Westcrap - sorry - Westpac

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...