A friend of mine was about to explode while talking on the phone. I asked her what was wrong? She looked so sad and answered, “I cannot believe it. I do not know how banks work here.” Then she tells me her story. Her grandfather, who is old and sick, did not get his pension deposited into his account and so his son went to the bank to see what was wrong. The clerk in the bank told him that he had to bring the old man himself. So he went home, wheeled his father to the bank and another clerk says, to their utter discomfort and amazement, that they have to go to another branch that deals with pensions. So they drive all the way to that branch, the father complaining that he is tired and he wants to go home; nonetheless, something must be done to solve the problem so he has to endure the next 2 hours.
This is not the first time they have had this problem and earlier, they spent days going from one branch of the bank to another. The old man and his son arrive at the other branch and a clerk tells them that there is no problem and that definitely, there was no need for the old man to come in person and the clerk then solved the problem then and there on his computer.
This is not the only such case. Another friend told me that her bank stops her credit card almost every month — not because she has reached the limit but simply because they have not updated their files. Every time she calls, she gets different answers; one is that she did not pay which she says is untrue, another says that she has maxed up her cards and then she tells them it is not possible since she knows exactly what she has done with her cards — something the bank clerks with their computers apparently do not know and do not try to find out. The last answer they resort to, the one which saves them the effort of finding out what is really happening is tell her to go to the bank and update her info which she says she did a few months ago — but no one listens. She says “You know what? I have better things to do with my time besides going to the bank to tell them to correct their mistakes.”
In a gathering we talk about different experiences and when talking about the old man and the bank, each one says they have had similar experiences. One says, “Can you imagine my bank issued me a credit card that I did not ask for and I told them to cancel it. Now they are charging me late fees. Is there any way to tell those people to listen to what I say?” I listen to her but all I can think of is that we need a system that works reinforced by proper training. And what about bank staff who need to learn about dealing with customers and the proper use of computers? It is not enough to have glitzy buildings and special doors to golden card members; people need a service that goes with that too.
