I had an account with WestPac once and they stuffed up so much (giving me fees for stuff that I didn't do) and the service was horrible, so I closed my account. I'm with St George now and have been for years and they are fantastic.
But now I'm working for a finance company and they bank with WestPac because of great service fees. I wish they didn't. They have stuffed up with our clients so many times! Once (a couple of months ago) they direct debited our customers twice in one go! All our customers who didn't have enough money in their bank account for 2 payments got rejection fees, which we had to deal with! AND all the understandably disappointed people who rang in cos they got so much money taken out- it was a huge mess. On top of that- it took WestPac ages to fix it all up and return the money to the customers. Plus the customers were not happy with us, cos they didn't understand that it was the bank's fault.
What a mess of a bank. I'm disappointed that they are joining with St George, but maybe they will get some lessons on how to be more professional.

I used to receive phone calls every 6 months for Life insurance promotion and that really annoyed me. All I wanted was just have my bank account and that was enough. They didn't ask if I wanted to hear about the promotion, they just start asking questions. I had to ask them to stop calling me about any promotions but they kept calling back. In total I have told 5 different peopls in over 2 and a half years that I do not want to receive the call and they finally stopped. I'm in a process of changing banks now as others offer better rate!

has really friendly staff. was easy to get my internet banking set up. it was all done with a flash. and the call queue is not taht long which i like!

I've had one of the worst customer service experiences at this branch at corner of Collins and Swanston streets. When I was a student at university, I was not charged a monthly fee for their banking services, which was good value. However, Westpac failed to inform me that I need to renew my student status every year. So I was charged a monthly fee for a few months before I noticed it was going out of my account. I called the customer service line, and the attendant informed me that I could just go into any branch and get my fees refunded upon proof of my student identity.

I went into this branch, where I opened my account, and told the customer service lady my problem. She said that it wasn't their branch policy to refund fees in this situation. I told her about my phone conversation, and that if it was the same bank, why were the policies different. She just shrugged her shoulders and looked out the window behind me. I was so infuriated, I asked to speak to the manager. He came along and when I told him my problem, he just shook his head and said vaguely, "Nooo, we don't do that here".

Firstly, the policies of the customer service hotline and each branch of the same bank should be the same. This is only fair to manage customer expectations.

Secondly, if it turns out one of them got it wrong, the customer should be treated with politeness and respect. Looking out the window and ignoring the customer is just plain rude.

Thirdly, politely explain to the customer the reason behind the policy and at least apologise for any inconvenience. I can think of many things I'd rather do than waste my time going into a bank to be rudely treated.

Fourthly, the policy just isn't right. The bank should refund the fees and make good its promise to students who have their accounts there if they are bona fide students. It's only $5 a month, which is more money to the student than it is to the bank.

I have since closed my account and won't be joining them again.

Good advice, but push their own products a bit too much

I got introduced to Westpac's financial planning service when I bought a new house. I had a somewhat complex series of financial transactions that I needed done and they researched and advised the best way to conduct them and structure the loans. They also made some investment suggestions - I didn't follow all their advice, but am reasonably happy with the investments I made based on their recommendations. They regularly contact me about briefings and new offers, too many of which are from BT, which is owned by Westpac. Because of this, I sometimes wonder how unbiased their advice is!

Approximate cost: $0