Arrgghhh...Last Minute Headaches....

In the scheme of things, I'm certain this will go down as a small thing, but it sure was a headache this afternoon.  We are taking a fairly large amount of cash with us to Bali, as credit cards are not widely accepted in that part of Indonesia.

I knew from my readings on the topic, that the easiest bills to exchange in Bali are US $100.  But, not just ANY $100 bill...that would be too easy.  Instead, the best exchange rate is given for uncirculated $100 bills of the 2006 series. Bills which are mangled or crumpled risk not being accepted at all, or receiving a lower exchange rate.

About a month ago, we contacted our bank and told them how many bills we would need.  No problem they said.  Yesterday, Andy went to pick them up and someone dropped the ball, as they had only 2/3 of what we needed in the required "uncirculated" currency.  They scoured through their remaining inventory of 100's and gave us more....but some of them were WAY too old (e.g., older than 2003 are not accepted.at.all), and others had markings and wrinkling.  No.  This is NOT what we wanted.  But, it was the best they had.

Not good enough.  Today, Andy and I visited 5 different banks in our area, carrying our slightly tattered and slightly too old hundred dollar bills with us.  The looks we received were amazing.  LOL!  We want "nice" money.  Will you please exchange hundreds with us?

This little experiment has gone a long ways toward identifying banks with a good attitude and worth considering if you need a new bank in the Twin Cities area.  My winners were (in order) of helpfulness:  Village Bank, 21st Century Bank, and TCF.  I'll leave the rejects unmentioned.  LOL!  Special kudos to Village Bank who went above and beyond the call, especially considering we have no account relationship with them, to satisfy our request. 

 By the end of our excursion, we have some pretty nice 100 dollar bills.  We hope they are good enough to pass muster.  And, if anyone is wondering where all the nice 100s are, I'd suggest you try an Indonesian Bank.