ATTENTION WESTPAC CEO GAIL KELLY : Your Westpac PR and management network does not work when it comes to complaints about the shabby Casuarina branch in Darwin. Little Darwin raised this issue back on May 4 and subsequently alerted head PR man Paul Marriage. He passed the matter to Danny John with the fancy title of senior PR relations officer/ company affairs and sustainability . Danny Boy/Girl on May 13 said the NT regional general manager would be in touch . Not so far . I really did not expect a personal call, but I could ask a whole list of questions, having been a newspaper reporter, involved in consumer affairs, PR, and politics ; I thought somebody would spring into action and rectify the bad look for one of big four banks . It defies the transit of Venus to think that a bank manager could daily enter the premises , see them in such a shabby state , and not do something about it..
Today I called on the bank to transact some business and nothing had changed . The same grotty stains at the main entrance, the chairs with plastic covering missing from the arm rests, corrosion showing through, the large sign on the reception desk with battered and missing letters. A staff member then addressed me and partner as “ yuz customers” (shades of I love yuz all ). Leaning up against the reception desk , I noticed that there were stains on the wall from Cyclone Carlos when the building was flooded . Some electrical cabling was visible through the channel on the floor. My old bank card was perforated with a well worn punch- Cheap As Chips offering smarter looking ones for next to nothing. Nearby was a stapler which looked way past its use by date . The bank manager sign was peeling . On the ABC today a Westpac bod spoke about the looming boom in the NT .When it comes to Westpac up here , it would appear that the wheels have fallen off before the great leap forward takes place. Surely it is not beyond the combined might of the Westpac bank to get its act together at Casuarina? PS : Are you related to Ned ?
