British Embassy Lack of Assistance

[Kingpin]

8 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

Fell in love in days

The Philippines slogan for expats should be "Do Not Fall In Love In Days".

[JJReyes]

The US Embassy in the Philippines has a high ranking official with a Filipino staff who have the authority to give assistance.  If you are destitute and wish to return home, they will contact your relatives and determine if they are willing to pay for the expenses.  As a last resort, the money is advanced as a loan, and upon arrival in the US, the passport is confiscated until the money is repaid.  A retired American vlogger in Dumaguete City did a story about his group helping someone who had problems.  The US Embassy picked up on the story and the official visited him to explain how they can help in the future.  I think his name is Paul.

[hk blues]

16 hours ago, MotorSarge said:

Sorry to hear that,

I think anybody that decides to venture to the PI or any other given country needs to have an emergency fund account prior to leaving their home country.

Enough for a minor medical event and a one-way ticket for yourself and whoever else you may need to go with you.

What baffles me is there are many cases of folks leaving their home countries on bare minimal finances, pensions, SSDI, etc & trying to live off that with no thought of room for emergencies.

I would never enter any other country without so, nobody is responsible for your decisions and lack of knowledge.

As we say in the UK...

[Freebie]

Common sense is such a variable thing. Which I guess is why these folk get in the mess they do.

Become "bewitched " by average looking but ambitious and money hungry ladies, ( pussy fever to better call it what it is ) act like two week millionaires and then want others to be responsible for them when the fairground shuts down and turns off the lights.

[GeoffH]

19 minutes ago, Freebie said:

Common sense is such a variable thing. Which I guess is why these folk get in the mess they do.

Very true, although having a 'repayable loan' for minimum cost airfare back to one's home country still isn't the worst thing an embassy could do.

As long as it's repayed including provision and interest cost (and not allowing further overseas travel until and unless it is) then it's not really being provided at taxpayer expense (over the longer term). 

Fail to pay it back?  The amount gets garnished from whatever income you have coming in (and you'd have to sign to agree to that in advance too). 

[hk blues]

From my point of view, it's both easy and true to say what does it matter a few dollars here and there to get folks home given how much all governments waste money but let's not kid ourselves that it wouldn't be the thin end of the wedge.  When  people back in the home country see those who chose to leave for pastures new get money to return home when they failed to make their own provisions for such a situation (from the perspective of most) it becomes an issue, especially when folk are not getting the support they need for various reasons.

End of the day, us ex-pats are way down the list of priorities and I kinda understand and agree with that.  

[GeoffH]

1 hour ago, hk blues said:

End of the day, us ex-pats are way down the list of priorities and I kinda understand and agree with that.  

I kind of get that too but some things do get a bit annoying, right now I'm trying to deal with a pending medical suspension of my Australian license.

VicRoads (the licensing and registration authority there) sent a letter to my Australian registered address, Caroline messaged me and asked if she could open it and I said yes.

It arrived on the 7th August (taking over a week) and requiring Medical test results from a doctor to be sent to a section of VicRoads by the 4th August or else my Australian license will be suspended from the 18th August.  It gives a phone number and an email address.

Skype rings then simply disconnects (I've got a subscription for Australian numbers as well as a local Skype Australian number as well as standby $ credit) and my guess is they're simply dropping all VOIP calls.

So I sent an email... except automated response notes that requesting a review of a suspension says "expect to wait 28 days for a response to a request for a review of your suspension" *sigh*.

Solution? Come into an office *sigh*.

 

The issue is my car is currently being stored and I'm heading back to Aussie at the end of the month so it's looking like I won't have a valid license when I get back and I'll have to get around by public transport (which isn't possible where I was living before in a small country town so now I'll have to find somewhere short term to stay until I sort this and pay extra storage cost for the car in the interim).

 

I get that we're 'down the list of priorities' but how hard can it really be to have a phone system that will accept VOIP calls?

Or to actually answer an email with something other than a totally automated response saying "wait 28 days" (if they're going to do that at least delay implementation of license suspension until the review is completed!).

 

Sorry... rant over now.

 

 

Edited August 10, 2023 by GeoffH

[hk blues]

3 hours ago, GeoffH said:

I kind of get that too but some things do get a bit annoying, right now I'm trying to deal with a pending medical suspension of my Australian license.

VicRoads (the licensing and registration authority there) sent a letter to my Australian registered address, Caroline messaged me and asked if she could open it and I said yes.

It arrived on the 7th August (taking over a week) and requiring Medical test results from a doctor to be sent to a section of VicRoads by the 4th August or else my Australian license will be suspended from the 18th August.  It gives a phone number and an email address.

Skype rings then simply disconnects (I've got a subscription for Australian numbers as well as a local Skype Australian number as well as standby $ credit) and my guess is they're simply dropping all VOIP calls.

So I sent an email... except automated response notes that requesting a review of a suspension says "expect to wait 28 days for a response to a request for a review of your suspension" *sigh*.

Solution? Come into an office *sigh*.

 

The issue is my car is currently being stored and I'm heading back to Aussie at the end of the month so it's looking like I won't have a valid license when I get back and I'll have to get around by public transport (which isn't possible where I was living before in a small country town so now I'll have to find somewhere short term to stay until I sort this and pay extra storage cost for the car in the interim).

 

I get that we're 'down the list of priorities' but how hard can it really be to have a phone system that will accept VOIP calls?

Or to actually answer an email with something other than a totally automated response saying "wait 28 days" (if they're going to do that at least delay implementation of license suspension until the review is completed!).

 

Sorry... rant over now.

 

 

I totally empathise with your predicament. 

I was fully concentrating on the financial dependence aspect of us ex-pats rather than the logistical  aspects.  I agree, it shouldn't be that difficult to provide basic services to us ex-pats, especially given in many cases we are no longer a drain on resources of our home countries compared to if we actually lived there full time.  So far, I haven't encountered many issues with the UK in this respect but that might be because the UK pretty much applies a policy of when you're out, you're out for many services including healthcare and driving licences to name but two. Luckily, not pensions as yet and we do have a reciprocal agreement with the Philippines which is a godsend - I know such an agreement doesn't exist with Australia, for example, which means pensioners don't get the annual increases. 

Anyway, I'm going off-track now!  

[Freebie]

Recently I saw a somewhat old and disheveled white fellow wheeling a battered suitcase around some streets in Makati. As I walkd past him, he seemed aware of where he was and was walking with puropse, except it was a long straight road, no hotel on it, no cafe on it, nothing except houses behind a subdivision wall.

30 minutes later, Im walking on Ayala ave Makati and there he is again. Again no hotel there or anywhere a disheveled fellow might go except 7-11. I asked him if he was ok he spoke incoherently.

I asked him where hes from , he says New Zealand.. said hed been in Australia but didnt like it ( opportunity for comments that i wont make, I actually think Aus is a great country ).

I asked him if he knew where he was right now.. he tells me Manila. I asked him if he knew where... " No dont know "

I asked him where hes going... He said sadly " I dont know , Im lost ".. he muttered something about not going airport

Hus suitcase was battered and he had a backpack that was ripped open. I asked him if he wanted me to contact police.. he shouted no no no they took my money...

All I could do was find a MACEA guard and explain to him that I thought this guy had dementia ( showed him "demensya" on my phone) , or delali. ( mental illness/loopy ) he understood , and asked if he could help the guy.

No idea what happened but suspect he had come across tough and rough times in his stay in Philippines......and hopefully he was taken care of in some way....Havent seen him wandering streets again.

 

So.. keep that bundle of spare cash handy and  the means to get a ticket out of Dodge if needed.