More Standard Wank

Three Saturdays in a row and I finally have an account I can access and can also see the other accounts that are linked to that account. Hoorah.

Of course, it would also help if the person who is in charge of premier accounts actually knew the details of the various accounts, and the restrictions of changing one account type to another. But nope, that is clearly too much to hope for.

Banks in SA are practically criminal institutions. They have been excluded from the requirements of the Consumer Protection Act. They rob poor people of their hard-earned income. They don't help people make good financial choices (like not letting the bank be the executor of their wills). When will South Africans make the banks responsible?

Standard Wank

Banks in South Africa are terrible. This isn't my opinion. It is a universally understood truth, similar to statements like, "All estate agents are liars." or "Politicians are crooks." But Standard Bank has hit an all-time low.

After spending two Saturdays at Standard Bank, I still don't have access to my account, a card that works, or almost anything else that I went to Standard Bank to do. Why? Because for two weekends in a row, their "network froze" and they couldn't link accounts, issue cards, or anything else. What a bunch of useless bastards! And it isn't my account consultant's fault. It's their stupid network that I pay a ton of money each month in order to access via the interwebs.

When the revolution comes (ha ha), SA bankers should be right there against the wall with estate agents!

Kicking Off

I am launching this blog as an attempt to deal with some of the things that I keep hearing from colleagues, friends, and other people I meet in my South African life. Obviously there will be some global content, but most of my efforts on this blog will be spent attempting to shed light onto myths that seem to structure the way that South Africans interact with each other.