Patience....

Two or three weeks ago, I transferred some money online to an account I hold in Pakistan. I’ve been doing this since I moved to KSA. On this occasion, though, something unexpected happened — I began receiving calls at my home in Pakistan from the bank. They were asking where I was. My brother told them I’m no longer in Pakistan and gave them my number.

So I got a call. The banker informed me that my account had been blocked because they were receiving returned mail from the postal address I had provided.

Back when I was in Pakistan, I had used the postal address of my office. Everything was fine as long as my ex-employer stayed in the same building. But they’d recently moved, and that’s how the whole story began.

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The First Call — Couriers and Delays

The banker was polite and told me all I needed to do was send a written request through courier along with some documents, and the account would be reactivated quickly.

Meanwhile, he said he would deposit the draft they’d received into my account — even though it was blocked. So technically, I couldn’t access the funds, but they were in.

After a few days, the bank called again, this time asking for more documents:

• Copy of NICOP/Passport

• A company letter confirming my employment

This wasn’t mentioned initially, but I submitted everything anyway to get access to the money. The banker assured me:

“Within one hour of receiving these documents, the account will be re-activated.”

That was March 18th.

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Interest, Silence, and a National Holiday

In the meantime, I’d used my credit card from the same bank — which I’ve always paid from that same account online. But with the account blocked, I told them to hurry up — I wasn’t in the mood to pay interest, even if it was just a few hundred rupees. It was a matter of principle.

A couple of days before the due date, I sent an email asking for updates. I tried calling the banker — no answer.

On March 23rd, I still had no response. I asked my brother to pay the bill from another bank account, but then he reminded me:

“It’s Pakistan Day. Everything is closed.”

Of course — I had forgotten.

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Frustration Peaks

Frustrated, I sent an SMS to the banker — no reply.

Next day, I wrote a lengthy email complaining about their inefficiency and unprofessional behavior — still, no reply.

Then I asked my brother to call the bank. He spoke to the same lady who had called like clockwork when they received the draft. But instead of helping, she blamed me:

“You shouldn’t have asked us to deposit the draft before the account was active.”

Well, how nice. I had asked how long it would take, and they said one hour. My brother asked for a clear date — one day? Two? A week? She had no answer.

When he asked about the original banker, she casually mentioned he had been on leave for a couple of days.

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A Call After Dhuhr

I was angry. Deeply frustrated.

After my Dhuhr prayer, I returned to my desk. I received a call. It was the banker — sounding out of breath and anxious.

He explained that his father had been hospitalised and he hadn’t been able to go to the bank. He wanted to contact me earlier but his outgoing service was blocked.

In an instant, my anger disappeared.

I believed him. Without question. I told him I was sorry to hear about his father, but I also stressed that he should’ve told me earlier so I could have managed things differently.

He promised:

“Tomorrow, I’ll be in the office and sort everything out.”

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Final Thoughts

It’s not that the money was desperately needed. I was just annoyed.
Why weren’t they processing it when I had done everything on time?

That made me reflect.

Sometimes, we draw conclusions based on what the facts appear to be — shaped by our past experiences. But life is simple and complex at the same time.

We should always try to do the right thing.

In this case, maybe I should have been more patient.
Yes, the interest amount was small — just a few hundred rupees — but whose fault was it?

Not mine.
So no — I’m not paying interest for a mistake that wasn’t mine.

Let’s see if the account gets activated tomorrow.