Frustration day

On the frustration scale (FS) of 1-5 with 1 being low and 5 being high we have experienced:

Frustration with our intermittent internet connection: FS1

Frustration with our loved ones changing plans left right and centre, and the 25 minutes of discussion it takes to arrange a 5 minute trip to the shops:  FS3

Frustration with the UK banking system: FS10.

In a bitter twist of irony in my ‘strong dislike’ of the USA immigration system I can use my NZ passport to get into the USA – the most security conscious nation in the world (with a FS ranking of 5) – but not as ID to transfer my UK current bank account to a new online version. 

The bank has also earned it’s FS rating through the following:

• The bank cannot accept a NZ home address as the postcode is not recognised.  
• It takes a week to make an appointment and then another week to actually get a response to anything.  
• I can set up online banking online with immediate confirmation - it needs to be confirmed by phone and so I am advised to log on to online banking to add a phone number by which this can be confirmed. Or go into the branch, which takes a week to get an appointment with my ‘personal’ banker. 
• We have wasted two mornings of our holiday trying to organise this already.

Given that we have limited time left to arrange anything, our plans to merge all our existing accounts into one will be determined by which bank offers us online banking abroad asap.

All the staff who have actually been helpful are planning on emigrating to Australia. If the system has beaten them then I fear there may be no hope for me!

(Heading off to Jimmy’s Farm for a bit of light relief! J)