One of the things I needed to do now that I was living in Japan, was get a bank account of course. Some how they are able to get by without a social security number, perhaps this will be a subject of a future comment. The most disconcerting aspect of this transaction was the fact that my ATM card, or more correctly cashu (not cashew, more like cache!) card would be delivered by registered mail, meaning I would have to be home during the day or pick the card up at the post office during regular hours. Taking a day off in Japan is extremely daunting, especially even before I completed a full month.
Today is Sunday, I found a notice that the post office tried to deliver my card at 11AM. Obviously coming from the US, this was a complete surprise. As reality set, thoughts about how I was going to get the card started to materialize. This was all for naught. As I read the attempted delivery notice, I saw that I could set up a time for re-delivery in 5 time slots until 9PM via touch-tone phone. In fact I could do this the same day, with an hours notice. Reading further, I found I could also do this via the internet, fax, or through a call center via a real live person until 10PM. English is also available.
I wonder how much this costs but definitely USPS could learn from this!
