What cheeses me off

[CaptainCurtis]

A change of subject to an old favourite. two of our big banks have got up my nose this week.
First ANZ. I got an ANZ cash investment account when I started using ANZ share trading. Because of that I don't have an ANZ registration number,an ANZ telecode and ANZ itself has no record of any of my telephone numbers over the last 30 years. Without those you can't ring any ANZ customer service number. They do not advertise an email address to contact them.
In the past this made no difference as I could download ANZ statements from the share trading platform. However ANZ are now out of share trading and the platform is run by Cimic.

Problem I did not have 1 of the statements for the 21/22 tax year. I am sure I never received it as all super correspondence goes into one basket then sorted. I wasn't worried as I could print out a list of transactions from the Cimic platform and that list was accepted by the ATO. But not by the Super Fund Auditor. they needed the ANZ statement.
So into the local ANZ branch on Monday morning. First thing you notice. no tellers. You line up to talk to a coordinator. My turn comes and I think this should be quick all I want is a statement. Think again. The coordinator says I can't put in a request for an Investment account so I will get you an ANZ registration number and a telecode. She taps away at a computer for a while. Then goes and talks to a fellow sitting in one of the 4 cubicles. Comes back and taps some more. Sorry I am going to have to get you to speak to our head consultant. Please take a seat.

In a bank those 4 words should strike fear. So I waited and finally the head consultant comes over and I get taken to his cubicle. The problem is that accountant is a share trading account and we no longer do that so we cant get you a registration or a telecode. But there is still a share trading department so here is there card with their direct telephone line and email address, They will be able to help you.
So off I go home and first use the phone. The call gets diverted to Cimic and they say sorry you have to get statements through ANZ. So I send off an email and get an automated reply. This email address is no longer reviewed and will soon be removed. Fortunately a few minutes later I get an email from Cimic by a fellow who knows what to do. You get this sort of statement from the ANZ Wealth Management department and gives me their email. off it goes.
Next morning a reply yes we will get you a statement. It will be emailed to you sometime in the next 1-2 working days!

Second CBA. Every 2 weeks for the last 6 mrsdrron has been getting emails from the CBA telling her to come into the branch to have her ID rechecked. So today into the CBA we go. Again you line up to see the "concierge". But at least they still have tellers so the line is shorter. Mrsdrron gets to the front to be told One of our staff can deal with that but their will be a wait of 45- 60 minutes so please take a seat. Wait that long just so someone can look at your passport. no way so back we will go another day.

Fortunately as far as I am aware we have no dealings with NAB or Westpac.

Be careful with this one - most likely a KYC requirement the bank needs to satisfy. If not satisfied within a certain amount of time, they may block access to the accounts entirely.

 

[Guvner]

RooFlyer's story above reminds me of Ticketek. Their "Ticket Insurance" to be precise.

A few years back I booked two tickets for the Test cricket in Hobart. I took out the insurance as it had a Covid clause which allowed a refund if you or any of your party could not travel due to a positive test. Sure enough, 3 days prior, I tested positive so the two of us canceled our flights from MEL and our accom in Hobart.

Lodged a claim for the tickets which goes to an outsourced company registered in London and staffed in Bangalore. To lodge the claim they want a copy of the positive test results (it was a RAT kit at home, so I sent a picture of it), a copy of 2 ID's (passport and licence), and a copy of the tickets. All had to be uploaded to an unsecured server which had no PII policy advertised and no consent to share data.
I blanked out the passport number and the licence number. No good, won't accept it. Won't accept the photo of the RAT (what else did we have back then?). I refused to send my full ID to an unsecured server hosted by a company I had no contract or agreement with.

Every time I emailed them I got a different "Dedicated Claim Consultant" each with an English first name (only) but very sub-continent writing styles, and each asking for different information or information I had already supplied. They even sent me the T's & C's for a completely different event as their justification.

Eventually, after six weeks of back and forth, they simply stopped responding.
Emailed Ticketek customer complaints and was informed I couldn't make a claim direct with Ticketek as I had already made a claim with the insurer who was "nothing to do with Ticketek". Nowhere was this "condition" stated on the Ticketek website, nowhere in the contract with Ticketek did it state I was dealing with some third party off-shore.

I emailed the insurance ombudsman and after 3 or 4 weeks I received a refund for one of the tickets... I just gave up.

Long story short, Ticket Insurance is a scam.

 

[MARTINE]

RooFlyer's story above reminds me of Ticketek. Their "Ticket Insurance" to be precise.

A few years back I booked two tickets for the Test cricket in Hobart. I took out the insurance as it had a Covid clause which allowed a refund if you or any of your party could not travel due to a positive test. Sure enough, 3 days prior, I tested positive so the two of us canceled our flights from MEL and our accom in Hobart.

Lodged a claim for the tickets which goes to an outsourced company registered in London and staffed in Bangalore. To lodge the claim they want a copy of the positive test results (it was a RAT kit at home, so I sent a picture of it), a copy of 2 ID's (passport and licence), and a copy of the tickets. All had to be uploaded to an unsecured server which had no PII policy advertised and no consent to share data.
I blanked out the passport number and the licence number. No good, won't accept it. Won't accept the photo of the RAT (what else did we have back then?). I refused to send my full ID to an unsecured server hosted by a company I had no contract or agreement with.

Every time I emailed them I got a different "Dedicated Claim Consultant" each with an English first name (only) but very sub-continent writing styles, and each asking for different information or information I had already supplied. They even sent me the T's & C's for a completely different event as their justification.

Eventually, after six weeks of back and forth, they simply stopped responding.
Emailed Ticketek customer complaints and was informed I couldn't make a claim direct with Ticketek as I had already made a claim with the insurer who was "nothing to do with Ticketek". Nowhere was this "condition" stated on the Ticketek website, nowhere in the contract with Ticketek did it state I was dealing with some third party off-shore.

I emailed the insurance ombudsman and after 3 or 4 weeks I received a refund for one of the tickets... I just gave up.

Long story short, Ticket Insurance is a scam.

Weirdly my Covid experience with inability to go to Hamilton started very similar to yours — the clearly outsourced emails which made no sense. In the end I wrote a historical letter of the chronology of everything cutting and pasting victorian laws about Covid iso etc etc. They must have gotten bored by page 6 and got the refund of the tickets PLUS my actual insurance

 

[Warks]

What's the deal with "I am not a robot" tests in this day and age? I just renewed my NSW National Parks pass and had to jump through all these ridiculous hoops with clicking on bicycles and buses in photos and to what end? They didn't want a bot buying NPWS passes for registered cars? If it was just ticking a box that's okay but these silly outdated tests cheese me off. They aren't common now but still around.

 

[Forg]

What's the deal with "I am not a robot" tests in this day and age? I just renewed my NSW National Parks pass and had to jump through all these ridiculous hoops with clicking on bicycles and buses in photos and to what end? They didn't want a bot buying NPWS passes for registered cars? If it was just ticking a box that's okay but these silly outdated tests cheese me off. They aren't common now but still around.

Are the common bots smart enough to get around those now?

I guess it's all part of the same "security theatre" that we see at airports.

 

[RooFlyer]

Be careful with this one - most likely a KYC requirement the bank needs to satisfy. If not satisfied within a certain amount of time, they may block access to the accounts entirely.

see my story above. It’s a matter of how they satisfy themselves. That was my issue. They didn’t really need to take an image of my passport at all to satisfy the ID requirements, but they threatened to close my account, if I didn’t at first.

 

[CaptainCurtis]

see my story above. It’s a matter of how they satisfy themselves. That was my issue. They didn’t really need to take an image of my passport at all to satisfy the ID requirements, but they threatened to close my account, if I didn’t at first.

Yeah it's not always the case that it'll be a KYC requirement, but when it is, it's worth actioning before they take action. I had a similar issue to you, but with Accor. They insisted on a copy of my passport to unlock my account, and wanted it sent by email with no policy on security etc. Flat out refused.

 

[VPS]

Insomnia

 

[Pushka]

Insomnia

Jet lag. Or maybe that's self inflicted insomnia

 

[RooFlyer]

Yeah it's not always the case that it'll be a KYC requirement, but when it is, it's worth actioning before they take action. I had a similar issue to you, but with Accor. They insisted on a copy of my passport to unlock my account, and wanted it sent by email with no policy on security etc. Flat out refused.

Yes, Accor was another past story of mine. Hotel in London wanted a copy of my passport on check-in "for ID" for a pre paid room. I held up the photo page and said "see, it's me - you've IDd me".

Nope, they're were really not going to check me on until I demanded my money back, as Passport copy wasn't in their T &Cs.

 

[JessicaTam]

Having been a victim of Optus’ stuff up last year, no-one gets to copy my new license.

 

[Lynda2475]

I refuse to go to clubs (RSLs etc) because they always want to scan you DL/Passport, showing proof of age or identity is one thing, but you do not need a copy (or even the data).

 

[Quickstatus]

OMG.
Super fund still thinks I didn't make a contribution last financial year despite clear and convincing evidence on the YE2022 statement. Payment recorded 24June 2022 and cleared 27June 2022 which is a Monday

I said this is the 3rd call and there is less than 30 days to correct the record. They will escalate again.

WCMO: Financial loose ends

 

[Cossie]

Got an email from our bank stating that they need me to visit a branch to see my identification so as to be able to keep providing secure storage for our documents. They have only had them for about 10 years.
We were in Fyshwick, there is a branch there we can go to, or there was, now closed. OK, I realise that many branch offices have closed and I can use a post office agency to get cash if needed, however this needs to be done at a branch, so far I have visited 3 times and been told the wait will be at least 20 minutes. Sorry, got better things to do rather than standing in a queue.

So got up early (for me!) and was at the door when they opened, quickly dealt with and as a bonus was given an increase on our internet savings account, but only for 3 months.

 

[mrfreeze]

What cheeses me off - Arrived for a 14 night stay at my regular hotel in Bangkok at 2:20PM (Check In is 3PM) and handed over passport and credit card, room keycards sorted and then told (3 times) room was ready BUT as check in was 3PM I could not have the room keycards until then.

Turns out it was a new staff member who only had worked there a month so can't really blame them for following a procedure, and did get complementary breakfast for 2 as compensation after raising the matter with the hotel GM.

 

[Captain Halliday]

What cheeses me off is Woolworths self checkouts which have Sweet Potatos listed in the menu under P.

Ditto for Watermelon which is listed under M.

 

[cove]

Well @Captain Halliday all we do is go to a checkout where a person handles it. If you were to get a discount then I would consider it. Retailers generally have pretty good gross margins so why bother? I do have a pile of 10% off Coles cards and 3% off Woolworths cards and even these don’t encourage me to do it myself.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Well @Captain Halliday all we do is go to a checkout where a person handles it. If you were to get a discount then I would consider it. Retailers generally have pretty good gross margins so why bother? I do have a pile of 10% off Coles cards and 3% off Woolworths cards and even these don’t encourage me to do it myself.

That’s generally my approach too.

In today’s case I wanted to split the shop across two EDR cards, and had a collection of low value gift cards to use up.

While I could have done this at a staffed register, it may have meant whoever was behind me would have had to wait through ~12 transactions. So it was a courtesy to other shoppers really.

But generally I’m all for give it a young person a part time job on the register.

 

[cove]

Yes getting rid of small balance gift cards can be a big issue with crowds queuing behind you. I have done self check out just for that purpose. Typically I have given them to a family member who can shop any time as she is not working.
Getting across a major highway 4 times a day with a green light I have to wait to see no one is running a red light. So many drivers do it so I have to be slow getting going. Now that cheeses me off.

 

[Pushka]

What cheeses me off is Woolworths self checkouts which have Sweet Potatos listed in the menu under P.

Ditto for Watermelon which is listed under M.

We have cameras at our woolies that recognise what you've just put on the scales.