Evening commute

I took a special detour this evening coming home - it's my last "visit" to these particular banks. I've taken time off at lunch to visit the banks at least 4 times to open an account. Each time they told me to bring something new to be able to help me.

"Bring a letter from your employer. Sorry, we don't have a phone to call them." Are you serious? A bank doesn't have a phone?

"Sorry, a letter's not enough. You have to have a personal number."

But the guy yesterday swore upon the life of his firstborn that a letter is enough!

"Sorry, that personal number isn't good enough. Bring a customer of the bank to verify you."

This personal number is good enough for the government to tax me, but not good enough to open a bank account?

That last one was really too much, but I complied and reluctantly bothered a collegue. When we sat down, the bank guy started speaking to her in Swedish, which turned out to be an extended explanation of why I wasn't able to get an account. So "Bring a customer of the bank to verify you" actually means "I don't know how to speak to you in English, so bring someone who'll translate why we can't give you an account."

Rules are rules, and I don't mind it if you can't change them. I even don't mind the scenic bike ride to the bank 3 or 4 times. But to trick me into wasting someone else's time is a bit too much, no?