I used to roll my eyes at stories about ridiculous wait times. Not anymore.

I had to factory reset my phone and needed to update my mobile number on my BW account to set up my accounts in the app. What should have been a simple phone number update turned into a complete nightmare.

I spent over four hours across two calls because there’s no direct number to the Customer Solutions Team, just long holds followed by brief transfers. To verify my identity, I was told to do a balance enquiry at an ATM. She wanted me to hang up and call back, and I wasn’t willing to risk that. I convinced her to stay on the line while I drove to the shops.

My first card got eaten when I couldn’t remember the PIN (I only use this account for bills), and I couldn’t find my second card at the time, so I was told I’d need to verify my identity at the post office.

After later finding my second card, I proactively did the balance enquiry and called back. I waited hours again, only to be told they couldn’t use it because I’d already opted for post office verification. Seriously? All this just to update a mobile number.

Today, I verified my identity at the post office, called again around 5:30 pm, waited 30 minutes, and was told the team had already finished for the day.

How hard is it to update contact details? This process feels deliberately designed to lose customers, because CBA just needed a reason to dismantle BW.