Hello,

So far I've been paying my rent by using an e-banking standing order with PostFinance, and including the appropriate reference number so that this payment can be tracked. I got the reference number from a set of pink slips my landlord had provided.
I thought this was fine and I could otherwise happily ignore the physical pink piece of paper.

Yesterday I got this message from the landlord
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Wir bitten Sie hofflich, diese orangen Einzahlungsscheine zu verwenden und diese, auch wenn Sie einen Dauerauftrag haben, an Ihre Bank weiterzuleiten, damit die Einzahlungen direkt von unserer Buchhaltung verarbeitet werden konnen
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With some Google translate help I understand (or I think I do) they want me to somehow post / send them the physical pink slip, even if I have a standing order setup with my bank.

Basically what exact procedure am I expected to follow: have the standing order setup in e-finance and also post this pink slip to my bank once a month and they will forward it to the bank of the receiver .... ?
Do other people do a similar thing, using both a standing order and somehow forwarding these pink pieces of paper ?

I really liked the convenience of having to do nothing but set this up once in my e-banking...

Thanks for help.

It seems he doesn't like the standing order. He wants you to use the Orange slip.

He wants you to send this to your bank, even though you have a standing order (and pay the rent twice?), so that his bookkeeper can manage the payments better....!

I think he wants you to cancel the standing order and send the orange slip to your bank every month.

I have never seen such a stupid question. Maybe for one month post him a completed slip with all the details filled out (But post it direct, not to your bank!) and see what he says.

I find things like this so stupid. My landlady is fine with standing orders... why should you have to go manually to a flipping P.O. just to pay your rent? You should just be able to rely on forgetting about it and getting on with life.

I'd just try ignoring him and continue doing what you're doing... it's not as though he's not gettign the money is it?

Thank you both for the quick replies, good to hear I'm not off the mark here.

Ittigen: I definitely don't intend to pay the rent twice
Richdog: he's getting the money all right, and having the reference number in the standing order should allow them to do all the tracking they need, that's why I'm not getting it. I'll talk to them to clarify this.

Have a nice weekend.

Perhaps ask if he wants a particular reference added to your standing payment to make it easier to check?

I've been paying bills in CH for nearly eight years now. I've never in that time paid the bills at the bank or post office. Always online.

So long as the correct reference information is entered, it shouldn't be a problem.

There is a difference between the red/pink slips and the orange slips though. If you've set up a standing order for the orange slips, perhaps you're not using the correct reference number? It might actually change from month to month.

I'd propose to your landlord, that if he wants you to spend time going to the bank to pay these bills, that you'll charge him for your time and inconvenience at 100CHF per hour or part thereof. And that you'll happily accept such payment online, or via the bank or post office as he chooses.