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  • I will start. I'm in the United States.

    Credit unions! Nearly half of all Americans are credit union members. They don't seem to be popular in Europe and Asia. A credit union is a not-for-profit co-operative financial institution that essentially provides all the same services as a bank, except it's run as a democratic institution with directors elected by the customers instead of as a profit maximisation machine for shareholders.

    • They're common in Canada as well. In my experience, they're much better than larger banks for things like fees and interest rates.

      Historically the main advantage of a larger bank was having banks and ATMs everywhere, but lots of CUs have formed mutual agreements for ATM access, and internet banking being ubiquitous has rendered any advantage the big banks have had moot (in my opinion, at least).

      • The biggest problem I've had with My credit union is there an ability to fix problems, and they're absolutely antiquated systems.

        I went to Florida on vacation instantly tripped fraud. I had contacted them prior They put a note in my account because they had no other way to do anything. I tripped fraud on a Friday night and they were not able to answer a call from me until Monday morning.

        A couple of years later I spent a few days in Niagara. The very first day I got up there I tripped fraud. I had already called them went through three different people to make sure there was nothing else I could do. I made sure that I didn't arrive on a Friday this time. My big problem now was that I was looking at an hour-long phone call and I was roaming. I drove up to one of the higher points in town and managed to get a US Tower. I got them to unlock me which worked for approximately one day.

        Their web portal the last time I used it required me to have a 7 to 10 character password uppercase lowercase only. Tell me you're storing my data and securely without telling me your storing my data in securely.

        You don't always end up with the best management by having the clientele pick the management. And sometimes those really low rates end up making you suffer on the security side of things.

        Still the best interest rate I've ever gotten on a car loan and the entire staff was absolutely sweet, They were just entirely incapable of keeping my card working whenever I left the state.

        I ended up going back to a larger bank. 24-hour fraud unlock hotline, also capable of unlocking me via a link in email as soon as it's tripped.

        Apparently years later I find out that I possibly could have gotten by some of the fraud issues with the credit union if I would have used the card in debit mode. They apparently assume that a debit transaction is inherently secure. I have no idea if this actually works but if you're having trouble it's not a bad idea to try it. Just do at least one pin transaction every time you go to a different location.

    • The UK has building societies which sound like what you're describing

      • Yes, they're similar, but from what I've heard, most UK building societies are basically the same as or worse than banks in terms of fees, rates, and service quality. In the US, most credit unions will absolutely spank the big banks on at least two of those, if not all three.

      • *had. They've been swallowed whole by the larger banks

  • Australia: Consumer protection laws are better than most other countries, even European countries. For example:

    • Products must last as long as a "reasonable consumer" would expect them to last, regardless of the warranty period. For example, at least 5-10 years for large appliances.
    • If there's a "major failure" any time during that period (a big problem with the product, if it stops working, if it differs from the description, is missing advertised features, or you wouldn't have bought it if you knew about the problem beforehand), the customer has a choice of whether they want to have the item repaired, replaced, or return it and get a refund. Customers can also ask for a partial refund based on loss of value.
    • The store you bought the item from must accept returns and warranty claims. They can't tell you to go to the manufacturer.
    • For repairs, returns and replacements of large items (like appliances), the company must pick it up and drop it off for free.
    • It's illegal for a store to not offer refunds (unless the items are second-hand).
    • Products must match descriptions in advertising, including what a sales person tells you. If a sales person tells you the product does something but it actually doesn't, you can get a refund.
    • Businesses get fined for breaking these rules. A chain of computer stores had to pay a $200,000 fine for showing an illegal "no refunds" sign and forcing people to go to the manufacturer for warranty claims, and were later fined $750,000 for doing it again: https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/msy-technology-ordered-to-pay-penalties-of-750000-for-consumer-guarantee-misrepresentations

    This applies for digital goods, too. As far as I know, Australia is the only country where you can get a refund from Steam for a major bug in a game regardless of how long you've owned the game for or how many hours you've played. Valve tried to avoid doing this and was fined $3 million: https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/valve-to-pay-3-million-fine-for-misleading-australian-gamers/

  • America: our mail system is. USPS processes 23.5 million packages per day, and processes and delivers 318 million pieces of mail every day, to every single household in America, 6 days per week (7 days per week for packages).

    They will throw mail sacks onto the backs of donkeys and trek them down into the Grand Canyon to deliver to tribes down there. They will deliver by bike, plane, boat, truck, car, etc. Hell, name any other organization where you could hand someone a letter and $0.62 and ask them to take it to Alaska for you, and they'd say no problem.

    "Post" roads in the U.S. are named as such because they were roads built specifically for the movement of "post" across the country, and people have even argued that USPS (then the Postal Service) created the layout of the country as we know it.

    And despite what many may think or know, USPS is incredibly efficient when it comes to mail and delivery compared to other countries. I remember them telling us during our orientation (I used to be a mail carrier) that back around 2013, representatives from USPS were actually flown to Germany to teach and help them start delivering 6-days per week. USPS taught Germany how to be more efficient at something 😂

177 comments