire from Hang Seng Bank directly to their account.

I even said I would pay all transfer fees.

My previous server at Esosoft , a great company,...

They donated their server space for 10 years for free. It was a shared server, and my site grew too big for their server.

So they ended their donated spacve on Wednesday. I have a lot of students records online in my drupal database I really need to get to.

There are no prepaid credit cards in China, and I have no credit cards.

So, Linode is very automated corporation who is beyond lending a helping hand.


"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." Albert Einstein

I think we've all suspected it for quite some time.

Let's look at their linode:

Key features:
Internet
Linux
Large green Cube

Selling points:
Amazing control panel
No contract
Timely support
Automated backup

Obviously, Linode wants to K.I.L.L. S.A.N.T.A.

hahahahahahaha god all the stess of doing this... Sitting behind my keyboard begging people all around the world for hours... Its good to read this

Yeah, because they won't accept your possibly bullshit transfer, they're the grinch. uh-huh, sure, guy.

Why dont you try to explain what the possibility of a "Bullshit" transfer is? I think when you transfer from one bank account to another, without credit cards, or checks; that pretty much cuts out the "Bullshit" factor, doesn't it?

There is :

No processing fee
No chance of forged Check
Senders Name Same as the Name on the Registering account
max three day transfer process
Transfers can not be reversed
Transfers can not be cancelled
Clear transfer number



Now I asked that they open the account while waiting for the money to arrive. That request is maybe above and beyond requiring a leap of faith. If they wanted to turn that down, that is understandable.

They could be kind and say , ok well open it up first... But thats not a necessity.


HOWEVER CONSIDERING ITS FOR A YEAR IN ADVANCE AND THEY COULD WAIT UNTIL THE MONEY TRANSFER WAS COMPLETED, WHERE IS THE "RISK/BULLSHIT"?

Id say transferring between bank accounts is much less full of "Risk/Bullshit" than whatever means of purchase you used.


If I am wrong, please tell me where the "Risk" is.

I expected the customers here to have a higher level of logic than this. Im sure most do.

Actually I made a mistake. There is a processing fee. And a currency conversion fee. I had to deposit like 300hk dollars extra to cover the expense so no money would be deducted on the receivers side. I think that is a higher fee than using a credit card would be. If I had a credit card, I would use it to avoid that additional expense.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consume ... lt117.shtm

Replace Nigeria with China and you'll get the general idea.

Not to say that you are trying to scam anyone, but intelligent people on this side of the world are going to be pretty skeptical when you start asking for their bank account numbers.

I'm sorry, but it is broad generalizations like that which make this world a difficult place.

Offering to pay for a complete year of service per bank transfer has nothing to do with the scam which you have linked to. I am not phishing for any information.

In fact I am merely trying to pay for a service.

1) Im offering to do a money transfer from Hang Seng Bank, one of Hong Kongs Largest Banks, from one of the larges financial centers in the world, not a third world location.

2) I am not asking for funds I am sending funds

3) Even if I was using one of China larges banks, China is the worlds second largest economy.

I think that it is misinformed and uneducated statements like this that cause so many problems in todays mainstream media.

I do not want someone reading this thread in the future to associate money transfers from one institution to another with high risk.

Well established financial institutions transferring funds from point to point is the lowest risk you can find.

One must be cautious of people phishing for information and asking for funds, as described in the linked reference.

I hope you are more educated on the matter. Using bank to bank reduces risks and delays from third party involvement. Using credit institutions, and brokers like paypal and moneybookers involves much higher level of risk than bank to bank transactions.

I simply wanted to send funds from point A, to point B. There is nothing in that process which would involve risk for anyone. This isn't an ebay auction. You get the money, you start the paid for service. Thats it. No middle men involved at all.

Additionally, Bank account numbers and names by themselves, generally pose no threat or danger. It is the manipulation of the individual account holders which is dangerous. Just because someone has your name and account number, doesn't mean they can take any money from your bank without it.

You're missing the point - Linode is NOT setup to accept wire transfers.

And just because they don't want to make an exception for your case, they're the bad guys?

Good thing you don't apply that logic to where you're living - otherwise you'd be packing up today. I can't even enumerate the things China won't let me do, or try to accommodate my research lab trips (which we VOLUNTEER to teach THEIR scientists who in all likelihood will steal whatever techniques we show them and never EVER credit us for our work).

Instead of whining at Linode for not taking wire transfers, why are you not bitching at your oh so wonderful bank for not offering pre-paid credit cards - like ALL of the banks in the civilized world does?

u're missing the point - Linode is NOT setup to accept wire transfers.
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What exact set up is required? If you have an accounting having a human check the bank account transfer number should be cheaper than the processing fees from credit card companies.


And just because they don't want to make an exception for your case, they're the bad guys?
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It is an inefficient hurdle to use a third party. Especially when offering prepaid service for one year.


Good thing you don't apply that logic to where you're living - otherwise you'd be packing up today.
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Are you trying to demonize my geographic location to distract from
the argument of efficiency, cost or required effort to process a payment?


I can't even enumerate the things China won't let me do, or try to accommodate my research lab trips
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Im sorry, we are talking about transferring money from point to point. There is no added difficulty by NOT using a third party and transferring directly.

(which we VOLUNTEER to teach THEIR scientists who in all likelihood will steal whatever techniques we show them and never EVER credit us for our work).
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This is way off topic. Im sure that Chinese have never created any technological advances around in the world today? While the developed world has has benefited from the externalized costs of their consumption, without no credit being gave to the Chinese factory worker, whose product was sold multiple times over providing profit to the many different middlemen along the way to its final destination...
Right now you want to complain that you never received credit for your work after so many years of living of the profit made from their underpaid work? If we were going to get into a discussion about this topic I would say that what is the true lesser of two evils now that the tables have been turned?


Instead of whining at Linode for not taking wire transfers, why are you not bitching at your oh so wonderful bank for not offering pre-paid credit cards - like ALL of the banks in the civilized world does?
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Indeed I did complain about this. However would you call Hong Kong Uncivilized? Have you been to all the Civilized world? Is this a blanket generalization as you have just previously made? Are you saying that all businesses in the civilized world do not accept bank to bank transfers?

Did you think that there was a special application process required in order to enable this feature?

Worth noting: Whining here will not cause Linode to magically reverse their policies and accept your alternate source of payment.

I'm not sure why you feel entitled to have Linode support your payment type. Where I work, we accept Visa and Mastercard, but not American Express. And yet nobody feels the need to whine at me when I tell them they can't use their AmEx. Just because you want to do things your way doesn't mean Linode has to accommodate you.

And please stop playing the "I'm a poor starving humanitarian trying to save the children/rainforest/penguins/etc" card. That may be your end goal, but noble intentions don't allow you to sidestep policy.

Your requests sound in every way like an email scam. You combine the guilt trip from far away lands with the difficulty transferring money and the vague blame-casting on big mean linode.

Worth noting: Whining here will not cause Linode to magically reverse their policies and accept your alternate source of payment.
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Im sorry, customer testimonial... Was this the fall into line and be with us or you are with the terrorist type section? Id like to think of it as constructive criticism.

I'm not sure why you feel entitled to have Linode support your payment type.
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I dont feel "Entitled" to anything in life. However, I think that price is what you pay, and service is what you get. Paying through a middle party, like a credit card company, is actually administrativley more expensive, requiring more additional steps than bank to bank. Why should discussion of efficiency be limited to server configurations?
Bank to bank would not be an added feature, it would not require a middle man.



Where I work, we accept Visa and Mastercard, but not American Express.
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Which is in no way related to transferring money bank to bank. All of those credit companies you mentioned are third party middlemen. Bank to bank requires no additional credit processing entity.


And yet nobody feels the need to whine at me when I tell them they can't use their AmEx.
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Not at all related. Credit cards are an "additional" entity to transferring funds which banks dont need, or require. While transferring money, the added administrative burden lays on the sender, rather than the receiver.

Just because you want to do things your way doesn't mean Linode has to accommodate you.
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Obviously. But is that really the ideal model of customer service? Is that the sentence you would like displayed over your main entrance?

And please stop playing the "I'm a poor starving humanitarian trying to save the children/rainforest/penguins/etc" card.
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"Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value." Albert Einstein

I'm not playing. I truly believe there is value in enriching humanity, and while some admire "green" servers, I admire many forms of corporate responsibility in all forms.

That may be your end goal, but noble intentions don't allow you to sidestep policy.
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Obviously. Hopefully they will hope to shape it for others who may be in the same situation.

Your requests sound in every way like an email scam.
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It sounds like you are misinformed to what exactly my requests are, and what was required to meet those requests. I would venture to say that you understanding of "Risk" in this process is mis-founded, due to your understanding of the entire process,

For someone who can't figure out how to get a VISA card you sure are arrogant about how little the rest of us understand the banking system.

You are asking Linode to give you an account number and routing code to make a transfer. They have said no. Deal with it.

ISTM he is dealing with it, by lobbying Linode to say yes instead. More or less.

_________________
Matt Nordhoff (aka Peng on IRC)