Dutch ladies: general recommendations

[grosnl19]

I am looking for a few recommendations on general things; cell phone provider, bank and pet hotel/boarding?

We are using Barclays here in Spain, from what I can tell there are no branches in AMS.

Thanks!

[Cheesecake]

I have bank accounts with ABN-Amro and ING. I totally prefer ABN-Amro. It's the only company in NL that has EVER given me good customer service, plus they have a good number of actual offices (compared to other banks), and a good amount of their offices have regular Saturday or evening hours. Barclays has a huge office here, but no branches. I think it's only mortgages and such that they do here.

Cell provider, it really depends on what you want. Vodafone and KPN have the very best coverage, but are slightly more expensive (KPN most expensive, both have about the same coverage). If you're waiting to get the phone contract until you are in NL, I'd recommend ordering your phone and contract from belsimpel.nl, again excellent customer service, both by phone and e-mail (which is a rarity in NL) and they have the best/biggest selection of phones.
If you need to get through the first week or so just buy a pre-paid sim card (you can get those everywhere, really) and put it into your Spanish phone. If you like your Spanish phone and would like to keep that, I'd just go to a phone-shop and get a sim-only plan to start with. Much, much cheaper and they can activate it on the spot and you should be able to call as you walk out the store. - You will need proof of address and a bank account to get a phone plan.

Pet hotel/boarding, I honestly have no idea. Don't have pets and when we did have pets (as a child) we always just had neighbors or friends come by to feed them/clean cages when we were away. The word for pet-boarding-place is 'kennel' though. Maybe Hey Y'all knows more about this, as she had pets while living in NL.

[popcorn]

Jun 13, 2012 5:07:10 GMT -5 Cheesecake said:

If you need to get through the first week or so just buy a pre-paid sim card (you can get those everywhere, really) and put it into your Spanish phone. If you like your Spanish phone and would like to keep that, I'd just go to a phone-shop and get a sim-only plan to start with. Much, much cheaper and they can activate it on the spot and you should be able to call as you walk out the store. - You will need proof of address and a bank account to get a phone plan.

I don't know about in the NL, but here in Germany I had to get my Spanish phone unlocked because I had a contract with movistar and it was only available for use with Spanish sim cards. It wasn't a problem, just letting you know you may want to sort it out before you go so you can just pick up the sim card and pop it in without having to find someone to unlock it under the table for you (which is what we ended up doing).

[Cheesecake]

Oh, yeah, it'll need to be an unlocked phone or this won't work.

[Deleted]

Bank - ABN Amro does their banking in English. Rabo does not. I don't know about anyone else. But seriously, trying to bank in Dutch is not easy if you don't speak Dutch

Cell Phone - Getting a cell phone is like trying to move a mountain in that country! You'll need to start with a pay as you go phone because you have to have an established Dutch bank account with activity on it to get a bank account.

Pet Boarding - Big fat pain in the butt. There are a few on the outside of the city that are not public transport accessible. The one we used frequently closed so we ended up hiring college students to stay in our apartment because it was cheaper than taking our dogs somewhere. We had two dogs though. When we first started asking around, our vet told us that we just ask our neighbors to let me them out a few times and that should do it. My dogs are prima donnas. That would not have worked Also, we would trade dog sitting with friends. I know that isn't the answer you wanted but dog kennels barely exist and when they do are a huge pain to get to.

Is it a dog? If it is a cat - cat sitters are super easy to come by. There are also 695 dog walking companies in Amsterdam so you might be able to finding boarding through one of them.

[oneslybookworm]

Cell: Agree with everyone else...get a cell plan is a pain in the ass. I got a pay-as-you-go phone first, then got a cell plan with T-Mobile here. No problems after getting the cell.

Bank: ABN-AMRO all the way. Even if the only perk was the banking in English, that's enough, but they also have decent customer service.

Pets: We have a cat sitter come over and take care of our kitty while we're away, so I don't know about boarding.