New Year’s Resolutions – The 2015 Edition

Yup, it’s that time of year again. Time to learn from the misses-and-makes from 2014 and declare my New Year’s Resolutions for 2015. This year, I only have 3. Here they are …

1. Listen to a wider variety of music. For some reason, this year I mostly listened to hard rock (AC/DC, Led Zep, Guns ‘n’ Roses), classic rock (The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top, Living Colour) and old school hip hop (Sugar Hill Gang, Grand Master Flash, Beat Nuts, The Roots, MC Solaar).

In 2015, my plan is to open it up a bit and listen to more Beethoven and Hayden, more Motown, more Miles Davis, more Robert Cray, more Duke Ellington, more love songs, more classics, more standards.

I still love AC/DC, so that’s not going to change much.

 

2. Swim, Bike, Run. Last year, I made a lot of excuses for not doing any triathlons – too much work, too much Gabby, too much BeamAndGo. The truth was that I was a little lazy and burnt out.

As a I result, I gained 7 lbs and have difficulty walking 10K. Started biking and running. And once this rain stops, it’s swim time (and a lot of it). My goal is to run 10K in under 50 minutes by June and participate in an Olympic distance triathlon in September.

 

3. Be a better BeamAndGo leader. I’m not saying this cause this is a BeamAndGo blog. I’m a firm believer in what we are trying to do – creating a better way for people to take care of their families in the Philippines. My own family will always be #1, but BeamAndGo is #2 and one of the most important things in my life.

Look at these guys!

I love all the guys and gals on the team. Mariliese, Dino, Doi, Tanya, Albert, Antonette, Ross are all hard working individuals and committed to doing the best. I see it everyday and I am grateful to be working with such a good team.

To learn more about BeamAndGo, just visit us at http://www.BeamAndGo.com. I think you will like what you see.

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It’s all about the soul

At the heart of BeamAndGo.com is a powerful ecommerce engine that enables consumers to purchase items for their families and themselves in the Philippines. We spent a lot of time creating an online system that is easy-to-use, secure, and fast. However, we would not be effective without our merchant partners and their readiness to sell their gift certificates on our online platform. Our merchants are the soul of BeamAndGo.com.

As of today, our merchant network includes San Roque Supermarkets in Luzon, Prince Warehouse in the Visayas, Managed Care Medical in Manila, Gaisano Capital in Cebu, MyPhone, Generika and Super 8 in Manila.

These stores are household names with a long track record providing good service to their customers and represent over 400 branch locations throughout the Philippines. In addition, their philosophy is very much in line with BeamAndGo – “provide the essentials at an affordable price”. And we love it!

But this is just THE BEGINNING. The gals in the Merchant Accounts team, led by Mariliese Tan, are very busy growing our merchant network. Within the next couple of months, we are going to add book sellers, schools, insurance companies, financial institutions and more supermarkets, department stores and medical centers.

I am looking forward to all these new additions. It provides more choices to our customers and also creates better alternatives for them to provide for their families and themselves.

Whooo, can’t wait!

To learn more about what we are doing at BeamAndGo, just visit us at http://www.BeamAndGo.com. I think you will like what you see.

Paper forms, signature cards and the resulting hand cramp

These days when someone asks me to fill out a physical paper form, it feels a little strange.

I am used to doing everything online and believe that it is the most efficient way to do things.

But recently, I had to open a bank account in a Singaporean bank. With this bank, account openings are performed at a bank branch and requires filling out a series of forms. My initial thought was, “This can’t be that bad.”

However, I wouldn’t be writing this article if it “wasn’t that bad.”

My first issue is that my writing hand is not used to operating a pen anymore. So by the time I got to the 2nd page, my hand was cramping. But that was only the beginning of my problems.

After filling out the forms, had to wait on a line for about 20 minutes. Once I got to the teller, she told me that I filled out the wrong form. No worries. She gave me the correct one and assisted me in filling in the blanks.

Afterwards, I waited while she transcribed what I wrote into the computer.

Next came the signature form. She asked me to sign my name in 5 different places. Not used to all that signing: some of my signatures didn’t look the same, so I was asked to sign again. Second time wasn’t much better. Signed again. Third time was the charm.

Then she asked me if I wanted “internet banking“. You know me, I’m all about the internet.

But the bank sure doesn’t make it easy.

Another form needed to be filled out. You’d think the bank had all my information in the system, so it should be just ticking off a checkbox, right?

Signed a few more documents. Was told that a security dongle would be mailed to me and with that I’ll be able to do all my banking transactions online. Happy. Or so I thought.

A week later, I received the security dongle, followed the instructions, and logged-in. After some use, I realized I could not make e-payments or send e-checks. Called up support and was informed that I did not have the proper authorization to perform any banking transactions. What?

Turns out that when I signed up for internet banking I filled out the wrong form. To rectify this issue and get all the basic internet banking functionality, I had to fill out another form and drop it off at the bank …

Aye caramba; my patience was wearing thin.

I downloaded a form. Filled it out. Went to the bank. Stood on line. Submitted the form to a teller.

The teller keyed in all my info. Printed out another signature form. Took me only two tries this time before they accepted my signature as authentic.

The teller had seen me a few times already and thanked me for my patience. When it was all done, she asked me if I needed anything else.

I said, “oh yeah, I didn’t get an ATM card. When will it arrive?”

The teller checks her computer then tells me, “You didn’t ask for one. You need to fill out the form requesting for one.”

Seriously?