Brush up your Support-Fu, can?

Wasted about an hour at the Public Bank HQ this morning, more than 30 minutes on waiting, 2 minutes on getting confused and 5 minutes on getting an answer.

Long story short, yes.

I want to start a long term investment on a mutual fund that I selected and I do not have a saving account in this bank, which you will need to have $ transferred monthly to the investment account. I have my forms, my 500K bank draft (nuh, don't trust this) and my temporary IC (as I lost my purse a few days ago).

There.. reached my turn to be served by this first customer service dude.

Dude A: So you want to open a saving account for that?
Dude A: You will need a minimum of MYR 250. Can I have your IC please?
Me: I do not have an IC.. now. But I can show you my temporary IC.
Dude A: I am sorry sir, we will need that otherwise the system won't pass you.
Me: So does it mean I have to wait 3 weeks before I come here?
Dude A: Yes. I'm sorry.
Me: Options?
Dude A: We need your IC, the system has to scan it.
Me: And there's nothing I can do here anymore today, right?
Dude A: Yes, I'm sorry.

I walked away then paused, and I was annoyed by not giving much details about how exactly it works. I spent my morning to be stuck in the jam, some time to find a parking, waited on the bench, and I got knocked out with a confused mind.

I waited to be served again and this time (by a lady) I got my answer. To start an investment, you do not need a saving account, it's only for the convenience of not needing you to visit the bank to deposit $ for the investment every month. Basically, I could just start it by dumping all my 500K into it, which of course is not my plan. So there're a few options:

1. Create the investment account, pass them my 500K.
   1. Come back 3 weeks later to open a saving account, OR,
   2. Come back every month to deposit your $.
   
   
2. Wait for 3 weeks to open both accounts and start the investment with your desired amount of $.

I have some Customer Service experience (I worked in both the Atlassian and MuleSource team) and there're a number of things that you have to avoid while handing a ticket / customer.

1. Never assume that the customers are smart. Like me, I was clueless. So, ask them questions.
2. Don't jump into solution too fast. Get the context right and make sure that both of you are on the same understanding.
   
3. Always give them a solution, if not, workarounds, still not, explain why.

Public Bank, you could lose me as a customer, I still have 3 weeks to think.