Monday, May 28, 2012
Bureaucracy
Two brushes with the bureaucrats today.
The first, with Halifax, did not start too well but finished well. Start bad because we found that we could not fire up a new ISA for a new customer, that is to say FIL, without making an appointment and coming back in a few days. End good because although we were seen 13 minutes late, the young lady who saw us, despite quite possibly having been to a local comprehensive school, was very pleasant and knew how to deal with the older customer, explaining clearly what she was doing while making appropriate responses to senior short stories. A credit to Halifax.
The second, with NS & I, the people who sell premium bonds, was online, tiresome and unfinished, this last despite it having taken maybe 90 minutes to make three straightforward applications. Whole new lot of security credentials to remember. Not allowed to use my usual password because it did not contain a special character (with the computer failing my first attempt at a special character because it was one of a dozen or so excluded special characters which they do not tell you about until you try and use one) and I now wait for them to send me some stuff through the post for signature and return. NULL & VOID if I fail to turn the things around within 10 days or something. But I wonder how quickly they will draw down the monies from our accounts: already, maybe?
Once we get through this first round, we may then try connecting BH's ancient, old-speak premium bonds with the new-speak one. Maybe I will score in time for her next birthday. Maybe I will give up the unequal struggle.
I suppose in fairness to NS & I, one might say that they have to keep track of zillions of penny packet accounts coming in plenty of different flavours and many of which have been inactive for years. But are they so different from a retail bank in that regard? Also that it is hot afternoon and once it all starts going wrong, the temper gets a bit short and then more starts going wrong. Need to take many deep breaths to keep vaguely on course.
The first, with Halifax, did not start too well but finished well. Start bad because we found that we could not fire up a new ISA for a new customer, that is to say FIL, without making an appointment and coming back in a few days. End good because although we were seen 13 minutes late, the young lady who saw us, despite quite possibly having been to a local comprehensive school, was very pleasant and knew how to deal with the older customer, explaining clearly what she was doing while making appropriate responses to senior short stories. A credit to Halifax.
The second, with NS & I, the people who sell premium bonds, was online, tiresome and unfinished, this last despite it having taken maybe 90 minutes to make three straightforward applications. Whole new lot of security credentials to remember. Not allowed to use my usual password because it did not contain a special character (with the computer failing my first attempt at a special character because it was one of a dozen or so excluded special characters which they do not tell you about until you try and use one) and I now wait for them to send me some stuff through the post for signature and return. NULL & VOID if I fail to turn the things around within 10 days or something. But I wonder how quickly they will draw down the monies from our accounts: already, maybe?
Once we get through this first round, we may then try connecting BH's ancient, old-speak premium bonds with the new-speak one. Maybe I will score in time for her next birthday. Maybe I will give up the unequal struggle.
I suppose in fairness to NS & I, one might say that they have to keep track of zillions of penny packet accounts coming in plenty of different flavours and many of which have been inactive for years. But are they so different from a retail bank in that regard? Also that it is hot afternoon and once it all starts going wrong, the temper gets a bit short and then more starts going wrong. Need to take many deep breaths to keep vaguely on course.
# posted by Jim @ 9:04 AM 
