A little story about our banking experience with Westpac.
So we opened an account with Westpac back in the UK. The customer service there was great and opening an account was pretty painless.
Now comes the pain.
So we were asked where we would like our local branch to be based. Pretty stupid question given that we've never been to Australia let alone Perth. Anyway, the customer advisor suggested St Georges Terrace given that we were staying in the Medina Grand, which is close to St George's Terrace.
So, what do we get? A welcome email to say congratulations, we are not part of the Joondalup Westpac branch.
Ok - that did not mean a thing to me when I opened the email. So as soon as we landed, we went straight to the closet Westpac branch - which happened to be on - guess what - St George's Terrace.
So we went into Westpac and asked to pick up our cards.
This is when I start to introduce Pink Ferid - yes, he wore a purple bra on a day when we went in to see him - purple doesn't really flow with a name like Ferid, so we'll call him Pink Ferid.
Pink Ferid works as a customer advisor in Westpac and was the first customer advisor we spoke to. We mentioned to him that we an account opened with Westpac back in the UK and have come in to pick our cards up. After the claering the confusion with the branch St Georges Terrace vs Joondalup, Pink Ferid finally ordered a card for us.
This is to take 3-5 days to arrive. So 3-5 (working) days later, we turn up to Westpac St Georges Terrace. Pink Ferid was there again - this time wearing a purple bra, and leaning provocatively over the desk of another colleague's. Ok - it was purple bra day - and Pink Ferid was taking part - but you can imagine what a sight that was.
So, we speak to Pink Ferid, and he tells us 'strange, the cards haven't arrived yet'. So he places another order for us.
Another 3-5 working days later we appear in Westpac again. Pink Ferid was out for lunch, which is just as well, as we spoke to a colleague of his who advised us that we should have changed to an Australian address when we arrived. That's why the cards had not been sent in the first place. So, we change our address to an Australian address. And 3-5 working days later, our cards finally arrived.
But - nothing is that simple is it? So, we were told that we can activate and choose a pin number in the branch. Guess what - the pin number machine was not working that day?!
So, there goes our experience of Westcrap - sorry - Westpac...
Thursday, 8 July 2010
Coldest night in Perth - ever!
It's been a few weeks since my last blog, and feeling guilty that I haven't updated anything for a while.
So what's been happening with me?
So, the first exciting news is that we've moved into an apartment, so we're no longer staying in a hotel room.
Hmm - quite a few stories to tell already...
The first night we moved in happened to the coldest night in Perth ever recorded. And what did we have with us? An inflatable bed, 2 blankets and a duvet. Nothing else. We only found out as we were leaving the hotel that our goods were still in the UK - put this in context - since the day the removalists came to pack our goods, we had managed to visit 4 European countries, travelled 24 hrs to Perth, been to several job interviews in WA, and our goods had not even left the shores of England - unbelivable!
So, back to the coldest night ever recorded in Perth, this also happened to the day we moved into our rented apartment with no bed, no sofa, no fridge freezer or washing machine, no heating - you got it, there was no ambiant heat from anything else to keep us warm.
To add to this, we were not aware that this was going to a cold night, so we set the inflatable bed up in the biggest (therefore coldest) room in the flat - the living room, thinking how lovely it would be to sleep in the room with the centre of activity is.
On top of that, we placed the inflatable bed close to the window/balcony, so we can have a view. And on top of that, we thought we'd leave the curtains open so we can wake up to a lovely view in the morning.
Well, turned out to the coldest room and the coldest spot in the apartment! Just our luck!
So what's been happening with me?
So, the first exciting news is that we've moved into an apartment, so we're no longer staying in a hotel room.
Hmm - quite a few stories to tell already...
The first night we moved in happened to the coldest night in Perth ever recorded. And what did we have with us? An inflatable bed, 2 blankets and a duvet. Nothing else. We only found out as we were leaving the hotel that our goods were still in the UK - put this in context - since the day the removalists came to pack our goods, we had managed to visit 4 European countries, travelled 24 hrs to Perth, been to several job interviews in WA, and our goods had not even left the shores of England - unbelivable!
So, back to the coldest night ever recorded in Perth, this also happened to the day we moved into our rented apartment with no bed, no sofa, no fridge freezer or washing machine, no heating - you got it, there was no ambiant heat from anything else to keep us warm.
To add to this, we were not aware that this was going to a cold night, so we set the inflatable bed up in the biggest (therefore coldest) room in the flat - the living room, thinking how lovely it would be to sleep in the room with the centre of activity is.
On top of that, we placed the inflatable bed close to the window/balcony, so we can have a view. And on top of that, we thought we'd leave the curtains open so we can wake up to a lovely view in the morning.
Well, turned out to the coldest room and the coldest spot in the apartment! Just our luck!
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