WALKING TO MY JOB IN BRUSSELS

I told you already that normally I walk to my job every day (half an hour walk). I even take my bike sometimes. The main reason is not that I want to make some sport, nor I want to be a "green" environmentally-friendly guy...NO NO NO....the main reason is that I HATE PUBLIC TRANSPORT in peak times.  I refuse to use it, it is worthless. Yet walking or cyclyng can even be more challenging in Brussels, and not because the weather.

Last friday I decided to take my camera and take some pictures of the obstacles I find every day twice. Here are some samples:

End of the sidewalk...you shall walk on the stree!!!

Bump!!!

which one will it be???? after raining....

Bicycle friendly-environment in the European Quartier

OK....where do I cross the street? who has priority?....mmhh, not clear

More bumps??? nooooo....more stones!!!!

You need bricks at home? ...don't buy them!!! just take them from the street.

PERSONAL BANKING FOR EXPATS IN BRUSSELS

IF YOU PLAN TO SHOPLIFT, PLEASE LET US KNOW

That is the feeling I have when I enter into a bank in Brussels, that I am being robbed and they dont even welcome you properly.

I will tell you my experience opening a normal savings account in the European area after visiting several different banks. Surprisingly many people I know share the same feeling with me. Maybe I am missing something, but this is what happened to me:(Q1 means question 1 and A1 means reply to question 1 , etc etc)

Q1)  Hello, good morning Madam/Sir, I would like to open an account

Bank1-A1) sorry you need to set an appointment for that, come next week.

Bank2-A1) Yes of course, but let me see if there is someone available to do that with you

Bank3-A1) Where do you work? Where are you form?

Bank3-A1) do you have a belgium working contract? how much is your salary

Bank3-A1) We need ocpies of your work contract, letter from your company, and copy of your flat renting contract.

Bank X...after opening my account

Q2) Can I get a credit card?

A2) yes of course, how much is your salary?....XXXX (nomatterwhatyousay) € ......Do you want a visa gold or normal one?

Q3) When will I have my bankcontact and visa card? 

A3)  in 10 days

after 10 days....

Q4) Hello I come to pick up my visa card

A4) sorry but it was lost and it was resent here, come in a few days

(in some countries you have your credit card ready the next day)

after some days...

Q5) I come to pick up my visa card

A5) Here you are.

Q6) Sorry but my name is not correctly written...

....and on and on....like this, you can spend weeks and months.

For every single thing/service  I have asked, they have made another mistake and taken weeks to solve it. 

That, summarizes my experience with banks. 

After a few months I realized my bank offered a free account (no fees) if you open it online. So I decided to open another account online and close my old one, since I was paying some annual fees for nothing. When I did this, the person in the bank asked me....Why do you want to close the account??? Surreal. 

And that is why I try to avoid visits to the banks. I try to do everything online.

HOW TO CHOOSE AN ISP - INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER IN BRUSSELS

When you arrive for the first time at Brussels, you normally look for a place where to live...and of course, one of the first things after that is to get an internet connection at your place.

In Brussels, the first thing you need to know is: which are the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) that provide services where you live. This information is not easy to find, it is not posted anywhere, and depending to whom you ask, and you will get different responses. Ideally, your "Commune" (City Hall) should provide an official list, but it will probably take you a lot of time and hassle to get that through them.

Today I will list some of the ISPs that work in the area of Belgium, but I warn you this is not an extensive list. I will also give you some guidelines and criteria that will help you to choose your ISP.

MOBISTAR www.mobistar.be
BASE www.base.be
BELGACOM www.belgacom.be
SCARLET www.scarlet.be
NUMERICABLE www.numericable.be (it was called CODITEL before)
TELENET www.telenet.be
E-LEVEN www.e-leven.be


It is important to remark that the mobile phone companies (e.g. BASE or MOBISTAR) are also offering internet access through cable or phone lines.


HOW DO I CHOOSE INTERNET PROVIDER???

Well, I will tell you what I did BEFORE SIGNING OR FILLING ANY APPLICATION:

1) Check out carefully the information on the website. Many providers announce VERY TRIICKY offers online, but you must be very careful. I have witnessed how Belgacom announces one price lower, and then when it comes to registration the price is much higher than the announced!!!! Personally, I mistrust a provider when their website is not clear, tricky, and there is missing information (e.g. download/upload speed of the connection, monthly volume of data, etc.).
2) Call the client service to ask for further details and to compare what it says in the website and the reality. My experience showed me that in the case of Belgacom, I tried to call three times in the same day in order to get extra information about their offer, and every time I called an artificial voice told me I had to wait at least 8 minutes for someone to speak to me. Imagine, if they leave a potential new client 8 minutes waiting, what they will do when you have signed your contract with them??? Will they answer the phone if there is any problem? So, calling them will give you a better idea of how they will treat you later.
3) Try to do a “false” application online before you make the real one. In other words, start the registration process with a false name and address….you will most likely find surprising charges (e.g. activation cost, renting of modem/router, ….etc) coming up, like when you buy a flight with a low-cost company. Besides, you will notice that they will show you the links to the “CONDITIONS OF SERVICE” or any other relevant documents, once you have sent the application to them….oh my friends….TOO LATE TO GET BACK, you already applied for it!!!!! This tells you about the tricky practices they make in order to trick you, or make you pay more. Be careful and read all conditions and details before signing or applying for anything. If you have doubts you can always, try, to call them.

MINISTRY OF TRANSPORT (Irish)

Today I received this from a friend who works in Dublin. 

Ireland is suffering much from this Global Crisis. Some experts forecast (minus) -4% Growth for this year. The issue is that it is a country that is not used to this kind of situation, and a whole generation has known anything but growth and wealth. 

Anyway, this video is dedicated to the Irish Ministry of Transport. But I hope other Minitries learn form it. 

I am seriourly thinking of creating a "home-made" documentary about registration of foreigners in the Schaerbeek Commune, but I need more time for it. 

Enjoy the music!

METRO AT PEAK TIME

As I said before, I feel so happy that I do not need to take the metro in Brussels to go to work everyday.

Once upon I time....I decided to take it! like today.

8:45am
This is the picture of the Metro in MONTGOMERY, and I was going towards the centre:
(click on the image to make it bigger)

As you can see above, there were 9 minutes difference between the previous and next metro.

YES 9 MINUTES!!!!!!! BELIEVE IT OR NOT 9 MINUTES WAITING FOR THE METRO IN PEAK TIME, IN THE CAPITAL OF EUROPE!!!


I tried to make a picture of people inside the metro, but I couldn't move, and I almost couldn't breath. I was lucky enough to find a spot and get in. Not everyone could!!!!

In these conditions, how can authorities dare to encourage people to use public transport to go to work!!!!!!

I think that if I had to travel in the metro every day in those conditions I would never pay my tiket.

Below is the picture when I got off, the line in the other sense (outwards from the centre). It looked a bit better with maximum 4 minutes delay between metros.

CHARLEROI AIRPORT - Aéroport de Charleroi Bruxelles - Sud !

Welcome to Brussels South Charleroi Airport.

That is what you read when you arrive for the first time in this small airport located 60km far away from Brussels. This distance can be a small one if we think of big capitals (London, Paris, etc). But in Belgium 60km is a big deal. Actually, if you drive double that distance, you will probably have crossed the whole country.

Being Brussels the Capital of the European Union, you would expect it to have superb connections to its airports. Well, let's be clear. Connections with public transport to the ZAVENTEM Airport are OK; however, connections to Charleroi Airport could not be worse. Only one bus every 45 MINUTES!!!!!.

Despite of the outrageous trip fare (13 euro), the buses sometimes are so full of people that you have to wait the next one, or take a taxi to Charleroi Airport (150 euro approx.) since you have no other choice to get there.

Last month, a friend booked a flight to arrive in Charleroi. His flight was scheduled early in the morning (something like 6:30 am). When the plane arrived to the sky of Belgium, everything looked grey. Yes, grey because of the intense fog that covered the country those days.

The thing is that The Brussels South Airport is not equipped with special anti-fog RADAR systems. In other words. When the weather is foggy, bye bye Charleroi Airport. It is in fact unusable under those weather conditions.

The plane of my friend remained in the sky of Charleroi turning around during almost two hours, waiting for the sky to clear up. Since they were running out of fuel, they were forced to land in the Liege Airport (I call it aerodrome). After that, a Bus took one hour and a half to go there and pick everybody up and bring them to ....Charleroi!!!!!!

I think my friend lost one whole day....he woke up 4:30am to arrive in Brussels at 5:30pm. That was indeed a long day for him.

Belgacom Regime

If you thought BELGACOM is the telecom leader in Belgium, you were wrong. They are indeed the "largest", but definitely not the leaders. Leaders lead by giving example to others. They are in fact, the "largest dictators" of telecommunications in Belgium.


According to INTERNET WORLD STATS "The incumbent, Belgacom, is gradually losing market share in the telephone market as cable TV companies and other providers offer VoIP and mobile services to their traditional pay TV and broadband packages."

The fact that they are loosing marketshare is a very positive sign in a small concentrated market dominated by one big operator. But still, there is a long way to go.

Recently a new italian company opened offices in my building, in the heart of the European quartier. The first thing they did, after buying an office in the second flood, they called to BELGACOM (big mistake) and requested a telephone and ADSL internet connection (DAY 1).

On day 30, they knock on the door of my office begging to let them access to our WIRELESS networks so they could have access to the outter world until BELGACOM graced connection to the new established company. I agreed instantly, and without charging any cost to our new neighbours, knowing exactly what was going on with Belgacom.

On day 60, finally, the technician of Belgacom came to connect and activate the phone and internet connection to this new company. Yet, another practice against the competence appeared, the guy from Belgacom did not wanted to activate the phone lines (and therefore the ADSL) because this new company wanted to use an own telephone switchboard that they bought in Italy. The guy from Belgacom said something like....if you do not rent a switchboard from belgacom, I cannot activate the internet. And the guy left, leaving the company, with three employees, without connection to anything.

Let's summarize, they waited 60 days for nothing. A COMPANY OF THREE EMPLOYEES 60 DAYS WITHOUT PHONE AND WITHOUT INTERNET !!!!! IN THE XXI CENTURY!!! IN THE CAPITAL OF EUROPE!!!!!

DAY 65. Finally the new company agreed to rent the belgacom swithboard (with the extra cost this means for the company) because basically they had no options:
-The competence would need 60 days more to install connection
-They lost so much TIME, ENERGY AND MONEY already.

It was not worth it.


This is the game of BELGACOM for proffessional customers.

In the case of my office, we have had the same ADSL connection for more than 4 years. During that time, BELGACOM has never reduced the price, increased the speed of connections, or improved the quality of service. Trying to change operator would mean taking the risk of not having internet for many days. We cannot afford this, so we follow our leader, BELGACOM.