-A week and a half ago we sent out 95,000 new passwords but in some instances some people got theirs as late as yesterday or maybe even today," Westpac spokesperson David Lording told ZDNet Australia.
As a consequence, some users were trying to access the new broking platform with an old password and were locked out. -We do apologise for that," Lording said.
ZDNet Australia was notified of the bank's botched job by a dissatisfied customer who claims: -two of my orders came up with status 'referred' locking me out from my orders and meaning I missed crucial trading opportunities".
Lording declined to comment on the issue of missed trades, saying customers would have to contact the bank's online broking division.
The frustrated Westpac user said he eventually abandoned the Web site and tried continuously for over 10 minutes to call for telephone support only to get constant engaged signals.
Lording conceded that the telephone helpline was -much busier than normal" as a result of the password blunder.
Users who are still waiting for passwords to arrive in the post will be given them over the phone if they ring 13 13 31, Lording said.
